From guest list to printed seating chart in five steps
- Pick a starting point. Keep the example’s room, with a head table and round tables of 10, or start blank and add your own: rounds of 8 or 10, long tables, a head or sweetheart table, the dance floor and the bar.
- Add your guests. Paste your guest list from a spreadsheet or your wedding website’s export. Households, sides, meals and plus-ones come across, and guests who declined are left out.
- Set your rules. Households stay together on their own. Add the rest in plain words: keep two guests apart, seat a grandparent near the couple, spread both sides across the room.
- Seat everyone. Press Smart arrange, then fine-tune by dragging names onto seats, or on a phone by tapping a guest and then a table. Lock the head table so nothing there moves.
- Print or share. Download a PDF with the floor plan, an A–Z find-your-seat list for the entrance and a list for each table with meal counts for the caterer, or send a read-only link.
The example above is Hana and Leo’s wedding: 84 guests at a head table and eight tables of 10, with eight late replies still waiting for a seat. Press Use this layout to keep the room for your own guests, or press Smart arrange first to watch the late replies find a table without anyone else being moved.
How many tables do you need?
Divide your guest count by the seats per table and round up. Leave out the people at the head table, and keep a seat or two free for late changes. Round tables of 8 or 10 are the usual choice at receptions.
| Guests | Tables of 8 | Tables of 10 |
|---|---|---|
| 50 | 7 | 5 |
| 75 | 10 | 8 |
| 100 | 13 | 10 |
| 125 | 16 | 13 |
| 150 | 19 | 15 |
| 200 | 25 | 20 |
| 250 | 32 | 25 |
A 60-inch (152 cm) round table seats 8 comfortably and 10 at a squeeze. A 72-inch (183 cm) round seats 10, or 12 at a squeeze. Check with your venue: chair width and centrepieces change what fits. New tables in the generator start at these sizes.
Head table, sweetheart table or family tables
- Head table: the two of you and the wedding party along one side of a long table, facing the room.
- Sweetheart table: just the two of you. Add a head table and set it to 2 seats.
- Family tables: parents and grandparents at the tables closest to you. Add a sit near rule so Smart arrange keeps them there.
Lock the seats at your head table and Smart arrange will work around them.
Keep families together and both sides mixed
Guests in the same household or party always sit together, and plus-ones sit beside the person who brought them. On top of that, tell the generator what matters to you:
- Keep apart: divorced parents, an ex, two guests who don’t get on.
- Keep together: a group of college friends or teammates who should share a table.
- Sit near: a grandparent near the couple, or someone who uses a wheelchair near the entrance.
- Spread a tag across tables: tag guests by side and mix the two families instead of splitting the room in half.
Each rule is a must or a prefer. If something can’t be done, for example a party of 11 at tables of 10, the generator says so in plain words instead of quietly breaking a rule.
Bring your guest list from a spreadsheet
Copy the rows from Excel or Google Sheets, header row included, and paste them into Add guests, or import a CSV or Excel file downloaded from your wedding website. These columns are recognised:
| Column | What it becomes |
|---|---|
| Name, or First name and Last name | The guest. “Ann & Bob Lee” can become two guests in one household. |
| Household, Party, Family | A household that sits together |
| Side, Meal, Entree, Dietary | Tags you can filter by, count per table and spread across the room |
| Plus one | A guest seated beside them |
| RSVP, Attending | Declined guests are left out; no reply yet gets a tag |
| Table | The table they’re already assigned to |
Meal counts for your caterer
The PDF has a list for each table with every guest’s seat number, meal and notes, and a count at the top such as “Beef 4 · Salmon 3 · Vegetarian 3 · 1 child”. Hand it to your caterer or venue coordinator as it is. See a sample made from the example above: Letter PDF or A4 PDF.
Where to print your wedding seating chart
- At home or a copy shop: the PDF prints on Letter or A4. Print at 100% (“Actual size”) so nothing is scaled. The A–Z find-your-seat list is easy to scan at the entrance.
- A large display board: download the PNG or SVG image and take it to a print shop or an online printing service. Ask to see a proof before they print.
- A QR code at the entrance: guests scan it, type their name and see their table on their phone. Make one with the seating chart QR code tools.
Plan it on your phone
It works in your phone’s browser like an app, with nothing to install. Tap a guest, then tap a table, and pinch to zoom the floor plan. Your plan saves itself on the device you use. To carry on from a laptop, download the plan file and open it there from My plans.
Frequently asked questions
Is this wedding seating chart generator free?
Yes. Planning the chart, Smart arrange and every download, including the PDF, are free. There’s no sign-up, no trial and no watermark.
Can I import my guest list from my wedding website?
If your website lets you download the guest list as a CSV or Excel file, yes: choose Add guests, then Import a file. You can also copy the rows from a spreadsheet and paste them. Columns such as Name, Party, Side, Meal, Plus one and RSVP are recognised, and you see a preview before anything is added.
What happens to guests who haven’t replied yet?
If your list has an RSVP column, guests with no answer are added with the tag “No reply yet”, so you can filter for them and seat them once they reply. Guests marked as declined are left out, along with their plus-ones, unless you untick that option.
How do I keep two guests, or divorced parents, apart?
Open Arrange, add a “Keep apart” rule and choose the two people. Smart arrange will never seat them at the same table, and if a rule can’t be met it tells you which one and why.
Can I make a sweetheart table?
Yes. Choose Add, then Head table, and set its seats to 2. A head table for the wedding party works the same way, with seats along one side facing the room.
Can my partner or wedding planner see the chart?
Share makes a read-only link with the floor plan and a find-your-seat search. To work on the plan from another device, download the plan file and open it there from My plans.
How big a wedding can it handle?
It’s tested with 400 guests at 40 tables, and Smart arrange finishes in under a second. It runs in the background, so the page never freezes.
Where is my guest list saved?
In your browser’s storage on this device, every time you change something. Nothing is uploaded and there’s no account. Download the plan file to keep a backup.