Sweatheart table

[caribqueen]

Hi! ETA: I'm sorry - I meant SWEETheart, but you get the idea

Do any of you guys know what the seating arrangement is traditionally for the bride and groom at the reception. In other words, what does etiquette say as far as what side of the groom the bride sits during the meal? I know we can do whatever we want, but I'm looking for the traditional structure if anyone knows.

If there's no traditional seating for a sweetheart table that anyone knows of, what about a bridal party head table?

Thanks in advance!

 

[megumic]

I don''t know the traditions behind this at all. But I will say, that I don''t prefer sweetheart tables or head bridal party tables. I think everyone should eat together.

 

[onedrop]

I''m not sure if there is traditional seating for sweetheart tables because it''s a fairly new concept. We had a sweetheart table for our reception. I sat on the left and DH sat on the right if you are facing the table. The bridal party such as it was (we only had two of each) sat at their own assigned tables.

As for head tables for the bridal party, I think the only "tradition" is that the MOH sits next to the bride and the best man sits next to the groom. However I am not sure if there is any real etiquette for head tables. If you have a wedding planner, she/he would know.

 

[Bella_mezzo]

We had 2 captain''s tables for the wedding party ( larger tables but interspersed with all the other tables--we wanted to avoid the "spectator eating phenomena of sweetheart and head tables). We assigned people to tables, but did not assign seats at the tables which everyone loved.

 

[charbie]

I think the man should be to the womans right so she is close to his heart, and so his right hand is free to "defend his woman."

I don''t know that it really matters outside the church tho.
I always thought I wanted a sweetheart table, until DH said, "how many times will we get to eat at a table with our best friends all together? We will get to eat together by ourselves on the honeymoon and beyond."

 

[turboflgrl]

We actually just discussed seating today at our venue and are doing a sweetheart table because we didn''t think it was fair to keep the bridal party away from their dates and didn''t want to sit with one family and not the other. That said, We are going to have the sweetheart table at the head and then two 60" round tables immediately in front which will be my parents and close family on the left and his parents and close family on the right. I will sit in the seat closest to my family and he will sit in the seat closest to his family. Doesn''t really matter in the end but we figured that it would be easier for each family to see "who is who" in a way

 

[caribqueen]

Date: 5/8/2010 11:22:23 PM
Author: turboflgrl
We actually just discussed seating today at our venue and are doing a sweetheart table because we didn''t think it was fair to keep the bridal party away from their dates and didn''t want to sit with one family and not the other. That said, We are going to have the sweetheart table at the head and then two 60'' round tables immediately in front which will be my parents and close family on the left and his parents and close family on the right. I will sit in the seat closest to my family and he will sit in the seat closest to his family. Doesn''t really matter in the end but we figured that it would be easier for each family to see ''who is who'' in a way

We plan to seat our family tables (my parents and sibling and VIPs and his parents and sibling and VIPs) on either side of our sweetheart table so each of us is closest to our respective families.

We''re not doing the bridal party head table so that they can all sit with their significant others and their own families. But I threw it in the post in case there was a tradition as far as what side the bride and groom sits next to each other.

With 225 guests, we wanted to ensure we''d have time to eat and enjoy each other because there will be a lot of people to say hello to throughout the night.


If anyone else has any idea or wants to jump, please...

 

[monkeyprincess]

This is definitely not the kind of the thing where is there is a right or wrong way, but normally, the groom sits on the right side of the table when there is a head table (from the guests persepective) just as when they are standing at the altar. Assuming you are going to be somewhat facing your guests, maybe that''s the way to do it. We too will likely have our own table, as all but one of our wedding party have spouses and children to sit with. We may sit with our mothers instead. (His father passed away and my parents are divorced and I''m not that close to my dad).

 

[violet3]

Date: 5/8/2010 10:16:33 AM
Author: megumic
I don''t know the traditions behind this at all. But I will say, that I don''t prefer sweetheart tables or head bridal party tables. I think everyone should eat together.

I get the idea behind the sentiment above, but then there''s the issue of who''s sitting at the table with the bride and groom. We didn''t really want to have to deal with this, so we had a sweetheart table and the bridal party got two large tables for them and their dates.

I''m not quite sure what the tradition of it is, but if you were facing the table, I sat to the left and DH sat to the right.