Wedding seating chart maker: seat guests and print

Set your tables and seats in the maker above and you get a chart straight away. With no names, it prints blank numbered table cards with a seat count and write-in lines for you to fill by hand. Paste names and it fills the tables for you: people on one line with a plus sign stay together, and anyone you name in a keep-apart rule is split up. For 48 guests at six tables of eight, every guest gets a seat and the issues line says so. It prints the table cards and copies the table list as text. It does not sort by last name.

Everything runs in your browser. The names you type stay on your screen unless you share the link, and then anyone who has the link can read them.

Worked seating table for 48 guests at six tables of eight

Paste this into the guest list box, and the keep-apart line into the keep-apart box, with six tables of eight seats. Each line is one group. The names are invented.

Rosa Reyes + Luis Reyes + Ana Reyes + Mateo Reyes
Ngozi Okafor + Emeka Okafor + Ada Okafor
Pat Doyle + Jan Doyle + Leo Doyle
Priya Shah + Sam Cole + Jo Winters + Ian Bell + Kit Moreno
Dana Lund + Ed Marsh + Faye Ito
Tess Grant + Rob Grant
Ruth Adler + Sol Adler
Gail Hart + Tom Hart
Hana Kim + Ben Kim
Omar Haddad + Salma Haddad
Nate Burke + Ella Burke
Lena Voss + Carl Voss
Vera Stone + Hugh Stone
Cora Lane + Mia Lane
Max Rowe
Abe Ford
Gia Russo
Eli Wolfe
Gus Perry
Zoe Park
Hal Quinn
Joy Lowe
Ivy Chen
Kai Dunn
Nora Tate
Uma Shaw

Max Rowe / Abe Ford

The count: a family of four, two families of three, a group of five college friends and a group of three coworkers make 18 guests. Nine couples make 18 more. Twelve guests come alone. That is 48. The list is about 550 characters.

What an issue looks like

Add one more line, Wes Blake, to the same list. The tables stay the same, Wes is left over, and the tool shows this message:

1 guest has no seat. Add 1 more table or use bigger tables.

Set the tables to seven, or the seats to nine, and the issue clears. Change nothing else and the chart stays in this state until you do.

How to use the printout

The tool gives you one print sheet of table cards and a button that copies the table list as text.

1. Print the table cards for your planner, caterer and venue so everyone sees who sits where.
2. Paste the copied table list into a message or document if you want to send it to the venue as text.
3. Want a lookup for the entrance? The tool does not sort by last name, so make it from the table list. Sort the names by hand or in a spreadsheet, and tape it by the door so guests search by last name, not by table. The sample below is that sort done from table above.
4. Keep one copy on your phone. The link reopens the same chart, so a late RSVP is a two-minute fix.
5. Read the issues line before you print. It tells you if a table is over, a rule was broken or a name in a rule is not on your list.

There is a separate page on the alphabetical lookup list. To show the chart at the venue, the 20 ways to display it cover signs, frames and boards. For a sign, check the letter sizes and print layout first. Painting names on glass? Read the mirror lettering guide.

No head table or sweetheart table

The tool has no head table, sweetheart table or pin-to-table control. It seats groups by size, so a couple on a list land wherever the tool finds room. Two ways to handle it. List the couple and parents as one group on the first line, so they sit together. Or leave them out of the list, seat them on a separate sheet, and set the table count to the number of guest tables you need. If the couple will sit at a long head table, they are not on this chart at all.

How many tables you need

Start with your confirmed headcount. If you have not built it yet, the guest list template is the step before this one. Divide guests by seats per table and round up. Then look at the spare seats. A source guide lists a 60-inch round table as seating 8 and a 72-inch round as seating 10. Your venue’s own table sizes override any guide.

The same guide gives 18 to 20 inches of elbow room per chair. Its minimum width for a dining room pathway is 36 inches. Ask the venue for a floor plan before you commit to a count, because the table size you pick decides the floor space.

Three mistakes and the fix

Filling every seat. The 48-guest chart above has zero spare seats. That works until one plus-one appears. With a 49th guest on six tables of eight there is no empty chair to use, and the tool says so, as shown above. Plan one or two spare seats before the last plus-one arrives. Once it has, add a table or go to tables of nine.

Typing a name two ways. A keep-apart rule only works if the name matches your guest list. If you type “Max Rowe” in the list and “Maxwell Rowe” in the rule, the tool flags the second name as not on your list. Copy the name from the list rather than retyping it.

Setting a rule that fights itself. If three people are set to sit together and two of them are also set to sit apart, the tool cannot do both. It places them at different tables and tells you. Decide which rule matters and remove the other.

What to adjust for your wedding size

Under 30 guests, one UK planner guide says a seating plan is optional. Place cards on one long table may be all you need. The tool still helps if you want to check that no one sits next to an ex.

From 30 to about 80 guests, use the tool for the full chart. This is the range where families and friend groups collide at the same table most often.

Above 100 guests, the tool still works in one pass, largest groups first. The list limit is 1,500 characters. Our 48-guest example is about 550 characters, so a list of the same shape tops out near 130 guests. Past the limit the link keeps only the table count and seats, and the tool gives you a plain-text copy of the tables to paste to a partner instead. Shorten the names or split into two lists if you want the link to carry the full list.

Rules that make seating easier

These come from one UK planner guide, so treat them as defaults, not laws.

• Seat couples at the same table.
• Do not make a singles table. Seat guests who arrive alone with people who share an interest.
• Mix both sides of the family at the meal. Splitting by side mostly applies to the ceremony.
• For divorced parents, give each their own table near the couple, or one wider table for both with current partners.

When an RSVP changes, return to the list rather than editing a printed sheet. Add the new name, and the tables refill. Then check the issues line. If you also need the day’s schedule, the day-of timeline planner times dinner and toasts, and the budget split tool has a Venue and rentals row for your table hire. For a guest list under 50, see the small wedding plans.

Send the draft to your partner or maid of honor

The tool puts your list in the hash of the link, the part after the hash mark. A hash is not sent to bigdaydesk, so we never receive your names. The link still carries them in full, so anyone who has it can read the list, and so can any app you send it through, such as WhatsApp, SMS, email or Pinterest. Share it with your partner, a parent or your planner. They can edit the list and the tables refill, then send you a new link back.

Pick who you are sending it to in the Share panel. It fills in short wording you can edit before you send.

Updated November 5, 2026 by bigdaydesk editorial