When inviting guests to a wedding, you need to think about how to seat them at the wedding banquet. You can, of course, not bother with this, but, as practice shows, it is still worth doing - think in advance: who will sit where.
There are certain rules for seating guests at friendly and related-family parties and somewhat different rules for seating guests during large formal feasts. We should consider all these options, since weddings can be different - friendly (where there are mostly or only friends), family (members of both families are present), and perhaps important persons will attend your wedding at your invitation - all these aspects should be taken into account so as not to offend anyone.
Suppose friends - will understand, if that ... and themselves, in general, will figure out where to sit.
FROM family members - harder: God forbid, start a life together with quarrels in the camp of relatives. It is very important to pay due attention to parents on both sides, and even more so to elderly relatives.
And already important guests - this is from the sphere of business etiquette: a wedding is a wedding, and business ties should get stronger due to the attention rendered (an invitation to such a personal event of a business partner or "right" person), the guest should not feel superfluous at your family celebration.
So, you are the bride and groom - main characters, The "hosts" of the celebration, therefore the seats at the wedding table near you, both on the right and on the left, are considered the most honorable.
During formal feasts (and your wedding is an official event), when seating guests, it is advisable to adhere to certain rules. Nowadays, they are no longer as strict as they were before, but there are several fundamental points.
There are several ways to "notify" guests of their location at the wedding table:
1. A "seating plan" is attached to the wedding invitation. This option is not always convenient, since invitations are often sent out before resolving issues with the banquet hall. You can, of course, send them additionally later, but these are additional troubles.
2. On the wedding table near the instruments they put cards with the names of the guests.
3. Before entering the banquet hall, a "table plan" is posted so that each of the guests can determine where and next to whom he is sitting. This plan is at the same time an opportunity for those invited to find out in advance about the lady who will be sitting on the right hand.
It is worth taking care of their acquaintance before the banquet, keep in mind!
4. Personally arrange the seating of guests at the beginning of the banquet.
Places of the newlyweds:
The bride sits to the right of the groom.
At a rectangular table, your seats are in the center of the long side.
If the tables are in the form of T, P, E, the place for the newlyweds is always on the transverse side.
Parents. To the right of the bride sits the groom's father, next to the bride's mother. To the left of the groom sits the groom's mother, next to the bride's father.
Witnesses sit not far from the bride and groom, or opposite, at the side table located in the center. Although nowadays, more and more often witnesses are seated directly with the young: the witness is to the right of the bride, the witness is to the left of the groom. Then the parents follow (see above).
The rest of the guests are ranked by age and relationship. The older ones are closer to the newlyweds, similarly - with the degree of kinship. Priority: age, close relationship, female gender, and importance of the guest.
Seating rules for guests:
When seating guests, they try, if possible, to alternate men and women.
- They also adhere to the second basic rule: married couples are separated (this, of course, does not apply to newlyweds).
- According to the international diplomatic protocol, the hosts must in any case sit on the same side with the guests of honor.
- Men always take the place to the left of the ladies.
Table Seating Behavior:
If the guests already know their places, they stand next to them, do not sit down until the hostess (in our case, the bride) sits down.
- The man helps his neighbor to sit down. And he "looks after" her during the whole banquet.
If you have foreign guests at your wedding, you should take care not to put them in a position that humiliates their national dignity, otherwise they may regard this as disrespect for their state and nation.
First of all, diplomatic etiquette must be observed especially strictly. It should not be forgotten that diplomatic protocol and general civil etiquette are different things. Those. you will have to be very careful and with all attention to the seating of the guests. Of course, you will not plant them next to you - this is still a wedding, but you should not sit in the "gallery" either: be sure to be in sight and be sure to take care of the pleasant and suitable "neighborhood" of such important persons.
Situations with car placement, wrong organization arrangement of guests at tablesand in the banquet hall can cause confusion. In this case, the guests will sit down, wherever and with just anyone. And again, there may be complete strangers or people who do not get along with each other. Then, most likely, they will feel uncomfortable and constrained. And this can adversely affect the course of the entire banquet.
therefore wedding banquet requires thoughtful placement of guests.
