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I'm not sure how young you are talking about here, but if I was bringing a date with me, I would be okay with sitting with other young adults I don't know. If I didn't have a date, I'd prefer to be seated with my parents.
with my parents. i'm usually shy around people my own age, but not with an older crowd.
To clarify...the people I'm referring to are 20 somethings (in fact, I believe it literally ranges from 21 - 29.) Most of them do not have dates, and the ones that do, I'm a lot less concerned about.
I would say with others my age because otherwise I would feel like a tag-along to my parents or be bored.
I went to several weddings in that category when I was that age, and absolutely preferred the ones where I was sitting with others my own age. Not that I don't love my parents, but (at the time, at least!) I saw them all the time, and at family weddings in particular, they were much more interested in catching up with other family/family friends of their generation that they rarely saw. Some of the most interesting people I've met at weddings have been in situations like that, too. It's fun to find out how each person is connected to the couple.
It's also worth bearing in mind that if you seat family 20-somethings with their parents, you may not have a critical mass of childhood friends and others without parents at the wedding to make a full table---it's fun when it's a whole table of randoms and no one knows one another so you have to jump in headfirst, but not so much when it's a table of college friends and one or two extras.
"Young adults" meaning 13-19 would be another story---at that age, I'd have preferred sitting with my parents.
I see my parents all the time and I'm not particularly shy, so I think I'd probably have a better night seated with other adults my age (as long as they didn't all know each other and weren't all cliquey and ignored me all night or anything.) It probably depends on all the individuals involved! Just don't put them at the kids table :)
I think it depends on the person. If you are talking about anyone under 18, then they should be seated with their parents. Anyone older, it depends. Some are more comfortable sitting with their parents or grandparents and others would prefer to sit with someone else their age. There is no one-size-fits-all answer for this because it depends on your guests.
That said, as an adult of any age, you should be able to socialize with strangers and enjoy yourself even if you don't know anyone else, and that applies to anything, not just weddings. Most adults are able to do that with no problem, even if it is outside of their comfort bubble.
Wow, its literally tied up 20-20! Bumping this to get some more input =)
I originally voted with others my age, but that was before I saw that most of them won't have dates - if I didn't have a date, I think I'd be more comfortable seated with my parents.
I think you have to think about the personalities of these individuals (so were you place them may differ for different people).
If they are really outgoing and can typically talk to / make friends with anyone, then put them at a table with other young adults. But if they are normally shy or more reserved until they really know someone well, they're probably going to be more comfortable sitting with their parents. Those with dates should be fine at a table with other young adults either way, but you can also use these couples to make numbers work between young adult tables and parent tables.
I agree with FKMM - think of their personalities - I am outgoing and love meeting new people and so I chose sit with people my age because I would want to meet some friends I could dance all night with ;-) I doubt my parents would be doing that!
But I could see how people with more introverted personalities would want to sit with the people they know even if they are older.
I've been seated at the "young adult" tables before instead of with my parents, and it was always really awkward because it seemed the other "young adults" all knew each other--went to college together, etc.
I'd much rather be with my family. I'm not too cool to be seen hanging with my parents, hehe. ;)
i think it also depends on whether they are out of towners or live somewhere different from their parents. fi and i went to a wedding a couple years ago that my whole family went to, and they sat me and my fi, my bro and sil, and parents all at different tables. and it sucked, bc we all lived in different parts of the country and just wanted to sit together. they were trying to be clever and seat us with people they thought we'd like, but really i just wanted to talk to my family...but then again, i'm kinda a mommy-and-daddy's girl, so i like being with my fam ;)
I agree with Gemstone - do the rest of the '20 somethings' know each other? If everyone knew each other except me, I would feel awkward.
This should depend on two factors:
1) is this person outgoing?
2) does this person live near their parents?
I am outgoing and make friends easily, but I live on the other side of the country from by parents, so I would DEFINITELY want to sit with them.
We had this problem and chose to put people next to people their age we thought they'd have something in common with. My husbands culture is very much about social gatherings being mix and match events and people getting to know each other. We heard really good feedback from everyone and I don't think there are any bffs but a lot of interesting conversations were had with people they were sitting next to even after the dinner was over.
I had someone chatty at each table and asked them to look out for the conversation and even told them about specific people that sometimes are a bit more shy. Completely over the top but it works.
personally i would prefer folks my age, but depends on the actual person, some folks are super shy....
Can you contact these people and ask? Depending on your relationship, sometimes it's perfectly normal to shoot them an email saying "Would you prefer to sit with your parents or with my friends from college?" (Or however you know these people, because sometimes background info helps)
i'm echoing scissors statement, I'd want to sit with my parents too.
I'm fairly outgoing and would be fine at a table of people I didn't know, but would prefer to sit with those I did (even if it's my parents). We don't live in the same city, so that affects it now, but I think it would hold for if we did as well. I, at least, am also interested in seeing family that I haven't seen in a while and would probably end up migrating back to my parents' table after dinner if seated elsewhere.
I would prefer to sit with people my own age, but I'm a total Chatty Cathy and would talk to a wall, if people wouldn't make fun of me for it! I think you should read your crowd, if the people we're talking about are reasonably out-going and not super-duper shy/stuck on being with their parents. then put 'em at a table with others their own age...
Another option would be to just ask these people directly whom they'd prefer to sit with, we did that for a few folks whose parents were invited, but in our case it was the parents who didn't know anyone!
i agree with people who said with parents up to 20/21 but with other young adults in the same situations once im in my 20s. i want to be able to drink and dance and it would be nice to chat with people my own age that i have things in common with. i can be shy but if everyone is sitting at a table in the same situation certainly SOMEONE will say, "Hey, I'm Joe, how do you know the couple? Where did you go to school?" You really only have to be sitting there to eat.. so I would mingle with family if my table became a snoooze.
I just did my seating chart, and like your poll, found the responses divided. I ended up asking the person in the group I was closest to and seeing what they preferred. Everyone was really flexible, but they all had different preferences and I was glad to accomodate those preferences!
Definitely with my own family/parents!
I'm SO shy around people my own age, and for some really weird reason, relate much better to an older crowd and find it easier to break the ice with them.
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As a young adult, if you were invited to a wedding where you didn't really know anybody else in attendance besides the bride/groom and your parents (for example, you are a distant cousin, or a childhood friend who didn't end up attending high school or college with the bride/groom and thus you don't have any mutual friends)...would you rather be seated at a table with other young adults that you don't know, or at a table with your parents and other older folks?
If you couldn't tell, I'm working on my seating chart, and have a handful of great people who I know would probably get along with each other, but I just don't know if they'd prefer being with their parents or with other people their age that they could get to know over the course of dinner. Which would you prefer as a guest?