Every table needs a label, and the label shows up in four places: the seating board or escort card, the marker on the table, the caterer's plating sheet and the coordinator's list. Numbers are the default. Names (cities you've lived in, songs, favourite books) are the popular alternative. Both work. They fail in different ways, and the failures are easy to avoid once you know them.
Here's how to choose, how to number tables so guests can find them, and what to do if you want both.
What guests actually do with the label
A guest arrives, finds their name on the board or their escort card, reads the label next to it, then walks into the room and looks for a matching marker. That is two jobs: remembering the label for ten seconds, and spotting it across a room.
- Numbers are easy to remember and easy to spot, because guests can guess where "14" is from where "12" and "13" stand.
- Names are easy to remember ("we're at Lisbon") but give no clue where the table is. A guest looking for Lisbon has to read every marker until they find it.
At 60 guests and 7 tables, that difference doesn't matter. At 200 guests and 20 tables, it adds a few minutes of wandering for everyone, all at the same moment dinner is meant to start.
Table numbers
Good for: weddings over about 100 guests, rooms with more than 12 tables, plated dinners with several meal choices, and any venue where the staff will be serving to a table plan.
Why caterers like them: the plating sheet says "Table 9: 6 chicken, 3 fish, 1 vegetarian." Servers learn the room by number during setup. If your tables have names, the venue will usually number them anyway on their own sheet, and someone has to keep the two lists matched.
The downside: numbers can read as a ranking. Guests notice when table 1 is the couple's parents and table 18 is by the kitchen door. That's easy to fix with how you number them (below), and most guests never think about it.
Table names
Good for: smaller weddings, rooms of 12 tables or fewer, and couples who want the labels to say something about them.
Name ideas that tend to work:
- Places: cities you've lived in, travelled to or met in
- Streets or neighbourhoods from where each of you grew up
- Songs, albums or films you both like
- Wines, if the reception is at a vineyard
Rules for names that read well:
- Keep each name short. One or two words, under about 12 characters. "Lisbon" reads from across the room. "The Little Café on Rua Augusta" doesn't, and it wraps onto two lines on a seating board.
- Make them easy to spell and say. Guests will ask a server "where's Reykjavík?" out loud.
- Avoid names that sort people. If one table is "Paris" and another is "Airport Hotel," someone will ask why they got the airport.
- Don't mix themes. Twelve cities and one film title looks like a mistake.
The downside: names don't tell anyone where to walk. In a large room, guests wander, and servers need a separate numbered sheet.
Doing both
For most weddings over 100 guests, the answer is both: the name large on the table marker, with a small number in a corner. The seating board lists the number first, "12 · Lisbon," so guests can use either. The caterer and coordinator work from the numbers only.
This is also how most galas and corporate dinners handle sponsor tables: the sponsor name for show, the number for staff.
How to number tables around the room
Numbers only help guests find tables if they run in an order people can follow. Three patterns work:
- Rows, left to right. Table 1 at the front left, counting across and then back row by row, like reading a page. Best for grid layouts.
- A snake. Left to right on the first row, right to left on the second, and so on. Neighbouring numbers are always neighbouring tables, which makes it the easiest to find by walking.
- Rings outward from the couple. Tables 1 to 6 in the ring closest to the couple's table, 7 to 14 in the next ring, and so on. Best for rooms with the dance floor in the middle.
Two smaller choices:
- Starting at 1 for family. Common and expected, but if you'd rather avoid the "table 1 is the best" reading, start numbering at the entrance instead, so the lowest numbers are simply the first tables guests reach.
- Skipping 13. Some families care, some don't. If you skip it, skip it on every list: board, cards, caterer sheet and table markers. A table 13 on the caterer sheet and a missing 13 on the markers is how a table waits 20 minutes for dinner.
The couple's table doesn't need a number at all. Label it "Head table" or "Sweetheart" and leave it off the board unless the wedding party needs to find their seats there.
Table marker size
The marker is what guests scan for, so it should be the biggest text on the table.
- Numbers: 4 x 6 inch or 5 x 7 inch cards on a stand, with the numeral at least 2 inches tall. On a table with a tall centrepiece, raise the stand above the flowers or the number disappears.
- Names: a 5 x 7 inch card is the minimum, because a word needs more width than a numeral. Keep the name to one line.
A working rule for signs is letter height in inches of about the viewing distance in feet divided by 6. A 2-inch numeral reads from about 12 feet. In a room where the farthest table is 40 feet from the door, no marker reads from the entrance, which is why the numbering order matters: guests walk toward the right area first, then read the exact marker. The find your seat sign guide has the same maths for the board itself.
A worked example: 120 guests, 15 tables
A 120-guest reception on fifteen 60-inch rounds of 8, in three rows of five with the couple's sweetheart table at the front. (Our page for 120 guests on 60-inch rounds has the table count for other shapes.)
- Numbers only: snake pattern, 1 to 5 across the front row from the left, 6 to 10 right to left on the middle row, 11 to 15 left to right at the back. Guests looking for 8 walk to the middle row and find it in the middle.
- Names only: fifteen city names. Fine for guests who stop to read, slower for the ones arriving at once after the ceremony. Give the venue a numbered copy of the plan with the names written next to each number.
- Both: city name large on each marker, number small underneath, board reads "8 · Lisbon."
At this size, any of the three works. Past about 20 tables, use numbers or both.
How escort cards and place cards change it
With escort cards, the label is the only thing on the card besides the guest's name, so it needs to fit on a folded card in the same font. A short name or a number does. With place cards at each seat, guests still need the table label to find the right table first. The escort cards vs. place cards guide covers which to use.
Labelling tables in Seatwise
In Seatwise, each table has a "Name / number" field of up to 60 characters. New tables start as Table 1, Table 2 and so on; type "Lisbon" or "8 · Lisbon" to rename one, and the change carries through to every export. The find-your-seat board lists guests alphabetically with their table label beside them, the per-table lists for the caterer group guests under each label, and the escort-card CSV puts the label in its own column for a card printer. Because you drag tables into place on the floor plan, you can check the numbering runs in a sensible order before anything is printed.
Planning and previewing every export is free and the guest list stays in your browser. Printing is a one-time $12 for the event.
FAQ
Are table names or table numbers more formal? Numbers read as more traditional. Names read as more personal. Neither is wrong at a formal wedding, as long as the markers are printed to match the rest of the stationery.
Should the couple's parents be at table 1? Only if you want them to be. Many couples number from the entrance or in a snake instead, so table 1 is simply the first table, not the most important one.
Can we use table names and still keep the caterer happy? Yes. Give the caterer a floor plan with a number next to each name, or put a small number on each marker. Ask the venue which they prefer.
How many characters can a table name be? For a board or escort card, keep it under about 12 characters so it fits on one line. Seatwise accepts up to 60, which leaves room for "12 · Lisbon" style labels.