Tables & Place Settings

The modern wedding does not require professionals to plan and do everything. Many brides take great pleasure in sourcing and making decorations and favours, and some couples partially or wholly decorate venues themselves. The mood and theme of the reception are likely to dictate the style of the table decorations. Pretty place cards, table names or numbers and menus coordinated to match your theme or colour scheme might be all you need in addition to a beautiful arrangement of flowers at each table. But when considering the styling of your wedding dinner room, first decide how you will sit.

For a seated celebration, round tables seating eight or ten guests are increasingly the norm. Alternatively, you could opt for a banquet style formation, as used to be traditional, with long rows of seating based upon a U-shape, the middle section being the top table. You will need to bear in mind the shape of the room or marquee, how level the floor is and how traffic will flow. Ensure enough elbow-room when working out the number of guests per table, and do not position tables so close together that waiting staff will be unable to move comfortably around them.

The traditional top table long and rectangular, positioned at the head of the room, with the bride and groom seated in the centre flanked their parents.

Traditional rules of wedding etiquette sometimes don't fit with the modern couple and the make-up of the contemporary family. Nowadays, with divorced parents, step-parents and newlyweds with their own children, anything goes!The traditional top table layout is not especially conducive to conversation and can leave one feeling somewhat exposed. Increasingly couples are choosing to sit at round or oval tables, often positioned in the centre of the room, at the heart of the action. Also, if the guests are positioned around the couple, it makes it feel more intimate. a round or oval table can also solve many potential problems if you have step-parents or children, because in such a seating no one is left seated at the end of the table.

Indeed many couples invite their parents to host their own tables, thus avoiding placing estranged couples together. However, if you are going to do this warn those concerned in advance.

Next decide what, if anything, you need in addition to flowers to decorate the tables. We advise to keep everything as simple as possible and it will look far more elegant on the the day, because simplicity is key at most wedding venues.

You could name rather than number tables for a formal seated mael. You'll also need a seating plan positioned somewhere accessible. A smaller seating plan could be taken among guests during the drinks reception by children. This is a good way to make them feel important. Table names and numbers and place and menu cards can be printed to match your stationery. Or there are a hundred and one creative alternatives from hand-painted dried leaves to chocolates to indicate where guests are seated. Consult any bridal magazine for the latest ideas. If the chairs are shabby, consider hiring more elaborate ones or slipcovers. But the costs can soon mount up if you have more than a few guests.

Wedding favours are now replacing the more traditional five sugared almonds (signifying health, weatlth, fertility, happiness and longevity). If you are on a tight budget dispense with favours. Guests don't expect a gift when attending your wedding. Favours can be beautiful and offer an opportunity for you to express your gratitude, but they are an optional extra.