Wedding Blog
This past weekend, Mr. Deviled Egg and I met with Frank, our catering manager to discuss some details of the reception. One topic that came up was our seating arrangements. With a wedding party of about 10 adults, three children and a bride and groom, I want to be sure that everyone has a comfortable place to sit for dinner.
At our venue, a long banquet table would take up a lot of room and possibly push some guests into the mezzanine level for dinner seating. I really want to avoid this at all costs, so I asked about round tables for our wedding party.
According to Frank, this would allow for more seating on the lower level, but would require our dance floor area to be pushed from the center of the room to one side. Frank also suggested using a sweetheart table for Mr. DE and I.
Source: Jessica Claire via wedding.blogdig.net
Ah, the sweetheart table! I have to say that I am absolutely in love with this concept! And, I love how they can be set apart with special decorations and table linens.
I’m keen on the idea that a sweetheart table would give Mr. DE and I an opportunity to have a more intimate dining experience (although I’m sure a lot of eyes will be on us). And, I also like how keeping the wedding party at round tables next to our table allows them to relax a little, talk easily amongst themselves and not feel like all eyes are on them, as the case might be if they are eating at a long table with one-sided seating.
I think allowing them to sit at round tables would open up some space for their spouses, children and dates to sit with them, too, instead of alone and lonely at tables with other guests they don’t know. If I were the guest of a wedding party member, I would see it as a nice gesture for the seating to be arranged this way.
How are you handling seating for yourselves as bride and groom and for the rest of the bridal party?
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FI and I actually are :gasp: NOT fans of the ever popular sweet heart table. I also hate the long wedding party table that takes everyone away from their significant others/families. So, we are considering one table to hold our parents and siblings and us which would be a total of 10. Space is an issue for us but the thought now is to do a long table for us and families and round tables for everyone else with the wedding party/dates intermingled seates near by.
We are also doing the round table approach for the bridal party, so their significant others can join them. at our table, we will have the maid & matron of honor and the two best men with their dates, and the other two tables with the rest of the groomsmen & bridesmaids. I hate it when I have to sit apart from Mr. Taffy at weddings, especially if he doesn’t know anyone.
We have a ginormous wedding party and decided to go with the sweet heart table, but in the round shape. I can’t do the heart shape.
We figure that will be the only time during the whole night where we will have time for ourselves.
we had the same issue and I don’t believe in splitting up people with their dates! I personally didn’t like the sweetheart table because I wanted to celebrate with others too. So our first idea was to sit with parents, but then we realized our parents would probably rather sit with their siblings etc rather than each other (especially if we were not at the table a lot). So we ultimately decided to sit with our 4 collective brothers and their wives. It was a ton of fun to sit with them in the end and I am really happy we choose to be at a table with loved ones!
I went with tradition.. I wasn’t going to, but the way our venue set it up was really nice. The only time people were sitting was at dinner anyway, and our families were right next to us. I personally just didn’t like the sweetheart concept. I wanted to be able to share every moment together with our friends and family (at the table). After all, half of them came from all over the country just to be there to stand by our sides. Just a personal opinion. One of my friends opted for a sweetheart table at her wedding and it looked great, so it’s just a matter of what you want. My cousin did a large oval bridal table that was pretty nice because everyone got to eat together, but weren’t on display as much. Either way, I think it will be lovely.
wow, it’s great to see someone with the same concept as us… our room is circular, so a long head table wouldn’t look right. I’m actually in between having a round table for the bridesmaids on one side of our sweetheart table and a round with the groomsmen on the other end OR a rectangular table on each side.
I never thought of seating them with their dates though. Good idea!! 
I’m with slicey - I dislike the sweet heart table. Theoretically it makes the bride and groom much more approachable but beware: it also means that people will be coming over to talk to you because there is space to get to you, preventing you from eating or talking to each other. If you sat with your wedding party at a round table, your maids and groomsmen can fend off well-wishers for you and give you and your husband a chance to actually eat and talk to each other. I do agree that the long table with all the bridal party on one side, last-supper style, is a little awkward - why put everybody on display like that?
This is a good topic! We have been wondering how to do it as well. THe long banquet table would not work because it would take up too much room. We are considering a sweetheart table and tables on eaither side of us for the wedding party.
At our wedding we had a rectangular table that my husband and I sat at, plus the maid of honor and the best man. Both of them were single, so it worked out well. We had the rest of the bridal party at round tables right next to us so they were still nearby, but could sit with their significant others as well. It actually worked out really well!
We had a similar problem and used a large oval table. Two 8 foot tables touching on the long sides, two 6 foot tables next to that touching on the long sides and then two 60″ half rounds on either end. We had 8 BMs and 7 groomsmen plus us. The bridal party wrapped around the sides in a semicircle to save us from the big long banquet table. It was nice b/c we could see them during dinner and people could still see us. Half rounds are available at All Occasions Rental in Pitt. too- that’s where we got ours.