To avoid unpleasant situations, you need to prepare a plan for seating guests at the tables in advance.
Methods for arranging tables in the banquet hall
To draw up a plan, you first need to know how to arrange tables correctly. Therefore, to begin with, we will analyze the main ways of arranging tables in the banquet hall.
It is better that the length of the tables is no more than 10 meters. In this case, it will be easier for the guests to communicate with each other and the bride and groom will be better seen. The width of the tables should be such that everyone is comfortable.
There is always a main table ("presidium") for the honorary participants of the banquet, which is shown in the figure
They usually sit behind him: groom, bride, witnesses and parents of the bride and groom... Guest tables are positioned relative to this table in various ways.
A) U-shaped way of arranging tables
The arrangement of tables in the form of the letter P is very often used. Its upper side is the "presidium" for the honorary participants of the banquet. The rest of the guests are located along the sides.
This arrangement of tables allows you to save space in the banquet hall. In addition, all guests are located relatively close to the bride and groom.
There are two ways to arrange the participants of the wedding banquet, as shown in the figure.
The first option is more preferable because each of those present has the opportunity to see the others, without risking to unscrew their head at the next turn by 180 °. But if there are many banquet participants, and the size of the hall and the wedding table does not allow using the first method of accommodating guests, then it is quite possible to use the second. Of course, some of the guests will experience some inconvenience at the same time, but this is unlikely to somehow affect the course of the banquet and the mood of the guests.
B) T-shaped way of arranging tables
The table arrangement method shown in the figure is used mainly in long and narrow halls, where the very shape of the room does not allow tables to be placed in any other way.
It is suitable only for a banquet with a maximum of 50 participants. Otherwise, no length of the hall will be enough. 
The main disadvantage of this arrangement is that the table is too long and the guests sitting at the opposite end of the table from the bride and groom cannot see them well.
C) W-shaped way of arranging tables
This type of table arrangement is used for large-scale wedding banquets, with the number of participants from 100 people and more. Here again, two options are possible, presented in the figures
At the same time, with an increase in the number of banquet participants, the number of "ridges" in the letter Ш increases. Therefore, the more banquet participants, the more difficult it is for them to see what is happening at the "presidium" table. Communication will be limited to table neighbors only. But still, for banquets with a large number of participants and a relatively large hall size, this is the only possible way arrangement of tables.
D) Several large tables
In the variant shown in the figure, a “presidium” table and several large tables are installed.
The undoubted advantage of this method is that the guests are closer to each other and they have the opportunity to communicate not only with their nearest neighbors at the table. The downside is that guests sitting with their backs to the bride and groom will have to turn around on them all the time. And it's not good at a wedding to sit with your back to the bride and groom. Alternatively, to solve this problem, you can leave the side of the table closest to the bride and groom free.
E) Many small tables
In the case of arranging tables as shown in the figure, a cozy, intimate atmosphere is created at the tables, conducive to communication. But on the other hand, then the guests are divided into small groups, and there may not be a single community celebrating the wedding.
You can choose any arrangement of tables, just remember to leave a place for dancing.
Methods of seating at the "presidium" table
Let us examine the ways of placing the honorary participants of the wedding banquet at the “presidium” table. In this case, we will assume that the observer is located on the front side of the table, i.e., looks at the persons sitting at the table.
The following symbols are used in the figures below:
H - bride
F - groom
M. N. - mother of the bride
O. N. - the father of the bride
M. Zh. - the groom's mother
O. Zh. - the groom's father
Mach. N. - the stepmother of the bride
Rep. N. - stepfather of the bride
Mach. J. - stepmother of the groom
Rep. F - stepfather of the groom
St. N. - witness
St. J. - witness
Typically, the following method is used:
The groom is located on the right hand of the bride. A witness sits on the right side of the groom. On the right hand of the witness are the groom's parents - first the mother, then the father. Similarly, on the left side of the bride is the witness. On the left hand of the witness is the mother of the bride, and behind her is the father of the bride.
Other variants of the arrangement at the “Presidium” Table are also possible. 
There are also specific options. So you can choose the option that suits you best.
