A seating chart looks like one job and is really six small ones, done in order. Most of the stress comes from doing them out of order: placing names before you know how many tables you have, or printing escort cards while three RSVPs are still out.

This guide takes the six steps in the order that saves the most rework. For each one there's the method on paper, then what it looks like in Seatwise, including what's free and what isn't.

Step 1: Get a final list of who's coming

You can't seat people who haven't answered. Set your RSVP deadline four weeks before the wedding, then give yourself a week or two to chase the people who didn't reply. That's a phone call or a message, not a second invitation.

For each guest, you want four things on one line:

  • Their full name, spelled the way it should appear on a card or a board.
  • Their household: the people who must sit at the same table. A couple, a parent and their children, a guest and their plus-one.
  • Their group: bride's family, groom's university friends, work, neighbours. This is what you'll use to put people with others they know.
  • Their answer: yes, no, or still waiting.

Add a meal choice if your caterer needs it by table. Anything private, such as "don't seat near Uncle Ray", goes in a separate notes column, never in the name.

A spreadsheet is fine for this, or the export from your RSVP service.

Step 2: Count your tables

Once you know how many people said yes, the table count is division, then rounding up.

  • 60-inch rounds seat 8 comfortably, 10 at a squeeze.
  • 72-inch rounds seat 10 comfortably, 12 at a squeeze.
  • 8-foot rectangles seat 8 to 10.

So 120 guests at 60-inch rounds of 8 is 15 tables. At 72-inch rounds of 10 it's 12. Always round up, and plan for one or two spare seats at about one table in eight, because the numbers will move again before the day.

The table math guide goes through capacities and spare seats in more detail. For your own count, the 120 guests at 60-inch rounds page and the 150 guests at 72-inch rounds page show the table count, a room-size estimate and a sample layout. There are pages for every count from 30 to 400.

Two decisions change the count, so make them now:

  • Head table or sweetheart table. A full head table for a wedding party of 10 takes those 10 people out of the round tables. A sweetheart table seats two. The head table vs. sweetheart table guide has the sizes.
  • A kids table or not. Five or more children aged roughly 5 to 12 usually justify one. The kids table guide covers ages and placement.

Ask your venue for a floor plan with the dance floor, bar, stage and exits marked. You'll need it in step 4.

Step 3: Write down your rules

Before you place a single name, write two short lists.

Keep together. Households do this automatically: a couple always shares a table. The rules you write are for people outside the same household who should still sit together. Two old school friends who'd each know nobody else. A grandparent and the cousin who's driving them.

Keep apart. The divorced parents who are civil in photos but shouldn't share dinner. Two friends who fell out last year. An ex and their replacement. The divorced parents guide has a rule-list method that works for any keep-apart situation, not only parents.

Keep both lists short. Ten rules for 150 guests is a lot. If you find yourself writing 40, you're describing preferences, not rules, and the group column will do most of that work for you.

Step 4: Draft the chart

Start from the fixed points and work outward:

  1. The couple's table, at the front, facing the room.
  2. Parents and grandparents, close to the front and at the same distance from you, so neither side reads anything into it.
  3. The wedding party, at the head table or at tables near the front with their partners.
  4. Anyone with access needs: near the restrooms and an exit, on a level route, away from the speakers. The elderly and disabled guests guide has a checklist.
  5. Everyone else, by group. Fill tables with people who know each other, then use the half-full tables to seat the singles and small groups who don't fit anywhere yet.

The seating etiquette guide covers who traditionally sits where, group by group. Don't aim for perfect on the first pass. A draft that seats everyone with a few odd tables is more useful than half a chart where every table is ideal.

Step 5: Check it

This is the step people skip, and the one that catches the problems guests notice. Go table by table and ask:

  • Does everyone know at least one other person here? If not, move them or move a friend to them.
  • Are any keep-apart pairs at the same table? Or at next-door tables where they'll face each other all night?
  • Is any household split? A couple at separate tables is the most common mistake in a hand-built chart.
  • Is any table over capacity, or so empty it looks forgotten?
  • Are the older guests far enough from the speakers?
  • Does the count match the caterer's? Total seated guests should equal your final yes count.

Then have one other person look at it. Someone who knows both families will spot a pairing you didn't know was a problem.

Step 6: Print escort cards, a board, or both

Guests need a way to find their table. You have three options:

  • Escort cards: one card per guest or household, on a table at the entrance, saying which table they're at. They need an alphabetical list with a table number for each name.
  • A find-your-seat board: one large sign, names in alphabetical order with table numbers. The usual sizes are 18 x 24 inches for up to about 90 guests and 24 x 36 inches for 100 to 250.
  • Place cards on the table itself, if you're also assigning seats and not only tables.

The escort cards vs. place cards vs. seating board guide compares them, and the find your seat sign guide covers sizes, fonts and print shops.

Print as late as you can. Most print shops want a board's file three to five days ahead, though some do next-day. Anything that changes after that gets a handwritten correction, which is fine; guests don't notice. If replies are still moving, the late RSVP changes guide covers what to lock and what to leave open.

Doing all six steps in Seatwise

Seatwise is a seating chart maker that runs in your browser. There's no sign-up, and your guest list is saved in your browser's own storage on your device. Nothing is uploaded. Here's how each step maps onto it:

  1. List. Press Import list and paste one guest per line as Name, Household, Group, or paste a CSV with a header row. It reads name, household, group, rsvp, meal and notes columns. Rohan & Kavya Sharma becomes two guests in one household, and Leo Marchetti + Guest becomes Leo and a "Guest of Leo" who always sit together.
  2. Tables. Add rounds, rectangles and a head or sweetheart table, and set the seats on each. Add the dance floor, stage, bar and entrance so the room looks like the venue's plan. The top of the Tables rail tells you how many seats short you are.
  3. Rules. Open a guest and add others under Keep together or Keep apart. Households are kept together without a rule.
  4. Draft. Seat the couple, parents and anyone with access needs by hand, then lock those tables. Press Auto-seat, and it fills every table you haven't locked with the guests marked RSVP Yes, keeping households whole and honouring your rules. You can drag anyone afterwards, and Undo reverses the whole run.
  5. Check. The Conflicts tab lists keep-apart pairs at the same table, split households, and keep-together pairs who ended up apart. Tables with a problem get a badge on the plan.
  6. Print. There are four exports: the floor plan, per-table lists, an alphabetical find-your-seat board in 18 x 24, 24 x 36 or A1, and an escort-card CSV with name, table, seat, household, group, meal and rsvp columns.

What it costs: planning is free, all of it, including Auto-seat and a full-size on-screen preview of every export. There's no watermark on the preview, just a small "Made with Seatwise" line at the foot. Printing, saving as PDF and copying the text need a Pro key, which is $12 once for one event, with as many re-prints as the list needs. If you only need the sign, the find your seat sign maker is a separate free page.

It handles up to 2,000 guests and 200 tables, which covers almost any wedding. Because the plan lives in your browser, clearing your browser data clears it too, so export a JSON backup from Settings before the week of the wedding.

FAQ

How far in advance should I make the seating chart? Start a draft once most RSVPs are in, and finish it in the two weeks after your RSVP deadline. The week-by-week timeline has every date.

Do I need to assign seats or just tables? Tables are enough for most weddings. Assign seats only if you have a plated dinner with different meals, or a formal head table.

What's the most common seating chart mistake? Splitting a couple across two tables. The second most common is printing before the last RSVPs are in. The seating chart mistakes guide covers eight more, with a fix for each.