We plan to have one ~16 person banquet style table for us and our families (parents, siblings, their spouses, niece, grandmother) and the rest of the tables will be round. Our bridal party will be seated with their dates at tables with people they know best (ie the groomsmen are sitting w/their dates at a table of the grooms high school friends). I wasn’t keen on the head table (like another person said, too “last supper” for me). I know our families are super excited to be all seated together w/us on our big day. The bridal party also seems a little relieved to be seated with their dates and friends… haven’t had the big day yet, so we’ll see how this goes, so but far it seems like a win-win for everyone!
We had a sweetheart table and we broke up the bridal party so they could sit with their spouses, kids and people they knew (ie college friend BM sat with the college friends, high school MOH sat with high school friends).
Having been a BM many times- I hated being stuck at a table with the bridal party when I didn’t really know any of them.
Surprisingly, one of the things my H2B actually felt strongly about was wanting to have a traditional head table with all of our friends. And as our planning has come along, I’ve come to appreciate how it can be great (for some, like us). My H2B and I have very deep friendships with our wedding party. Most of the groomsmen have know my H2B for over 20 years, since they were little kids or teenagers, and there are special bromance/friendship growth feelings going on around the whole fact of him getting married. I know it will be special for him to have them at his side.
BMs and GMs really shouldn’t feel on-display–whenever I have been a BM, everyone is looking at the bride and groom, not me! I also have heard that some people have done sweet heart tables and felt lonely or separated from their guests.
I think it also comes down to the space. At mine, we’re doing a sort of open, or angled, horseshoe shape with three long tables, and all our guests will be at banquet tables (it’s a big patio, but it’s still a patio!). We plan on seating our wedding party’s SOs at the ends of the tables that run perpendicular to the head table, so they’re essentially right next to each other. As someone else said, people are only sitting in their assigned seats for a short portion of the day, so my advice is to try and be courteous to your wedding party and family but to also think more about what works for you as a couple.
We’re getting married at a historic mansion. We’ll be renting tables for the guests, but the mansion has a permanent dining room table that seats about eight people. We’ll probably use that as a head table for us and the wedding party.
I am using the exact same arrangement you proposed. I want the party to be able to sit with their SO’s. I’ve been to one too many weddings with FI when he was in the party and hated not seeing him all day while being surrounded by tons of people I don’t know.
We are also having a sweetheart table for just the two of us — it will probably be the only time of the reception that we’ll have to ourselves, and I think it will relax us to be able to sit on our own and overlook the whole room.
We’re having our bridal party sit at round tables, and their spouses/significant others will be able to sit with them, even the ones that aren’t in our wedding party.
I thought a sweetheart table sounded lonely. I mean, if we wanted to have an intimate dinner alone, why did we just invited all these people?
But I definitely agree with you that the long, one-sided tables for wedding parties are no awkward. I had to sit at one once… it was weird. You’re looking at the crowd, they’re looking at you, and you can’t talk to anyone except the person on each side of you.
I honestly have never known a bride and groom who really got to sit and eat the entire meal!! seriously I have been to about 8 weddings in two years and they are so busy visiting guests and dancing that no matter what the arrangement was for them to sit they just didn’t!!!
we had a SH table and wedding party got to sit with their dates at rounds near us, they appreciated that.
people warn us that without we wedding party near by fending off the guests, you end up not having the time to eat. we solved that by eating by ourselves in private first. just a thought to keep in mind.
Personally, I am not fond of the sweetheart table. I feel the point of the wedding is to be surrounded by your loved ones. We are sitting at a round large table with some family and then having our bridal party sit at nearby tables (including their dates!). My thinking is the wedding night and our honeymoon is when my honey and I can celebrate the two of us! My family and friends are putting so much effort and help into the wedding, I would feel like I am excluding them if we sat at different tables…
Having gone to weddings where my fiance was a groomsman, I absolutely HATE the traditional head table. I’m all for a sweetheart table if it lets the bridesmaids and groomsmen sit with their dates. When we started planning our reception, we knew that we were definitely going to make it possible for our bridal party to have their dates with them at dinner.
It’s good to hear that so many of you are including guests of the bridal party at the head table(s). I’ve never been to a wedding where this was done, but I thought it would be a good idea. I’ve been on the other side where I had to sit alone or my guest had to sit with others and it wasn’t too fun.
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Mrs. Deviled Egg, Pittsburgh
Age and Occupation: 27, Public Relations
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 28, Accounting
Engagement Date: December 24, 2007
Wedding Date: May, 2009
Blogging Since: October 21, 2008
Venue: Historic auditorium and meeting hall in one of Pittsburgh's commuter cities
About Me: I am obsessed with all things crafty, especially scrapbooking, knitting, jewelry-making & cake decorating. I also love being an aunt, wrapping presents, watching football (Go Steelers!), shopping at yard sales and consignment stores, procrastinating, singing and learning to play the guitar. When it comes to wedding planning, I'm excited about working on DIY projects and finding creative ways to stay under budget. Of course, nothing is more exciting to me than knowing that the wonderful Mr. Deviled Egg will be my husband.
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