Accommodation at the wedding table in case the bride's parents are divorced and newly married
Accommodation at the wedding table in case the groom's parents are divorced and newly married
Plan of seating banquet participants at the tables
After you have chosen the arrangement of the tables, you need to draw up a plan for the seating of the banquet participants at the tables. Typically, this principle of placement is used - first, relatives sit, then friends and work colleagues. Moreover, the closest relatives are usually located closer to the table of the bride and groom. It is advisable that guests who come together (husbands and wives, brothers and sisters, friends, etc.) are located nearby and at the wedding table.
In general, it is better to make sure that each guest is located closer to someone he knows, and at the same time has the opportunity to meet previously unfamiliar people. If small children are present at the banquet, they should be seated with their parents so that they can look after them.
Usually guests are placed at tables according to their side of the bride and groom (for example, on the left side are guests from the side of the groom, and on the right - from the side of the bride).
But quite often the guests, both from the side of the bride and from the side of the groom, are seated mixed, so that they have the opportunity to communicate with guests from the other side.
You can place guests at the tables as you like: by belonging to the side of the bride or groom, by age, by family (in the case of small tables) or mixed. The main thing is to do this so that guests feel comfortable and enjoy each other's company. In addition, everyone should sit so that they can see the bride and groom.
As an example, let's draw up a plan of the arrangement at the tables of the participants of the wedding banquet. Guests who came to the wedding together are on our list in one cell.
We will assume that the selected arrangement of the tables with the letter P. Then our plan will look like this: 
Since there are more guests from the bride's side in our case, we had to transfer some of the guests from the bride’s side to the groom’s side.
As you can see, there is absolutely nothing complicated in drawing up a plan for the location of the banquet participants at the tables. It just needs to be drawn up in advance.
When calculating, we did not take into account that the banquet participants will include four elderly people. Plus, the bride and groom shouldn't drink a lot at the wedding party either. Therefore, the amount of alcohol can be slightly reduced. But you can not do this and leave it in stock.
When choosing lemonade, it is better to give preference to light drinks whenever possible. Then if you or someone else drenches, the dress will not be damaged and there will be no dark spots on it.
In addition to drinks for a wedding banquet, you will need a certain amount of them at home with the bride and groom, in the registry office and on a walk.
In the last program, we started talking about the preparation for the wedding, the dowry, the role of a witness and witness. Let's continue our conversation about what other people played an important role in the wedding, and why it is important to know about them.
You rightly said about the role, because when we are talking about the wedding, we suggest the verb "to play." The wedding was played as a performance, where everyone had their own role, and the scope of this role was clearly understood and defined.
We talked about the fact that the people closest to the bride and groom were the best man and the best man, who today are called honorary witnesses.
Who is the main character at the wedding?
The most important at the wedding, of course, were the bride and groom. The best man and the best man were second in importance. We talked about the fact that these should have been young, unmarried people without children, and most importantly, these people had to play this role once, so as not to be lonely in life.
It is necessary to understand on which side of the bride and groom their friend and girlfriend are located.
Are we now talking about a wedding in a registry office, church or church, or are we talking about seating at the table at a banquet?
We must understand that the situation of stability should not change. We are obliged to respect and honor Christian and folk traditions, so we need to talk about the symbolism of the right and the left in folk culture.
I want to ask the question, on what foot did you get up this morning?
I stand on my right foot because I sleep on the right.
This is a common expression. When we see a somewhat rude, rude person, we say: "You got up on the wrong foot today." This means that there is a leg with which to stand up so that a person is in a normal frame of mind, so that he does not swear with anyone.
Another situation: you are going on an excursion, stopped at a beautiful edge, and the driver says the sacramental phrase: "Boys to the left, girls to the right."
Woman complains to woman in conversation: "Probably, my husband went to the left." From here, you can build a logical chain that going to the left means going to a woman.
I would say that it means something bad.
Means just going to another woman. Therefore, we already feel that the left half, the left side, that which is marked with the word "left", has always belonged to a woman. Everything on the right belonged to a man.
We have a man's and women's clothing, and we know that the buttons on a woman's jacket will be sewn on the left strap, and on a man's - on the right.
It's right. But why is a woman associated with the left, that is, with something bad, with the bad side?
