Mrs. Hummingbird, Toronto
Age and Occupation: 25, Publishing Coordinator
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 24, Videogame Designer/Cartoonist
Engagement Date: May 4, 2007
Wedding Date: June 28, 2008
Blogging Since: September 18, 2007
Venue: A garden wedding followed by a tented reception on Mr. Hummingbird's father's property.
About Me: I’m a pop culture loving, vintage obsessed foodie living in Canada’s biggest city with my fantastic fiancé and our lovable fluffy cat Bettie. I’m stoked to marry my best friend and to throw what I hope will be
the most fun and colourful party of our lives.
Strategic Seating
January 10th, 2008 @ 2:13 pm by Mrs. Hummingbird
A little SATC love today - Does anyone else totally love
Anthony and Miranda sitting next to eachother? Imagine the snark!
As Mr. Hummingbird and I are keeners, over Christmas break, we started seriously discussing our wedding guestlist and who would be sitting where, provided everyone we invited came (I know this is highly unlikely, especially considering our family and friends are spread out across Canada and into the States).
When we got to the table that would be headed by my parents we realized that, with the addition of my Godmother Hummingbird (who we really wanted to sit there since she only knows my parents), the table would be left with an odd number of people.
We were standing in my parents’ kitchen, hashing out what we should do about table numbers when my mom walked in and suggested we invite my dad’s friend Watson* to round things out. I’ve always really liked Watson* and since my parents haven’t asked us to invite anyone to the wedding, we felt game adding another to the guest list.
“Besides,” said my mom, grinning michieviously, “you can seat him next to Godmother Hummingbird.”
I know my mom was only jokingly matchmaking, but her idea actually wasn’t a bad one. Watson* got divorced a few years ago, Godmother Hummingbird is single and thinking about it, they really would get along. Plus, it would be kind of cool if they ended up meeting and hitting it off.
From there, we started mentally matching people up. My awesome work friend Leila* and my adorable programmer friend Dan*? Mr. Hummingbird’s friend Reesa* and my cousin Matthew*? Lewis* and Christine*? Katherine* and Stu*?
I’ve never set any of my friends up in real life but what if, at the wedding, they happened to meet when strategically seated near each other and they got along? There are a lot worse places to meet someone and at least the other person has been somewhat vetted for you if they know one of your friends.
After hashing things out for a bit, we finally started playing with our seating chart and seeing who might work with who.
Best case scenario - two of our beloved friends meet and hit it off. Worst case scenario - they sit next to each other during a meal one time and never have to see each other again.
I don’t want to be a pain and I definitely don’t want to awkwardly interfere or pressure the day of the wedding (”Say Kimberly*, have you met David*? He likes The Kinks too!”) but I have to admit, I would really enjoy seeing some of my awesome single friends meet someone who loves and appreciates them the way they deserve.
So how about it ladies? Have any of you made love connections during someone else’s wedding? Have any of you got single seating plans? I seriously can’t be the only one playing cupid, can I?
*All of the names have been changed to protect the easily embarrassed (and also to maintain the element of surprise. 
)
(P.S. Thanks to all the ladies and gents who came out for my chat featuring Mr. Hummingbird and my friend Kim last night. We got a little silly at times, but the three of us had an absolute blast talking to everybody!)
8 Responses to “Strategic Seating”
Well, we have a surprising lack of single friends, but we did work long and hard on our seating arrangement - “Jane and Mary must sit together, they’ve never met but will definitely hit it off…” etc. I will warn you, it wasn’t easy doing the mix and match thing to make sure people had someone they knew to sit with as well as matching the co-workers with college friends that they might have something in common with, but the end result was amazing. Everyone, even those that didn’t know anyone, commented that they enjoyed sitting with so-and-so, and the reception was definitely a great time. I think the carefully planned seating (and yes, we broke up family and mixed in friends all over the place) was a huge factor in the success factor of the reception. I say happy matching!
Haha worse case is actually that they hit it off and then it doesn’t work out… and then everyone feels awkward for a while!
My cousin met his now-wife this way! :o)
although it wasn’t the result of seating arrangements, i met my husband this way!
i was the maid-of-honor for my best friend’s wedding and my (now) husband was the best man for his brother. (and for those keeping track, yes, my best friend is now my sister-in-law!) so, we were paired up due to our roles in the bridal party, and chatted and flirted a bit, but it wasn’t until i moved out of state that my friend & her hubby pushed my guy to give me a call. thanks to the welcome meddling of friends & family, i met the love of my life! 
p.s. i’m all about the friendly meddling! i’ve set up a few friends, and i’m standing up in one of their weddings this coming may!
Our only strategic move was to put all the aunts and uncles on one end of the tent, and all the cousins on the opposite side. I think both tables had more fun that way.
Not at a wedding, but I did set up my best friend and a dear friend from college who are now happily married with two kids (I, of course, am the godmother.)
My mother holds the family record, however. Her stellar match-making skills have yielded FOUR happy and long-term marriages! Go mom!
On the topic of hooking up at weddings, one of my more EVIL college aquaintances used to say that while he watched the bridesmaids processing down the aisle, he was “looking for the gazelle with the broken leg that I can cull away from the herd.” Nice, eh?? :
You may end up setting it up with matchmaking in mind, and just end up with wedding hook-ups.
wow i never imagined people will have that much trouble doing seating arrangements..
i used “Seating Arrangement for Weddings”. i was able to design the floor plan, manage the guest list, track RSVPs, assign seating and more…
it worked GREAT for me..
u can download it for FREE at: http://www.seatingarrangement.com/
aimee brinkley
