Wedding seating chart maker: seat your guests household by household

How to use the seating chart maker

Type one household per line, pick the number of seats per table, then click “Seat my guests”: every household lands at a single table, and tables fill up one at a time instead of leaving scattered empty seats.

1. Your list: one household per line, names separated by commas (“Emma, James”). You can paste a column from your spreadsheet, one household per row.
2. Seats per table: ask your venue or caterer, since it depends on the size of their tables.
3. Number of tables: the tool suggests the minimum for your guest count; add more if your room has extra tables.
4. Seating: the largest households go first, then smaller ones fill the remaining seats.
5. Adjustments: each household has a menu to move it to another table; a household you moved by hand stays put when you run the seating again.
6. Printing: “Print the chart” gives you one card per table plus an alphabetical find-your-table list.

If you fix a line, say a guest who can no longer come or a typo, the household keeps its table. A table with more guests than seats is flagged, and a household larger than a table stays unseated so you can decide where it goes.

Where to start your seating chart

Start once most of your guests have RSVPed, because a chart made too early has to be redone with every decline. The right window is after your own RSVP deadline and before the date your caterer needs final counts per table.

Before you seat anyone, you need three things: your confirmed guest list, the number and shape of the tables, and how many seats each one has. If some replies are still missing, see what to do about guests who haven’t RSVPed. If you are still unsure how many people will actually come, this guide on expected attendance helps you plan the room.

Then work from big to small: large groups first (each side of the family, friends, coworkers), then households within each group, and the tricky cases last. That is the same order the tool follows when it seats the largest households first.

Grouping guests: households, circles, tables

A household always sits together: a couple, parents and their kids, friends who came as a pair. That is why the tool asks for one household per line rather than one guest per line.

• Kids: with their parents when they are young; at a kids’ table near their parents when there are enough of them.
• Guests who don’t know anyone: next to at least one person they know, or to guests they have something in common with. More ideas in seating guests who don’t know anyone.
• Divorced parents: each with their partner and, if needed, at a comfortable distance from the other, as covered in seating divorced parents.
• Plus-ones: always at the same table as the guest who brought them.

A half-empty table stands out more than a slightly full one. If the tool shows a last table with two or three people, remove one table and run the seating again.

The head table and the seats that need thought

Decide the head table or sweetheart table before any other, because it takes guests out of the general seating and its spot in the room sets where the nearby tables go.

In the tool, write your head table guests on one line and move them to Table 1 first with the menu: they will stay there when you seat everyone else.

• Older guests and anyone with limited mobility near an exit and away from the speakers.
• Parents with small children near a door, so they can step out without crossing the room.
• Guests who don’t get along at tables far apart, without making it obvious.
• Vendors who eat on site (photographer, DJ) at their own table, planned with your caterer.

Printing the chart and the find-your-table list

On the day, guests look for their name, not their table, so the tool prints an alphabetical list of every guest with their table number on top of one card per table.

Display that list at the entrance of the reception at eye level, and keep a copy for whoever greets guests. Give the table cards to your caterer or venue, who need them for service. For a list your caterer can use with meal choices, see the seating chart for your caterer.

What the app adds

The tool on this page spreads households across tables of the same size; the MyWedding Planner app starts from your actual room and your actual guest list.

• On a computer, you draw your room: round tables, rectangular tables or joined modules, and obstacles like a pillar or the bar. You drag guests into their seats.
• You set rules between guests (“always together”, “never together”, “preferably together”, “preferably apart”), and automatic seating follows them.
• Each guest shows their RSVP status (attending, not attending, waiting) right on the chart.
• The chart prints to scale on Letter or A4, with the alphabetical list and one card per table; place cards and table numbers print too.
• On a phone you can view the chart; editing works on a larger screen.

You can try it without a credit card, with up to 10 guests. The one-time payment lifts that limit and includes the share link for your caterer or venue.