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My option isnt up there. At my wedding we will have a head table with Bride, groom, Moh, Best man, and both sets of the parents. The rest of the bridal party will sit together at a round table of 8, this way they can mingle more with their friends or dates.
Could you put 3 or more rectangle tables together to make a squarish shape? Have a nice centerpiece at that table and it could kind of be like having a larger round table.
For what it's worth, I was just at a wedding with a sweetheart table and I don't think anyone stared at them throughout dinner. I know the only time I paid attention to them was during the speeches. Therefore, I don't think that having a sweetheart table means that you'll totally be the center of attention the whole time. Other than the fact that it's your wedding so you'll be the center of attention at all times.
I've also been thinking about this and go back and forth between the sweetheart option and the sitting with our parents. It all depends on the table sizes at my venue. Otherwise, I find giant head tables really annoying. In the end, you really can only talk to the person on either side of you so it's not like you're making this giant inclusive space. But that's just my opinion.
I said large head table, except we didn't have everyone sit on just one side. Instead, we had everyone sitting all the way around. Then, people can talk to more than just the guests on each side of them.
We are sitting at a regular round table for ten. We have a huge wedding party so we decided that our table will have the best man, maid of honor and their dates and our siblings and their dates. that comes out to 10 people. that way it's fair and no one in the bridal party feels slighted.
I will say that i was in a wedding not so long ago where they also sat at a regular table and picked single bridal party members to sit with them. I was not at that table but rather at a nearby table with my close friends and FI and I didn't feels slighted at all. it was just logistics.
yep we 'chose' certain wedding party members to sit with us. The others were kinda all in separate groups so it was cool. The groomsman all sat together at a table next to us with their people and friends. My brothers sat with the cousins at another table. Some of the bridesmaids sat with us and our parents/grandparents all sat together and another table. Really its no big deal since you won't be sitting there all night!
We are doing a Head Table with just US and both of our parents on each side of us! =)
I totally prefer a sweetheart table for two reasons:
1. It allows some time to just be alone together. The day will be so crazy and there will be so many people to talk to that it would be nice to have a few minutes just the two of us.
2. Being at a head table is no fun for your bridal party or their dates. We've all been there where we are the date of someone in the bridal party and you are forced to sit by yourself with a bunch of people you probably don't know all that well. Or on the other side you are in the bridal party and you might not know the rest of the bridal party that well and you would so prefer to be sitting with your date.
We are doing a sweetheart table with two round tables on either side of us. One will be the bridesmaids and their dates and the other the groomsmen and their dates.
i really wanted to do a big head table with my whole wedding party and date - problem was not all my wedding party had dates and didnt want it to look weird or some of them feel alone up there so i ended up just having 6 of us up there. me and my husband, my MOH and her boyfriend and the best man and his wife - we had thought of putting parents up there but we thought they would prefer to be with their siblings and other family rather than sit us - we were up and down the whole time anyway.
i love the idea of a sweetheart table too but as much as i like a little bit of attention i didnt want that much attention on just the two of us as we are stuffing our faces haha.
I chose sweetheart table. We sat at one and we did not feel like the center of attention at all. Its not like the table is in the middle of the dance floor on its own. I really enjoyed being able to eat in peace with my husband and not having to talk to other people. It was one of the few times that my husband and I had alone time and I really enjoyed it!
You will hardly sit at your wedding reception, so don't worry about being in the spotlight all night. We had a sweetheart table, but we were actually seated for 15 minutes, tops, including speeches and eating.
Honestly, with a sweetheart table I feel like it draws LESS attention to you. We'll be doing one and I usually recommend them to my brides and grooms.
It gives you time to talk, to eat, and have some peace and enjoy the moment... but also allows you to get up and greet people whenever you want without feeling like you're abandoning the rest of your table.
It makes it less awkward for the rest of your table during toasts - no one is taking loads of pictures of them trying to figure out how to look at you without makng a funny face :)
And with today's families and bridal parties a lot of times it's just easier!
Good luck :)
I am going to say Sweetheart table. My FI is also against it because he doesn't want to be the center of attention, but previous posters are absolutely right. You're not going to be sitting hardly at all and it takes away the stress of who to sit with. This way you eat real quick and circulate, giving equal time to all your guests!
I think your best bet is the sweetheart table. Like you, we wanted our wedding party to sit with dates and friends so we split them up and put them at the tables near to us. Like PPs have mentioned, no one starred at us other than the toasts and it was nice to have a few minutes to chat and take it all in. We spent most of dinner away from our table anyway so it worked out fine.
I also hate being the center of attention, but we had the same issue with wanting our bridal party to sit with dates so there wasn't room at a normal table for us all. We went with a sweetheart table, and I loved it! We didn't sit in the front of the room for all to see, just kind of off to the side. It was nice b/c with all the hectic crazyness going on, we had a few minutes to just sit and eat dinner together.
THANKS so much to everyone who voted and commented. I hadn't considered all of the positive aspects of the sweetheart table up until now. I think I'll ask my FI to read your comments and then we're reevaluate what feels best :-)
We had a sweetheart table and never sat at it!!! We were up and around greeting guests, dancing, etc the whole night. We had our BP sit with SO at a round table next to us (8). The only time we sat there was for dinner and the toasts. I did not feel in a fishbowl at all. For us it was the best solution.
