Post # 1

Member
4583 posts
Honey bee
So we’re doing a sweetheart table and can’t agree on where to seat our bridal party/family. My plan was to:
1. Seat my parents, grandmother and Maid/Matron of Honor (my aunt-in-law) and her husband (my uncle) and their kids together.
2. Seat his parents and grandmother with several of FMIL’s siblings.
3. Seat the rest of our bridal party and SOs (including FSIL) all together.
Well, my Fiance disagrees with seating the bridal party together. He wants to seat his sister with cousins, his Bridesmaid or Best Man with other mutual friends, etc.
How are you all handling bridal party seating?
Post # 3

Member
408 posts
Helper bee
I’ve only been to one wedding that had a sweetheart table instead of a head table.
From what I remember…the bridal party seemed to be seated with their friends/gf/bf etc. They were spread out between all the tables pretty much, as if they were any other guests at the wedding. If I did this though, I’d make sure all their tables were close to mine for speeches and such.
But like I said, I’ve only been to one wedding that did it this way.
Post # 4

Member
289 posts
Helper bee
We are having a sweetheart table as well. Our reception will be open seating except for a few tables reserved around us for family, and the bridal party is family so they will be there as well. I would think that your bridal party would want to sit with their friends/dates, but just make sure they know to sit close to you, or assign them seating around you.
Post # 5

Member
964 posts
Busy bee
Having a sweetheart table as well…my bridal party is all family so they will be seated with their date at the family tables
Post # 6

Member
3314 posts
Sugar bee
We had a sweetheart table as well and for the bridal party, I basically sat them where it made the most sense to me. The gm’s were both family (my husband’s brothers) and I seated them at the table for DH’s immediate family. My Maid/Matron of Honor was a friend and I sat her at the table next to my immediate family with some other good friends of mine. My other Bridesmaid or Best Man is my SIL (married to my brother) and she and her daughter (flower girl) were seated with my immediate family. I wanted everyone to be able to sit with their families/friends, so this was the best way for me to do so.
Post # 7

Member
14419 posts
Honey Beekeeper
I split up the bridal party and seat them with mutal friends/family. There’s no real reason to seat them together unless at a head table with you if they aren’t really that close.
Post # 8

Member
1137 posts
Bumble bee
i’m not sure what a sweetheart table is but i’ll google it in a minute, i’m seating my mum and her hubby and fiances parents and my son on the top table and all wedding party members will be seated with the imediate family or closest friends….. or that the seating plan i’ve come up with this week lol, it may change.
🙂 now to find out what a sweetheart table is 🙂
Post # 9

Member
164 posts
Blushing bee
We are having a sweetheart table. On either side of us will be 2 round tables for the bridal party and thier guest/SO. Everyone else will be able to sit where they would like.
Post # 10

Member
1137 posts
Bumble bee
right now i know what one is….. seems rather lonely in my opinion, …. but each to their own.
Post # 11

Member
955 posts
Busy bee
We did a sweetheart table and then broke the bridal party up so they could sit with people they knew.
Post # 12

Member
4583 posts
Honey bee
Thanks for all the replies. It sounds like my Fiance may be right about something for a change! I do plan to have our Maid/Matron of Honor and Bridesmaid or Best Man sit at tables close to ours for the speeches, but beyond that, it seems like Fiance is right in that it’s better to break up the bridal party into different tables so they can be with people they know rather than have them all at the same table.
Post # 13

Member
65 posts
Worker bee
This would have been useful last week when I was doing our seating arrangement! We’re having a sweetheart table and we just mixed our bridal party in with people they are friendly with. I like it because then the guests of the bridal party aren’t by themselves the whole night!
Post # 14

Member
526 posts
Busy bee
We are seating the bridal party wherever we would seat them if they were guests. A lot of them are family, so they will be with other family members, and the ones that are friends will be with their SO’s and other friends. For me, this was one of the major bonuses of the sweetheart table, because we’re not leaving all the bridal party members’ guests alone.
Post # 15

Member
4583 posts
Honey bee
It was never a question that our bridal party would sit with their spouses. I had just originally planned to do a table setup like this: Best Man + Bridesmaid #2 (married couple), Groomsman #1 + wife, Groomsman #2 + wife, Bridesmaid #1 (FI’s sister) + boyfriend. And my Maid/Matron of Honor would be at a nearby table, as she has a large family.
But we instead decided to put the Best Man and one Groomsman + spouses with other mutual friends, the other Groomsman + wife with other couples they’ll get along with (they don’t know any of our other friends that well) and FI’s sister + boyfriend with some of her favorite cousins.
I think everyone will be happiest this way. Thanks for the help, ladies – our seating chart is finally finished!
Post # 16

Member
54 posts
Worker bee
Everyone in our bridal party is either family, or married. So we are doing a sweetheart table, with four bigger round tables around us, full of family and bridal party members.