I think the most dreaded task for many couples during wedding planning is the table assignments.  While I have no tips to help you make sure that no one feels like they’re seated at a bad table or how to best keep your divorced Aunt Sarah and Uncle Charlie as far away from each other as possible (because no one wants a repeat of the great butter fight of 2006), I can give you an easy way to keep track of who is sitting where and with whom.

I am a rather visual person so seeing things laid out helps me keep track in my mind.  Here is what you need to create a perfect seating arrangement for your wedding:

*A pack of paper plates – feel free to use whatever you have in your cabinet.  Leftover plates from New Year’s Eve 2005 or your niece’s Barbie birthday party are fine!

*Post it note strips in multiple colors like these:

Got those two things?  Great – now grab a pen and get started:

1. As you receive your RSVPs, write each person’s name on their own post it strip.  If you have asked your guests to indicate their meal selection, use different colored slips to represent each meal or use the different colors to represent guest groups like bride, groom, both, etc. so you can make sure you have a nice mix in your floorplan.

2. Spread out your plates and start putting assigning guests to tables.

3. Number each of your plates to correspond to a table on your floor plan.

4. Enter everyone’s table number into your master guest list and you are all set to create your place cards, send final meal counts by table to your caterer, etc.

Since you can easily move people from table to table or take the seating plan with you to consult with family members this is a super easy, super cheap and super flexible to tackle a dreaded task.  Good luck!

I got a sweet email last week from Sarah Babcock asking if I wanted to have lunch and talk weddings.  I am never one to turn down the chance to meet new people, especially fab photographers, so we met up yesterday to have some yummy Northstar and great conversation.  We wound up talking for two hours and I got to see her gorgeous work – just lovely!

One of the things we chatted about was a contest that she has going on right now – she is giving away free wedding photography to one lucky couple.  Registration is closed and the entries have been narrowed down to 3 couples – one in Arizona, one in NYC and one here in Ohio.  The voting closes in a few days so hurry on over to Sarah’s blog and send an email in support of your favorite couple!

Wedding Photography Contest – vote for your favorite!

Thanks again Sarah for lunch and I can’t wait to chat with you again soon!

The lovely Rayna from Always Planned in Lexington, KY twittered a really fabulous guest book idea from Esty seller bleu de toi that I just had to share!  From the seller’s site:

Leave an impression of your memorable day with a unique way to record your guests! Interactive, creative and a beautiful keepsake for you to have for years to come!  Each guest tree kit is *custom made* for showers, family reunions, festivities and the happy couple.

Includes a hand-drawn tree on artist paper with plenty of branches for guests to ‘leaf’ their fingerprint and sign, 3 ink stamp pads, and 1 archival ink pen for signing.

Drawings are done on high-quality artist paper with archival, fade-resistant ink.

Seriously, how fabulous are these?  She sends you this:

Your guests do this:

And you hang this in your new love nest (get it? Love nest? I kill me!)

The cost is shockingly reasonable – about what you would spend for a big picture with a signature mat or a photo guest book:

Small guest book trees, sized 16×20″ with room for 30-60 guests are $55.
Medium guest book trees, sized 18×24″ with room for 75-140 guests are $75.
Large guest book trees, sized 20×28″ with room for 150-200 guests are $95.

The seller does say that they are on backorder so if you want one, get moving and plan ahead!  If you do this, send me a picture and tell me about how it worked so I can update with first person experience!

Looking for another unique guest book idea?  See this post about an art piece that is created by your guests.