The wedding plan needs a lot of work, especially if you don’t have a wedding planner and you’re on a tight budget. And laughable as others think it to be, included in the wedding plan is the wedding seat plan.

Assigned seating is important, especially if you will have more than 50 guests coming. Sure, it would be more of a chore for the organizer (with a limited budget, that would be you) but the benefits you and your guests will get will outweigh the work.

Here are the reasons why you need it:

• In a choose-your-seat setting, it takes a lot longer for guests to look for a seat and may still be milling around when the food is already being served.
• Coats, bags and/or scarves may be used to “save” chairs and places – making your perfectly planned reception look turn into a big, spacious clothes room.
• Couples can get split up – which is not good since you invited them as a couple, they should eat, dine and be merry with you as a couple and not be 10 miles away from each other during the festivities.
• Some people scamper for good seats, oftentimes unaware that you have other VIPs as your guests.
• Due to instance mentioned above, your VIPs lose their seats and are forced to look for and occupy seats that are too far away from bride and groom.
• Speaking of VIPs – usually, they have a different set menu than other guests. The wait staff may get confused on whom to serve the special menu to. Wouldn’t you be bright red if you happen to glance upon your VIP munching on buttered vegetables while a co-worker chomps on a huge piece of prime-rib steak?
• Some uninvited guests may turn up at the site, thereby displacing your invited, lawfully-there guests of their sets.
• Elderly relatives and guests may end up taking the back seat – they may not be able to see or hear parts of your wedding program.
• The last guests – and some of the late ones – may end up looking for seats in a bewildered or awkward manner. (Kind of reminds you of a school outcast looking for a decent place to sit in a crowded cafeteria.)

Your wedding should have a plethora of good memories … for you, your groom and your guests. Don’t let something such as a seating arrangement mar everyone’s perception of a wonderful, love-filled wedding day.