Mixing up wedding guests

I'll be mixing everyone up but I will consider the guests' interests and age as I do it , My great aunt will be sat with an elderly family friend of my OH's parents this way the will at least come from a similar era in time so there fore will have things in common.

I actually think doing it the way you are suggesting will end up with you moving people around anyway.

L x

Personally I wouldnt be that happy to go to a wedding and be out on a table completely of people that I didnt know. How about half and half?

Bad idea, if I went with my fiance to a wedding I'd expect to sit next to her.

The times I've seen this done before the guests ignored the table plan and sat where they wanted to.

Most guys aren't especially talkative either and you'll make them feel uncomfortable undoing any intentions you may have about creating an atmosphere.

I wouldn't sit couples opposite each other either in case your tog wants to go around and get table shots between courses. People will have to get up and move etc.

We would be keeping all couples together just mean mixing up my family adn his family and some ofour friends, eveyoe has met everyone at some stage just thinking that this gives them mor of an opitunity to get to know each other better.

My gut instinct is that to draw names from a hat is lazy! Table plans can be a right pain to do (although mine only took a couple of hours) but it's really worth the time and effort of careful planning to create a great atmosphere. We didn't sit everyone in the 'obvious' groups, splitting people into smaller groups, but it wasn't random. We took what we knew about ages, interests, jobs, where they were from/grew up and so on to craft our plan! It seemed to work well...

Yep, agreed. My OH wanted to do this for ours, and I firmly put my foot down. We went to a wedding the other week where we were sat at the same table but several seats away from each other. Also, people that knew each other were placed at different tables. I hated it. To me, going to weddings today means not only getting to see the bride and groom but also getting to see old friends who might live far away. While seeing the bride and groom is the primary benefit, they're not going to get to spend much time with guests.

Sorry, but im another one who doesn't like it! I don't even really like it when I go to weddings and i'm say with OH and only one other couple I know! I know that is the norm to get people mixed up and chatting to each other but to be honest i'd really rather just sit with all the people I know and haven't seen for a whole (or even have seen but want to catch up with etc!) I know that doesn't work as there will always been some people who don't know anyone etc and so its not fair to sit them in a group of friends and so I guess that's where table plans come in! I can imagine ours will take a lot of time to work out but I'm definitely going to keep people with a few friends they know where possible and then put people with similar ages, interests etc together.

We're only having a small wedding and we're keen to get people talking to each other. We've decided that in the time between the ceremony and the wedding breakfast, we're going to host a mini pub quiz at the reception to encourage people to talk. Plus both his friends and my friends are very fond of a good old pub quiz so we know people will have fun ?

We thought about mixing our guests up, we even bought a load of social stirrers. Then about I thought how I would feel having to be sat with strangers all day and we changed our minds

I like this, it's quite an awesome idea.

Honestly? I would hate this.

I would expect to sit next to my husband. I like to catch up with friends at weddings, not make small talk with people I don't know.

I'm afraid I would hate it too. I would much prefer to be sat next to my husband than a random, especially if I didn't know anyone else there. I don't think your guests would be too happy about it either I'm afraid.

Can I just say that I think Rach was putting couples together but randomising them with other couples....

We put groups together but then mixed in odd couples. I filled a table with college friends but put in a couple that I knew from a previous job. I had a uni friends+ work friends+ MrMinis friends who I knew would have similar interests and 2 couples have hit it off so well they are now going on holiday together next year.

You need to match personalities and interests I think to ensure there is a decent atmosphere.

My faMily and oh's family are soooooooooooooooo different I don't think this would work for us! Our friends probably would be ok to split up and mix as they've probably all met each other somewhere before and are same kind people!

I also feel that this probably isn't the best idea, if you're going to put couples with others they don't know it should be carefully planned so they're with people they're likely to get on with, otherwise it could be awkward.

I really wouldn't bother. People are good friends/ close family for a reason. Let them sit with people they know and get on with and have a good time.

My cousin did this at her wedding, mixed everyone up, but, because I was single at the time, I got put at a table where I knew no one and yet everyone else was put in couples and the other important people at the head table. I was really upset and refused to sit at a table where I knew no one and felt really uncomfortable. It was done deliberately, to try and set me up with a man, yet to me, it was quite thoughtless act tbh. I did eb=ventually sit at a table with a few relatives at it. Yes it's good to mix people up, but you will be better off taking your time over itand thinking about who to put with who, rather than just picking names out of a hat,

I think part of the fun of weddings is meeting and talking to people you don't know. I've had a much more enjoyable time at wedding where we have been mixed up a bit. It makes you to talk to new people and it's only for a couple of hours anyway. People will be able to talk to their group of friends before and after the cermony, during the drinks reception/photo session and then again during the evening reception. I don't think people will be counting the minutes until the reception is over! We'll be mixing tables half and half, so on most tables there will be 2 sets of 4 people who know each other, one set from each side.

We've kept families together, but in doing so have had to mix it up a bit to get the right number on each table (as capacity is tight). Where we've had to put together people who don't know each other, we've tried to make sure they have things in common- ages, children, and yes we have a dreaded 'singles' table! But we haven't stuck anyone on their own on a table with no-one they know..

We didn't have a table plan at all and just let people sit where they chose. It worked out really well - some sat with their own sort, others (mainly friends) mixed in and our two rather disparate families didn't have to mix at all!!

It's only for one afternoon and we trusted our guests to do what made them happiest.

We, however, had a sweetheart table for two and that was the best bit of all!

I think you would end up with people on a table all got on and loved it, and then other ackward tables were it dosen't quiet work. If you want to mix it up I think it needs to be thought through and not random.

I normally end up going and chatting to my friends on other tables or people I have met on the hen do between courses or after desert, as it is at most weddings I have been to - so I wouldn't worry to much. Though I will be mixing up my tables somewhat so I don't have the people that don't know anyone table (always a bit obvious) i do think its important to keep groups somewhat together - as people have said I am also there to catch up with some old friends.

Exactly this with the exception that my wedding hasn't happened yet so I can't comment on how they mixed.

There will be some mixed where there are people who don't know a whole table of people.

I would really struggle with this as a guest, especially if I wasn't sat next to my OH. I'm quite quiet, especially with people I don't know & I'd feel like crying! I think it's okay maybe putting a few people who know each other on a table with a few others that know each other. It may be that everyone got talking & it be great or two groups would form & that too would be okay.

We're going to a wedding in December of a colleague of my OHs. They aren't based in same place & I've never met her. I'm actually dreading it. It can't be helped in this situation but if there were people there we were friends with I'd feel much more at ease sat with them.

Me and my OH spent hours putting our table plan together. Couples/families were kept together. Then we made sure that everyone on each table knew at least one or two other people that were on their table and made sure they were close enough together to ensure they could talk to each other. When we had a mixture of my and my OH friends we made sure we had similar age groups seated at the same table who had similar interests/backgrounds.....hopefully this will work

On my Hen weekend hardly any of the group knew each other- however they got on so well that I've sat them on the same table with their other halves- those who I've told about this are really pleased!!

I'd say do it but put couples names on the same piece of paper so they are sat together, and once you've picked out the hat do a bit of moving around to make sure no one is sat at a table full of strangers.

I think that it is always a nice and interesting idea but personally, i would maybe prefer half and half. I am a really shy person and would hate to feel awkward and uncomfortable at someone's wedding. I would feel more comfortable if i was with my partner, and that might help to promote more conversation rather than each person being there individually.