I would not say that this is bad. This is just a section of our space into the right and left parts.
Let's go to a traditional Belarusian hut. There is a red corner opposite the threshold, and the space of the house is divided diagonally. The left half will definitely have a stove, and a woman works there, preparing breakfasts and dinners. The right side was given to the man.
Let's take a look at church calendar, for the holidays that are associated with the veneration of the Virgin Mary and Jesus Christ. If we conditionally imagine a year circle and set holidays along the contour, we will see that the Nativity of Christ, the Baptism of the Lord, the Meeting of the Lord, Easter, Ascension, that is, the holidays associated with a man, are located on the right half of the circle. All holidays associated with the Virgin Mary will be on the left half of the circle.
If we go to the church, we will see that the image of the Virgin Mary is located to the left of the altar, and the image of Jesus Christ is to the right of it. When a couple enters the temple in order to get married, the woman will stand on the left half of the temple, closer to the image of the Virgin Mary, the groom - on the right half, closer to the image of Jesus Christ.
Why is it important to observe this? Why should the bride stand to the left of the groom?
Why should we cross the road at a green light? There are certain rules that no one will break - it just doesn't make sense. We are Orthodox people, right-glorious, we will mark ourselves with a cross from right to left. For Catholics, the opposite is true: they cross themselves from left to right.
So it's a matter of faith?
Of course. Within the framework of our program, it is impossible to understand all the canons of the church, all the canons folk tradition... We are talking about respecting one, the second, and the third tradition. There are a lot of Muslims in our country, and we respect these traditions: we will not come to their sacred place, and we will not establish order there. We will simply respect them.
Therefore, in an Orthodox church, everything is located just like that. The cross, with which we overshadow ourselves, is accomplished in this way. People who profess Orthodoxy wear wedding rings to the right ring finger.
Why is the bride standing to the right of the groom in the registry office today?
It is necessary to understand the symbolism of the right and the left. In pre-Christian times, one of the deities among the Slavs was the god Rule. And all the words of the same root - "truth, manager of the house, truthful, correct" - come from the name of the god Prav, the god of truth. People came to him to judge who was right and who was wrong. From here came that branch of Christianity, which was founded in Byzantium and received the name "Orthodoxy".
The wedding continues the tradition, so the groom, the head of the family, put the bride next to him on the left side so that his right hand was free to make the most important decisions that only men can make. The woman who was getting married took hold of his left hand, stood to his left.
The best man and the best man stood side by side: the best man - with his girlfriend, in the same way, on the left side, and the best man, the groom's friend, a man, stood with right sidenext to the groom.
Let's invite our listeners to experiment. On any big holiday, go to the temple, and you will see that women concentrate on the left half of the Orthodox church, and men - on the right half.
I quite often communicate with registry office workers and several times asked them a question about why modern brides stand to the right of the groom. More often than not, people shrug their shoulders and don't respond to it. Sometimes I hear this: "In the registry office, the bride is on the right, we will register the marriage, and then put it the other way around." The bride is chased to the right and then to the left. It seems to me that you need to stand up as it should be by tradition. If a woman's buttons are fastened on the left half, it means that near the groom, near the man, you need to stand on the left side.
Why are employees of the Belarusian registry offices not aware of these traditions? After all, they are the fundamental link in the beginning of family life.
Unfortunately, during the Soviet era, we have forgotten a lot. Something remained, was collected bit by bit, and maybe the fact that we are today trying to remember the traditions of our ancestors, trying to bring them back into our lives is already good.
Not only that: we will come for festive table, and our bridegroom and bride will sit in exactly the same way as we said, and all her relatives will sit on the side of the bride, and all his guests will sit on the side of the groom. This is wonderful: two wings, two clans have united, and each will take its own position.
How do you feel about the fact that today the best man, the witness sits next to the bride, and the witness sits next to the groom?
The youth audience responds like this: the best man is guarding the bride. From whom, from the groom? Well, well, we found some role for the best man at the wedding. What then does the best man do on the part of the groom? It turns out that "going to the left" is made legal right at the wedding itself. A man should be sitting next to the groom, the best man, covering all this pair with himself.
