Place cards and table plans

Depending on the formality of your wedding banquet, you may opt for a seating plan to direct guests to their assigned tables and seats. Many people choose to have a seating plan to keep things organised and it also helps the serving staff. If you make the venue aware that a “Mrs X” on table 5 is a vegetarian they know to serve her the vegetarian option instead of putting meat down in front of her.



It also looks nice to have organised tables, the hard part comes when you start to plan the tables. Do you mix and match families? Are there similar people you can seat together? Are there divorced parents and stepparents to be considered? Often it is a good idea to have parents hosting their own tables, this can work out well as it makes them feel a very important part of the day.



The hardest choice you have to make as the bride is to decide if you want your place card to read “Bride” or “Mrs X”!!



Table plans come in so many designs and styles, often the hard part is picking what you want! It’s often a good idea to sit and work out what you want, the budget you have and take it from there. Many stationers charge roughly £70, but you can buy the bits to make your own from Confetti for under £30! It just depends on what you want from your table plan. My own table plan is being designed, created and perfected by Little Tiger Creations (well if you have a crafty friend you might as well abuse them!)



There’s some fantastic programmes for making your table plan up available on the internet. I used Top Table Planner to create mine and it was great to use, really straightforward and easy to use. But if you’re strapped for cash you can use Microsoft Excel to make a rough plan.