There’s no right or wrong way to set up your wedding venue’s tables on your big day. While the norm tends to be for round tables that seat approximately 10-12 guests and a long rectangular top table, there’s no reason why you have to go with this formation. Indeed, today many brides and grooms are choosing to set up their rooms differently to reflect their own personal style and taste and to better suit their individual wedding and its needs.

When thinking about the table formations, there’s lots of factors you should consider. First, take into account the size of your wedding and how you’d like to best make use of the space available in your venue. Also make sure to ask the wedding co-ordinator or your wedding planner if your venue offers an alternative to round tables or will you have to hire them in and the associated costs. Next consider who will be at the tables. If you’re likely to have lots of small groups of people who don’t know each other and want to encourage them to break the ice easily or you will have a wedding where almost everyone has already met, then this can have a bearing too. Finally, never underestimate how the table formations will make the room look and feel. You and your partner need to both be happy with the overall look the table arrangements will give the venue. Consider if you’re getting any photos from above, such as from a balcony in the room and how the tables will look.

Here’s a rundown of some of the more popular styles of table arrangements and formations to think about.

In the meantime, if you’d like to discuss this or any aspect of your wedding day plans with me, please feel free to get in touch.

There’s a reason most of us have tables like this in our houses, it’s because they work really well in terms of socialising and eating an enjoyable meal at. They can also make your reception feel really intimate, but bear in mind these tables may have to be hired in which will mean an extra costs, as well as the linens.

These tables have become really popular with barn style and rustic weddings in particular. They are also fantastic for larger numbers. Family style food or sharing plates tend to go really well with this style of seating too and where round tables can tend to take up a lot of space and lead to wasted space, long rectangular tables tend to make the most of the space.

This is a more unusual style of seating and can look truly stunning. It’s almost akin to an old world banquet and will look superb in photos. It also means that no one will have their backs to the top table, which can be awkward when it comes to the speeches.

There’s no rule to say you have to go with just one style of seating. In fact having a mix of square, rectangle or round tables can work incredibly well, both in terms of seating different cohorts of guests and with the aesthetics of the room. Just clarify with your venue where they stand in terms of the different table shapes they have available and hiring in tables before you go ahead and book with them.