A wedding is a very sacred, sacred time, which lays the foundation for the future life of the young. And the more such nuances we remember, the more correctly and competently we will line the perinchka, according to the traditions of the well-known and those that exist specifically in this area, it will only be wonderful.
What should accompany the action of the seating at the table?
Of course, the bride and groom were the first to be brought to the wedding table. The bride, who was preparing to get married, weaved about forty towels, and each of them had its own meaning. The father took a not very long, not very wide towel, tied the hands of the groom and the bride, and beautifully wound them up and seated them in their place. It was, as a rule, a shop, covered with a casing, tied with a red ribbon so that the family had prosperity and children. Then everyone else sat down. The last people to sit down at the table were people of the oldest age - they closed the wedding table with themselves.
Let's go back to the important wedding roles. Who are planted parents and what was their role?
If it happened that the mother was widowed or the parents were divorced, then such a mother could not participate in wedding ceremonies. Today, mothers do not understand and even take offense when they are told that they should recede into the background. Yes, life is very difficult, people can be married in both first and second marriages, and the most important thing is for them to be happy, to find that soul mate with whom they will feel good in life. But in this situation we are talking about the ceremony, about who had the moral right to participate in them, and who did not have such a right.
We are starting a family and want to live happily. The principle of happiness and well-being is constantly traced in all Belarusian rituals. One of the most striking examples is Kolyady: how will you meet new Year, so you will. He had to be met in new clothes, at a generous, rich table and always with his whole family. Everything I want was to be here and now.
The family got together, dressed festively, and at this time the carolers come to the house and begin to sing songs in which wishes sound. The more wishes sounded during the celebration of Kolyada, the richer and happier the family will be.
After the young people left the temple, their holy duty was to come to the cemetery to bow to their deceased relatives. In some regions this was done on Saturday, on the eve of the wedding, but in some it was done even after they left the church. The principle "before myself, - to my ancestors" worked. Before you sit down at the festive wedding table, you had to go and bow to those to whom you owe your life.
In this case, where should the young go after a registry office or a wedding?
Hard to say. Once on television we did a program about weddings, and one viewer was indignant: how are we going to send our daughter-bride to the cemetery on such a solemn, beautiful day? Is our cemetery not a solemn place?
Of course, everyone decides for himself whether to follow this custom or not. But if we stand on the fundamental traditions of our ancestors, we must remember the principle "before ourselves, - to the ancestors." You don't have to go to the cemetery that Saturday, when the young go to the registry office, you can do it the day before, but this visit was mandatory.
If we talk about filling the time that is between the registry office and the table, then we need to go to the burial places of the heroes of the Great Patriotic War: if we start building our lineage, it turns out that in some generation our relatives lie there.
You can object by saying that relatives may be buried far from where you currently live. In this situation, when we bow to any monument to the fallen, we perform the obligatory action that was in the tradition of the wedding - to bow to those to whom we owe our lives.
I have a double attitude towards the Island of Tears, where our young couples go. A grieving mother immediately appears, who did not weep her tears for her son, did not even bury him. Therefore, if you do not have a kinship relationship with those people who are mourned there, then perhaps you should not invade this situation. And in general, the Island of Tears is dedicated to the guys who performed their international duty, and after 15-20 pairs of newlyweds have visited there, bottles are everywhere, plastic cups fly around. All this takes place in a certain frivolous behavior of young people and their friends, and all this offends our traditions. We insult those people in whose honor this monument was created.
We've deviated a bit from the topic. Let's go back to the planted parents.
So, we must remember the principle of reverence for ancestors, wish yourself and your family well-being and happiness, wish the continuation of your kind. And the last principle, very important - like will provoke, attract or create a situation like. Examples can be cited very different: a pregnant woman should not look at various freaks - you will give birth to the same freak. With a pregnant woman, not one of the strongest swear words in the village will say a single swear word - like will cause like.
In this situation, when the mother found herself outside the couple, she could provoke, create a situation of exactly the same share of the child's fate. Therefore, she was carefully relegated to the background, and a happy married couple, who must have had children, was appointed to this place. They chose the ideal couple, whose life they wanted for themselves, to wish their children. And then these planted parents had to perform the ritual actions intended for the parents.
