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Good Morning Everyone! Our good friend Nina Callaway over at About.com had this fantastic tidbit to share about why you would need a seating chart.

We’ve been to some receptions where there wasn’t one & ohhhhh how that is not a pretty thing. Check out what she has to say, it’s short-n-sweet & to the point. Have a super weekend – cheers!

Many brides and grooms who are looking for a casual, relaxed wedding think that they can forgo having a seating chart. They envision a wedding where friends and family will easily mingle, and at dinner time, everyone will happily sit with their new friends. What’s wrong with this idea? Simply put, it doesn’t work that easily. You’ll end up with tables of eight with only seven people sitting at them, and couples wandering the room wondering where on earth they are supposed to sit. Meanwhile, shy singles will be forced to approach tables of strangers before they can sit down, which can only be an unpleasant reminder of high school cafeterias. And the mingling you’d been hoping for probably won’t happen anyway.

So what’s a better alternative? Use large tables of 10 or 12, and assign tables but not seats. That way, you’ll be able to create tables which combine like-minded friends, and let them find where at the table they fit comfortably. It’s more relaxed than assigning every seat, and you won’t have to worry about whether Aunt Ada would rather sit next to Cousin Larry or Cousin Bob.