the final weeks

Seating Arrangements

For a seated reception or formal buffet, it is customary for the bride and groom to determine table assignments.

Request a diagram of the table setup from the reception-site manager or caterer to ease the process.
The bride’s and groom’s parents are traditionally seated at separate tables with grandparents and close friends of the family.
Divorced parents are seated separately with their respective friends and relatives.
The wedding party often sits at a long rectangular table, facing their guests, with the bride to the groom’s right in the center, the best man on her right, the maid or matron of honor on the groom’s left, and the bridesmaids and ushers alternating along the same side of the table. A U-shaped arrangement of tables, in which the bride and groom are seated at the center table, works well for a large group. Attendants’ spouses or significant others should be seated here, too, if space allows.
To comfortably seat members of the wedding party with their significant others, consider using two adjacent large round tables; in this setup, the bride and groom typically sit with the honor attendants (and their partners) and perhaps siblings or children from a previous marriage.
Don’t place the groom’s friends and family on one side of the room and the bride’s friends and family on the other. Intersperse tables to encourage mixing.