Seating Logistics- Who Knew?

One of the very last things I'm doing for the wedding is making escort cards.  The reason I've waited for this: I wanted to wait until the last possible minute so that any late changes in our guest list would be included in our work.

Of course, all of the materials for the escort cards have been long ready.  I have had a general plan for tables for months.  But deciding who will sit at each table has been harder than I expected!  After all, where guests sit (and who with) often dictates how much fun they will have.  And as host and hostess, J. and I certainly want to encourage conversation, mingling, and also comfort for our guests!

So here's my anecdotal list of things I thought about when determining a seating plan; I will have to let you know how it works out!

- Spouses always sit together, but I often sat their kids separately (we have some teens attending) if I thought different groupings of people made sense.

- I tried very had to put even numbers at tables (under the theory that conversations happen in pairs) but if it didn't work out, this was one criterion I sometimes ignored.

- As the child of divorced parents, I had each parent host their own table.  Knowing they are comfortable will make me a more comfortable bride!

- Attendants were split up.  We're not doing a head table, and there are so many different worlds where my friends come from, so I sat them according to where I thought they would have fun and not necessarily together.

- I tried to make sure singles were never sat in a way that might make them feel uncomfortable.  This means no "singles table" and it also meant I did not sit singles with people who would be so "in your face" couple-ish that it would get old for the single person.

- I tried to be sure that everyone knew at least one other person at their table.  In a few instances where the guest will know nobody else at the wedding, my fallback was to seat them with gregarious, fun people who would be inclusive (I hope!)

- I also tried to distribute the really good conversationalists throughout the room.  In fact, I specifically identified my "social chameleon" friends before I even started.  I sat those folks last, since I had the most options for them.

- After doing my best, there were certain instances where I couldn't follow all my rules, and it wasn't quite perfect.  But it seemed I had done things in the best way... so I decided to cut myself some slack and move on.  All you can do is your best, right??

Do you have any good tips for seating wedding guests?

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