Getting an amazing wedding table arrangement that suits all of your wants and needs can be difficult.
The term arrangement itself can cover a wide variety of meanings around your wedding tables.
It can mean how you have your tables set up in your room, how you arrange the actual cutlery and crockery on your table, or even the actual seating plan for your guests.
In this article we will touch upon everything to do with your wedding table arrangements from decoration to seating plans and to more conventional ideas such as the number of tables, chairs and cutlery.
Decorate tastefully and to your theme
Perhaps the main consideration for most wedding planners, brides and grooms is how you are going to decorate your tables.
Whilst this can be a very broad subject, you will always want to tastefully decorate your table to match your theme.
Your theme may be just the colour of the flowers you choose to have on your tables, or it could be actual items of decoration. This can include anything from pirate hats to fake birds, literally anything that fits them theme of your wedding.
Some of the more popular wedding table decorations include:
- Flowers and floral centre pieces
- Confetti and petals
- Table numbers
- A form of lighting (jars, lanterns, candles)
- Name cards and placement markers
The last item on this list, name cards, are an important part of your wedding table arrangement. When you make your own wedding table arrangement you need to create a detailed seating plan, which leads us on to our next point…
Creating a detailed seating plan
As previously mentioned this can be one of the most important aspects of your entire wedding reception. Making sure that you have positioned people correctly is one of the first things to consider when starting your wedding table arrangement.
For example, if you know that there are two guests who will be attending your wedding that do not get on, your seating plan can avoid any potentially awkward situation that could arise.
When you have found the perfect table layout for your venue splitting certain people up, or even grouping certain people together, can give your reception the perfect atmosphere you are looking for.
Depending on the amount of guests you have attending you will also have to consider social distancing during your reception depending on government restrictions.
Adapting your seating plan and table arrangement around this is a good way to comply with guidelines. Your wedding venue should also be aware of the restrictions that they have to adhere to and will be on hand to help you out on this.
Make sure you have enough table space and seating
Some practical considerations can often be overlooked. When you are planning your wedding table arrangement it can be easy to get caught up around the top table (where the bride, groom, parents etc are sat).
You never want to be caught in a situation where you are having to ask your wedding venue whether they have any spare tables and chairs sitting around.
This is why it is so important that you have ‘contingency’ seating and tables on hand, just in case.
If you have thoroughly planned out your seating plan then this should not be an issue, but planning does not always equal results on the day.
If you are in need of any tables for your weddings feel free to browse our table hire service that we provide. We supply a wide variety of tables of different shapes and sizes that would give you and your guests plenty of space.
Seating should also be a major consideration when you make your own wedding table plan. It is all well and good having plenty of table space, if you do not have the seating to go around you can find yourself, and your guests, put into an awkward position.
We also have a chair hire service that can provide you with all of the seating you need for your wedding. It is a great idea to hire more chairs than the number of guests you have attending to ensure you will have more than enough to go around.
How to set a wedding table
There are a lot of different ways to set a table. But learning how to set a wedding table is something that you, your wedding planners and your venue should know how to do.
Whilst the style of table setting varies based on location, there are certain standards that should be met on your wedding table arrangement.
From left to right, the order of your table placement should be:
- Butter knife and side plate
- Side/starter fork
- Table/main fork
- Dinner plate
- Napkin (on top of dinner plate)
- Dessert fork (above dinner plate)
- Dessert spoon (above dinner plate and above dessert fork)
- Table/main knife (right hand side of dinner plate)
- Side/starter knife
- Soup spoon
You should always keep a lot of spare sets of cutlery on hand just in case of droppages or anything that could make them unusable.
Thankfully at Top Table we have a great selection of cutlery that is readily available to hire for your wedding.
If you have any questions around any of the wedding table arrangement tips that we have outlined, or if you would like to learn any further information around any of our hiring services that we offer please feel free to get in touch with us today.