Wedding Planning Advice :-)

First of all, let me just say that it's a lot of fun wearing a hat like the one below (bought it at Michael's). You don't get to be in that role for very long. I got a kick out of it. LOL

But what you see below is the assigning of tables for the reception. Just in front of my hat is a map of the Union Ballroom with tables in place and numbered.

We numbered each paper plate too and placed it on the table according to the map. Then we placed a post it note with each guest's name on it and fixed it on the plate. You have to rearrange these things a LOT of times. Every change brings about maybe 7 or 8 other changes. Anne read this suggestion somewhere. Moving the post-its is a lot easier than crossing out names on lists!! And if you can't leave them out you can always stack the plates up and spread them out again the next day. Oh, and don't try to stick them around the edge like I first started to do. They stay put much better if you just stick them on the center of the plate.
And leave a lot of time to do this. It takes hours and hours! These are your guests. You want them seated with people they like. Everyone should be with at least some people they know, if at all possible. Proximity to the head table needs to be considered and relatives placed as close to you as you can. You might want dancers near the dance floor. Coffee drinkers near the coffee bar. Relatives you rarely see get placed at or near your table! And don't put together people who don't get along! I left these plates like this for days and each day I usually made a few changes.

Hopefully, the final assignments were the best we could do. I hope so. But you never know how things may change. Four people, for various reasons, could not come even though they had RSVP'd. Would you believe all four were at the same table?? That left one table with only five or six people. Oh well. I hope they enjoyed the company they had. :-)

This was actually a fun part of the planning process that I thought was really important. And with this technique (paper plates and post-its) that Anne had read about, I thought it went quite well.