Seating Chart Wording and Layout Ideas for NZ Weddings

A seating chart is one of the few pieces your guests actually stand in front of and read, properly, before they sit down. It is worth getting the wording and the layout right, not just the design.

Captured by Jonny Scott Photo

Getting the wording right

Use full names rather than first names alone, particularly if you have more than one guest sharing a first name, which happens more often than couples expect. It saves someone standing at the chart wondering which Sarah is which.

Keep table labels simple and consistent, numbers or names, not a mix of both. If you are using named tables, list the name clearly alongside the guests assigned to it, rather than assuming everyone already knows which table is which.

Getting the layout right

Group guests by table rather than listing everyone alphabetically across the whole chart. It is far easier to scan for one table's worth of names than to hunt through a long alphabetical list under pressure, with people waiting behind you.

Balance is worth thinking about too. A chart with six names down one side and eighteen down the other reads as lopsided at a glance, even before anyone starts reading it. Where table sizes vary a lot, it is worth discussing layout with us early, since it changes how the piece is designed rather than something to adjust at proof stage.

Captured by Luisa Apanui

Choosing your material

Seating charts come in both rigid and fabric options. Rigid signage, on foam board or Signex, gives a clean, flat finish that stands on an easel. Fabric seating charts, on white linen or a cotton-linen blend, are made to hang, with a raw cut edge, a hemmed edge, or a pole pocket depending on how you plan to display it. I go into both materials properly in Wedding Signage NZ: Fabric or Rigid, and What Each Venue Needs.

Ready when you are

If you have a guest list and a rough idea of table numbers, that is enough to start the conversation. Our enquiry page is the place to send it through.