When Should We Finalize Our Wedding’s Seating Chart?

It depends on a few factors…

Arranging your seating chart is stressful enough with just family dynamics to consider! Once you add in the timing factor (your vendors will need your seating plans well in advance of your wedding day!), the process can become even more overwhelming to think about. That begs the question: When do you need to finalize your wedding’s seating chart, and will it be possible for us to make last-minute changes?

Here are a few tips on when you should complete your seating chart… plus what to do when you need to do a little eleventh hour rearranging.

While the idea of finishing your seating chart and sending it over to your wedding venues weeks before your wedding sounds nice, it’s not always possible. There are a few other factors that will influence when the final hand-off is possible. For instance, your caterer needs to know your guest’s entrée choices. And secondly, if you’ve hired a calligrapher to create a custom seating chart, she/he will need 2 weeks minimum to create the final seating placement.

If you do have changes due to family dynamics or last minute cancellations, I would do your best to roll with the existing chart as much as possible. One person missing from a table shouldn’t cause too much worry.

Once this is completed you can rest a little easier!