We are doing the large table with the wedding party and their dates. Like another poster mentioned, we'll also situate everyone around the table that way everyone can socialize with each other. I've never been a fan of the sweatheart table. I see the reception as a time to enjoy my time with family and friends. We have the rest of our lives to be "alone." I want to be where the party is at!!! ha ha
i voted head table.... i think you should put 2 rectangular tables together, but not in the traditional fashion where everyone faces one direction. instead make it like an oversized square table.... this is what my friend did at her wedding. you and your FI can sit at one end together facing the rest of the room and the wedding party & their dates sit on the other 3 sides of the "square" around you.Depending on how big these tables are you can even put MOH and BM next to you at the head of the table. The rest of your guests will still be able to see you during toasts etc, and your wedding party will be able to have nice conversation space during the meal.
i'm surprised this option has gotten the least votes, but we sat at a normal table--with our parents, our best man and his gf, and moh and her bf. i thought it was perfect. that way we had a few quiet minutes to eat with our favorite people before mingling with the rest of the guests. the rest of our wedding party sat with their dates at other tables, seated with their other friends. i thought it was perfect. i'm not a fan of the traditional head table, and honestly, i just don't like the idea of a sweetheart table--the reason to have a wedding imo is to celebrate with all the people you love, if you wanted to be alone, why not just elope? i can see it making sense if there are complicated family issues, like divorced parents who can't stand to be at the same table (my bro and sil had that issue) but for us, we wanted to spend a few special moments with the people we love most (aside from each other ;) )
I did what
@bells: is doing, and I hope it works for you, hon, cos it didn't work for us! The Best Man was all offended on behalf of my two bridesmaids and the two groomsmen that they weren't sitting at the top table, and a mess in table alignment - totally my fault, I didn't explain it clearly when I was delegating - meant the family tables got split up wrong and bms weren't sitting with their partners. We had all rectangular tables, though, so it was easier to run tables together to suit different groups, so they did work it out, but I did have one bm sniping at me about it.
I wholeheartedly recommend that you go for the sweetheart table if you can convince himself. It's pretty much my biggest regret that I didn't push for it - there would've been no family drama if I had, but of course the reason I didn't was to avoid family drama!
It'll give you a few quiet minutes to eat together - the only alone time we got all night was the first dance, and you're really the centre of atention for that!
we're doing a sweetheart table. FI also doesn't like to be the center of attention, but the way I see it, and from what i've heard/noticed from other weddings, we won't be sitting much. you sit to eat, but you have to eat first and kinda fast so you can get up and start saying hello to everyone! and, we plan on dancing most of the night anyway. You're going to be the center of attention whether you're at a small table or not. it's your wedding!
We struggled with this for a while. I was opposed to a head table from the beginning. I don't like people staring at me (especially while eating!) and thought that splitting dates was rude.
I wasn't for the sweetheart table setup because I wanted to be with our best friends while we ate and I would have lots of "alone" time with my FI after the big day. We only get married once and wanted to make the most out of it!
I was really struggling with it when I stumbled upon the King's Table option. It is perfect for us! We are putting a long table in the middle of the room (vertically, not horizontally like a traditional head table). The Bridal Party and their dates will sit on both sides. Mr.Beach and I will sit at the head of the table, side by side. This way the entire room has a good view of us but we aren't "on display" at the front of the room. Also having people on both sides of the table makes it more like a regular dinner than a head table.
**Ignore the second part of the picture....the first shows what our Kings table will look like.
we're going through this debate at the moment, FI and I would like a sweetheart table, so we can get some quiet time just us, even if its only for a few minutes!- but my Parents and future In-Laws want us all to be on a table together as it is our two families combining, not just us! its a tricky one, we havent come to any concrete arrangements yet!
Another advantage of the sweetheart table (my vote and what we're doing) is that, should you and/or your new husband decide to get up during the meal -- restroom, greet a guest, talk to the DJ or DOC, whatever -- you won't be ignoring the guests seated at your table. It's got to be a little frustrating for the wedding party or parents seated with the bride and groom when they're always getting interrupted for whatever reason, and almost defeats the purpose of sitting with anyon in the first place.
You cna always situate the small sweetheart table in a location of your choosing, and that can be a little more privately and out of the way if you'd like. You don't have to sit in the middle of the dance floor or anything! :D
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Hi Hive,
My FI and I are debating seating arrangements for the reception. Our venue uses 10-person round tables as their main guest tables, although I just learned they got some new rectangle tables that can also seat 10. Our guests will all be at 10 person rounds. Since we want our wedding party members to get to sit with their dates, we don't want a traditional head table. So, the way I see it, we have three options:
1) The sweetheart table. This idea doesn't really appeal to my FI at all because he doesn't like being the center of attention and feels like he would be uncomfortable. I tend to agree, although I'd be personally fine if we went this route. The added benefit is that if we sit at a sweetheart table, we don't have to struggle with deciding who to sit with :-)
2) At a regular round table for 10. Our wedding party has 8 people in it, not counting their dates, so, if we sit at a round table for 10 people, we would have to pick and choose among our wedding party members and not everyone would "get" to sit with us. This seems like it would be pretty tough. How would we choose which couples to include?
3) Put two of the rectangle tables together to accomodate the whole wedding party, their dates, and us. This way, we don't have to choose who to sit with and our wedding party still gets to sit with their dates. But would it look weird to have guests at rounds, and us at a big, long rectangle?
As an aside, a friend suggested that we sit with our parents/siblings at a table for 10 and then seat the wedding party with their own friends at other tables. But our parents don't get along the greatest and have already said they want to sit with their friends, so doing a 10 person family table just isn't an option.
THANKS for your help!