When to finish your wedding seating plan

The seating plan is one of the last big wedding jobs, because it depends on knowing who's coming. Start too early and you'll redo it. Start too late and you're up at midnight the week of the wedding. Here's a timeline that works for most weddings. Your venue's deadlines come first, so check those before anything else.

Three to four months before: get the facts

You don't need to place anyone yet, but you can collect what you'll need:

• The room layout and table sizes from your venue, including where the top table, dance floor, bar and doors go.
• The venue's deadline for the final seating plan and dietary requirements.
• Your RSVP deadline, usually set six to eight weeks before the day.

With these you can sketch the room and work out how many tables you'll have. Our table calculator helps with the numbers.

Six to eight weeks before: RSVPs and a first draft

Once most replies are in, chase the rest. Then make a first draft:

1. Put guests into groups: families, friends, work.
2. Settle the top table.
3. Place close family near the front.
4. Fill the room group by group.

Our step-by-step guide goes through this in detail.

Four weeks before: review it

Show the draft to your partner and someone from each family. Check the awkward pairings, access needs, and that nobody is isolated at a table of strangers. Make your changes now while they're still easy.

Two to three weeks before: settle it

Aim to have the plan finished. Late changes will still happen, as people drop out or bring a new partner, but they should be small.

This is also a good time to tell any parents or family members where they're sitting, especially if there's a family situation to handle. See seating divorced or separated parents.

One to two weeks before: send it to the venue

Many venues and caterers ask for the final plan around now, often with meal choices and dietary needs marked against each table or seat. Check their exact date and format.

Order or print the table plan and place cards once the plan is final.

The final week: last changes

There's almost always a last-minute change: illness, a plus-one who can't come, a guest who suddenly can. Keep a few spare place cards and a pen, and make sure the venue has the latest version.

On the day

Hand everything over to your venue coordinator or a trusted usher: the table plan, the place cards and the list of high chairs and special requirements. Then forget about it.

If your wedding is small

For a wedding of 30 or 40 guests, you can compress the timeline. You may not need a formal table plan at all: a single long table, or two, with place cards is often enough. The deadline that still matters is your venue's, for numbers and dietary needs.

Dietary requirements

Collect dietary needs with the RSVPs, not later. Your caterer will usually want them against each guest or seat in the final plan, so it's easiest if each guest's needs travel with them on your plan as you move them around.

When someone replies late

Late RSVPs happen. Keep one or two seats free on tables where a late guest would fit in, rather than packing every table to the limit. That way a late yes is a quick change, not a reshuffle of the whole room.

A checklist

• Three to four months before: get the floor plan, table sizes and deadlines from your venue.
• Six to eight weeks before: chase RSVPs and make a first draft.
• Four weeks before: review with your partner and families.
• Two to three weeks before: settle the plan and tell key people where they're sitting.
• One to two weeks before: send it to the venue and print the table plan and place cards.
• Final week: handle last changes and pack the spares.

Keeping it up to date in Seats Plan

Because Seats Plan is online, you can start a draft as soon as RSVPs come in and keep changing it right up to the week of the wedding. Add or remove guests, drag people around, or run Auto-arrange again, and it keeps couples together, keeps groups at the same table where it can, and respects your keep-apart rules. The free plan covers up to 60 guests. Pro removes the limit and prints the plan and place cards.