We have already talked a lot about who the matchmakers are, how they were chosen, how they were appointed. Let's talk about what role they play in the wedding, how should they be dressed and why?
Indeed, we talked quite a lot about the role of matchmakers. I repeat that these were worthy people, very respected in the area, people who knew their traditions. It remains to determine the relationship between godparents and matchmakers.
At its best original version was the following. The groom had a godfather, he had a wife, which allowed this couple to become a full-fledged pair of matchmakers.
That is, ideally matchmakers are husband and wife?
Yes, and they made up one pair. But the groom also had godmother, and the godmother also had a husband - this was the second pair of matchmakers. Therefore, at the wedding, the bride had two pairs of matchmakers and the groom had two pairs of matchmakers. Moreover, the bride's wedding was ruled in her house - it was the work of two couples of this party, the groom's house had its own ball, and two second pairs of matchmakers were in command there.
How to understand that the bride's wedding was played in her house?
We have already said that the wedding was once three- or four-day, so the first half, after the young people get married, they came to the bride's house.
In short, ideally there should be four pairs of matchmakers. The most important thing was to observe the unshakable condition - like causes like. Therefore, if the godmother at the time of her goddaughter's wedding was widowed or divorced, she was the most important, most honorable guest, she was necessarily presented with gifts, but she could not play the role of matchmaker, because she was out of the couple. Then a happy married couple was chosen for this place. It's not a secret for anyone that it was the matchmakers who were the most important, the generals at the wedding, the people whose role is played today by the host or toastmaster. And in order to see this main person at the wedding, she and him were tied up with towels.
The matchmaker's knot, which tied the towel, was on the right side, the matchmaker's - on the left. And when this married couple stood next to them, the matchmaker took the matchmaker by the left hand, it turned out that very arch, rainbow, brama, which was always in the center of the wedding.
In Soviet times, a tradition arose to take the matchmaker from the side of the bride, and the matchmaker was appointed from the side of the groom - they broke up the couple. We endlessly walked downward: a three-day wedding became a two-day wedding, there were four pairs of matchmakers and two loaves, and now we have come to the point that on the only wedding day we eat the only biscuit wedding cake. We have reached a minimum, which is why we probably don't need such a number of matchmakers today. And weddings today are ruled not by matchmakers, but by a professional toastmaster.
But the fact is that when the child was baptized, these same godparents carried him to church in their arms. They made their vow: "Yak we will bachyts yago pad vyntsom, so we will bachyts yago pad vyantsom". They must have been at the wedding of the godson or goddaughter. And tying with a towel was a sign of respect and reverence for these same godparents. Even if today our matchmakers are just guests who can do little at the wedding, tying them with a towel is a sacred thing for every godson.
Why today, instead of a towel, the matchmaker is tied with a pink ribbon, and the matchmaker is blue?
This all comes from the Soviet era, when we did not want a village towel, although, in my opinion, it is not possible to replace the most beautiful towel with any ribbon.
As for the color, then, I think, everyone knows what shades modern people mark representatives of sexual minorities. I don't know how much this should be cultivated at weddings. Every year I visit exhibitions of bridal salons, bridal fashion, and I never cease to wonder when the pink and blue ribbons will end, when will we return to beautiful, luxurious, embroidered woven towels with fringes and tassels? Perhaps it's time to move away from pink and blue tones.
All our ribbons are written in the same way - from left to right, so such a ribbon can be tied or stabbed only on the left hand. Then our matchmakers stand like two never intersecting lines, and our "house" will no longer be. But how do these lines not intersect when the matchmakers are husband and wife?
Are you sorry that these traditions are not now in the form in which they were before?
Probably, if it were not a pity, I would not be here. If I hadn’t been the author of eight monographs, today we are preparing the book "Belarusian Wedding: Traditions and Modernity". As long as I live, I will talk so much about what I learned from my relatives, from those people with whom I communicate on expeditions.
I think that we are still returning to those ideals and traditions that were once, because there was nothing but a unifying, creative foundation. They never destroyed anything, but only protected the couple that created their future as much as possible.
