To Assign or Not to Assign: that is the question.

Great discussion going on over at the Weddingbee boards: to assign or not assign seats?

This has been an ongoing conversation in my mind and with my mother, and I have to agree with many of the people who are for it. It creates more work, but also adds another way to incorporate the colors and them into the reception site.

I am leaning more and more towards assigned tables, but unassigned seats. I want to be sure our families are able to sit together because I am planning a group photograph of my mother's entire family immediately following the wedding. My mother has six brothers and sisters and we haven't taken a professional photo since one of my older cousins was married six or seven years ago. My cousins are beginning to have children of their own and I want to document the occasion with a photo of us all. I know it will take some time and wrangling and I want to be sure they still sit near us at the reception. I think the best way to ensure this is to assign tables.

My reception venue (a hotel) wants us to have someone at the door to make sure people can find their correct table. With a giant chalkboard like in the wedding featured in New York magazine's Winter 2007 wedding issue, how could they miss it?

Image © New York magazine, photography by Shawn Connel for Christian Oth.

Comments

[Crystal]

Yes, it does create more work but if you have a large guest list, it's a HUGE must. If you have 300 guests for example, imagine how long it will take to get everyone seated! In my area, assigned seating is not done very often, but I recently attended a wedding that had 350 guests, with the ceremony and reception being held in rooms across from each other. Pictures were done first, and then guests went straight from the ceremony to the reception. The bride had a huge fight with the MIL over the idea of a seating chart, but the bride won and thanks to her chart, it took less then 15 minutes to get all the guests moved over and seated.

[Emily]

Where do you think one could find a giant chalkboard like that? I love that idea!

[Allison aka HaselBride]

I'm guessing here, but you could probably buy huge sheets of plywood or mdf, etc. and paint them with chalkboard paint. Mstetson wrote a post about the great chalkboard wall one of them painted in their kitchen: http://mstetsondesign.blogspot.com/2008/02/c-h-l-k.html

Hope that helps; if you find any other info, let me know and I will post if for all to see!

[courtney]

My Mother in Law insisted on not having assigned seating at our rehearsal dinner,and it became a nightmare. We had 30 minutes of musical chairs and table re-arrangement. And, our poor guests felt uncomfortable because they weren't sure if they were sitting where they should.

I would definitely recommend table cards, or a modern, creative way to assign seating like you've mentioned with the chalk board. It just makes everything so much easier, and it makes your guests so much more comfortable.