Sit Down and Relax: 6 Event Seating Tips to Keep in Mind
Not all events require a seating plan, but if you’re planning one that does, here are the best event seating tips that professional event planners swear by.
Planning an event can feel overwhelming at times.
There’s the venue to find, guests to invite, entertainment to hire, and, sometimes, a team of people to manage in the process. All the while, you’re battling the clock and a small budget on which to do it all!
It’s no wonder, then, that event coordination has been voted 6th on the list of most stressful jobs someone can do!
Are you in the process of planning an event? Well, organizing the event seating plan is probably at the top of your list of stressful things to do.
After all, this can be one particularly soul-crushing task. It’s fiddly, time-consuming, and, quite simply, hard to know who to put where!
Are you looking for some advice to make the whole process a little bit easier? Let us help! Keep reading for six essential tips on creating the best event room seating plan possible.
1. Leverage Technology
The rise of technology and the internet has revolutionized every industry under the sun.
Including event planning! These days, a fancy bit of computer software can take all the struggle out of organizing the seating plan. You’ve got different options at your disposal too.
Seat chart generators provide the perfect example.
These handy programs help you handle the task in seconds. All it takes is the click of a button to set everybody in your guest list at a particular seat. Don’t like the outcome? Mix and match as you see fit.
2. Make Sure People Know Each Other
There’s nothing worse than sitting at an event with a table full of strangers (unless that’s the nature of the event!).
After all, you’re there for a good time. Unless you’re lucky, though, you can end up making small talk the entire time and forcing laughter at bad jokes. It’s more fun when you have at least somebody around that you know and get on well with.
Keep that in mind as you decide the seating plan. Try to place the right people together to ensure that everyone’s close to someone with whom they’re already acquainted.
Got people coming who don’t know anybody? Well, think about any similarities they might share with other guests. They might live in the same place, for example, or have particular interests. If you know this in advance, then you can put them together in the form of ‘event match-making’.
3. Spread the Extraverts Evenly
Have a think about your guest list for the event. Are there certain people who always turn into the life and soul of the party?
You know the ones. They’re the classic extraverts! Always up for a good time- talking, laughing, and getting everybody else involved in the fun. When deciding your seating plan, it can be a good idea to spread these guys around the space.
For example, imagine a wedding reception where guests are sat around the room at round tables. Having at least one happy-go-lucky person at each table would help share the good times out around the venue.
By contrast, putting them all at the same one could lead to a riotous affair in one section of the room, with a relative lack of laughter and entertainment everywhere else.
4. Be Considerate
It’s tempting to rush the seating plan in your bid to get the job done. You settle on a relatively random assortment of spots for attendees and hope everything works out for the best.
Needless to say, it’s far better to think things through!
For example, try to be as thoughtful as possible in terms of certain peoples’ needs at the event. You’d want the wedding party sat next to their families; the elderly churchgoers in church chairs closer to the exits and amenities, and so on.
Think of it like running a risk assessment. You look at the venue and guests and set about organizing them in a way that makes the most practical sense. Think through possible problems, best and worst-case scenarios, and assign places that should ensure the best outcome for everybody.
5. Don’t Stress Too Much!
As we said in the intro, creating an event room seating plan isn’t easy. There’s a host of factors to think about, variables to consider, moving parts to cater for, and possible problems to mitigate.
The bid to find a perfect solution can soon become overwhelming. You can end up spending days trying to put the plan in place- valuable time that could be better spent on the other items on your to-do list.
Avoid that eventuality by taking the pressure off your shoulders. Sure, the seating plan’s important and demands a reasonable degree of thought. But it isn’t the be-all and end-all!
Have a think before you assign the seats, but don’t over-analyze. Do your best and then move onto the next task without letting yourself get overwhelmed.
6. Experiment with Different Seating Styles
Feel free to get creative with your event seating arrangement too.
Many planners jump straight for the classic round table as their go-to. But that’s by no means the only option at your disposal.
Of course, the best layout for the task depends on the event itself. You wouldn’t, for example, have a classroom-type layout for a wedding reception! You might, however, opt for long rows of tables to create a laid-back atmosphere that encourages socializing.
You might also think about horse-shoe shaped layouts for presentations and conferences. Try a cocktail table layout style for an informal atmosphere with intermingling at its heart. And so on.
Reflect on your goals and the nature of the event, and then play around to find a suitable arrangement!
Remember These Event Seating Tips
Event planning can feel like a never-ending stream of stress. And few jobs on your to-do list are more demanding than creating an event seating plan.
What sounds so simple can soon become a nightmare. It can feel like the ultimate responsibility: to put people together in a way that ensures they have a good time! Hopefully, the tips in this post will make the task, and your life, a little bit easier.
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