If you had a chance to change modern wedding traditions, where would you start?
First of all, I would return to my family: no school, no kindergarten, not a single book and not a single portal will teach people to return to this. When guests come to us, the first thing the hostess worries about is whether there is a bottle in the house. Unfortunately, this is how it happens. And I say: if you put the bottle first on the table, there will be a fight. And if you put bread first on the table, then there will be a song. It is necessary to change the situation, to show the child that bread should be put first on the table covered with a tablecloth, and then everything else. Ten years will pass, and your child will know that it is the bread that should first appear on the table.
You need to change the pros for cons, and you need to start with yourself and your family.
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The main task of drawing up a seating plan for guests is so that all guests have fun and interest, the relatives of the bride and groom get to know each other better, and there was a friendly and positive atmosphere at the banquet. The way your guests sit can have a direct impact on how the wedding will go. Therefore, it is better not to postpone until the last moment drawing up a plan for arranging tables and finding the optimal seating for guests, in which all guests will be comfortable.
Basic table arrangements at a wedding
There are now several basic seating arrangements for guests. The layout of the tables at the wedding depends primarily on the number of guests at the wedding, the size and shape of the banquet hall and, of course, your personal preferences.
When choosing a banquet hall, be sure to find out which tables are available, pay attention to the presence of columns in the hall and differences in floor height, as these issues can significantly limit you in choosing the seating for guests.
Seating guests at a common table
Traditional seating arrangement
This seating method is the simplest and is usually used for weddings with a small number of guests. In the hall there is one long table (i.e. several tables standing close to each other), around which all guests are seated, alternating between women and men. The newlyweds are placed in the middle of the table, while the bride sits to the right of the groom. Traditionally, to the right of the bride is her mother and father of the groom, to the left of the groom is his mother and father of the bride (few people follow this rule now, and they sit witnesses next to the newlyweds who will help during the holiday).
T-seating for guests 
This seating scheme is very popular with us, and is most suitable for small events and small banquet halls. The optimal number of guests for this seating method is 20-25 people. The newlyweds sit at the head of the table, then the guests are located around the table, depending on their age, status and proximity to the young.
Seating guests with the letter P
This seating chart is an alternative to the T seating arrangement and is used when the number of guests ranges between 30-50.
Seating guests with the letter W 
If the number of your invitees is 60 or more, then you can use the seating with the letter S.
European table layouts
This seating scheme for guests implies the arrangement of separate tables in the banquet hall, around which several guests are seated.
European seating methods are beginning to become more and more popular with us, since in this case you can easily seat guests according to their interests, their marital status and age. This will make it much easier for guests to get to know each other better and find common topics of conversation. But so that the guests are not divided into groups of interest, and also communicate with people from other tables, it is worth warning the toastmaster about such seating in advance, so that he will prepare general contests and options for meeting guests. You also need to make sure that everyone sees the newlyweds. To do this, the guests' tables must be arranged in a checkerboard pattern, perhaps it would be better to place the young table not in the center of the hall, but in front of all other tables.
Italian seating for guests
In Italy, it is customary to use tables for 4 guests, while the table for young people is installed on a small elevation so that all guests can see them.
English seating for guests 
The English seating scheme involves the use of round tables around which 8 guests are seated. According to psychologists, this number of people is optimal for creating a group that is comfortable to communicate with each other.
Cabaret 
They also often use a more convenient seating option, in which they try to seat the guests so that no one has to sit with their backs to the newlyweds. To do this, use fewer chairs, but put them in a semicircle. This option resembles the arrangement of tables and seats in a cabaret, which is why it got that name.
Seating for guests "Yolochka"
The herringbone is a cross between European seating arrangements, where separate tables are used, and traditional seating arrangements. The newlyweds sit at a separate table, and the guests are seated at several tables arranged diagonally parallel to each other. With this seating arrangement, guests can see the young people well, and at the same time, there is still free space in the center of the hall for approaching the bride and groom.
Wrong herringbone 
Please note that this is not the right option, since half of the guests will sit with their backs to the newlyweds!
American seating
Arrangement of tables "buffet" 
At American weddings, buffet seating is also used. Long tables with treats are placed along the perimeter of the hall, and each guest can calmly come up and choose the dishes that he likes best. Guests are seated on long, parallel tables spaced with sufficient distance between them for guests to conveniently approach the table with drinks and meals. For the young, a separate table is set. With this method of seating guests, or rather organizing meals, the cost of the banquet will be slightly lower. Since fewer waiters are required and guests will be more free to choose their dishes. On the other hand, it is imperative to take care not to form "food queues", especially when guests are just starting to eat. Also, many guests may disapprove of self-service.
Table arrangement "buffet" 
If you are not ready to spend money on organizing a large banquet, or there is no time for a banquet (you immediately want to fly to honeymoon trip), then you can consider the option of holding a wedding reception. At the same time, there may not even be chairs at all, and the hall will only have tables with drinks and snacks.
After you have decided on the layout of tables at a wedding banquet, which is most suitable for your event and the number of guests, you need to decide which of the guests will sit at which table and where. To make the holiday fun and everyone feels at ease, you should use the basic seating rules. We offer you the most important tips, which we hope will help in such an important matter.
- It is best to alternate between men and women, and according to the rules of etiquette, men are usually seated to the left of women.
- Make sure that all guests have a good view of the newlyweds. Sometimes it is better to put an additional table, rather than trying to fit all the guests at one table.
- Close relatives of the bride and groom must be honored with attention and seated in places next to the young.
- Relatives should preferably be seated according to the proximity of kinship and age. Parents to sit with their parents, the elderly with the elderly.
- Dignitaries should also be seated closer to the newlyweds, showing their respect for them. But at the same time, you should not put them at a table where only relatives will sit - there they may feel uncomfortable. Better to place them at a separate table or next to close friends of the bride and groom.
- Divorced friends who do not get along well should be seated at different ends of the hall and warn in advance that both of them will be present.
- If one of the guests comes without a pair, it is worth picking up a free interlocutor for him, and not placing him with married couples or a group of old friends.
- On the one hand, it is better not to separate close friends and colleagues at work - they are used to celebrating all the holidays together. On the other hand, you don't want your friends to communicate only with each other, forgetting about other guests? Our advice is to put a group of friends or colleagues next to each other together with another small group of friends. This will give the friends of the bride and groom a very good opportunity to get to know each other.
- Etiquette requires couples to sit opposite each other, but they are usually seated side by side. There is already your choice, in the first option they will be able to communicate more with other guests, in the second case, they may be more familiar and more comfortable.
- Guests who are unfamiliar to each other who will sit next to each other must first be introduced to each other. If you have time before the wedding, it would be nice to have a dinner together, where your guests could get to know each other in advance.
- Pay attention to the temperament of individual guests - you should not sit at one table with several merry fellows and cheerleaders, and at the other calm and uncommunicative people.
- Make sure that the interests of the neighbors on the table somehow coincide and they are interested in together.
- For the children present, you can organize your own separate table, so it will be more interesting for them and they will feel independent. But if there are few children at the wedding, then they can be safely planted next to their parents.
- If you have foreign guests at your wedding, make sure that they sit next to your English-speaking neighbors (or guests speaking their own language).
The rules of conduct for newlyweds and their parents do not differ much from general rules, but there are some features inherent in this particular solemn moment.
So, firstly, invitation cards must contain the name of the guest, the date, time and place of the wedding. If something was not indicated in the invitation, then it is necessary to indicate in writing directly in them or orally that this information will be communicated additionally and be sure to clarify in what way.
Having marked the painting with a glass of champagne, the wedding cortege goes to the city, to be photographed and "whet" the appetite before. It should last no more than three hours, so as not to tire the guests, and the newlyweds themselves.
And finally, at the end of the banquet, the young people must thank all the guests for coming to the wedding, and for. In addition, it is advisable for the newlyweds to come up throughout the day and thank each guest for the presence on this fateful day for them. This will not only observe etiquette, but also honor the guests.
And remember, all the rules of etiquette are written by practice and convenience and are logically explainable. Therefore, in any situation, one must be guided by reason and the culture of behavior accepted in society.
