If you’re having a small guest list, it might not be appropriate to have a wedding head table – especially if half your guests will be up there!
Darin and I (we had 50 guests at our wedding) didn’t like the idea of a head table. I didn’t want to feel like I was on stage all night. I wanted to feel like I was part of the group.
Rather than be set apart from our guests, we sat at a round table that was placed among the other tables in the tent. Since we had a small wedding party, our table included both sets of parents, my maid of honour and Darin’s best man.
Here are other great alternatives to the wedding head table:
The Sweetheart Table – This seems to be the most popular alternative to the head table. It only includes you and your significant other and can be situated wherever you want.
John and Kerry, for instance, chose to sit at a sweetheart table in the middle of the room.
“The other tables formed a circle around us…. It was a great feeling to be surrounded by our families and friends. I recommend the sweetheart table all the time to friends planning weddings.”
The Community Table – If you’re having a very small guest list, why not have everyone sit at the same table. You can’t beat that for intimacy! This format worked out beautifully for Shannon and Robert, who had eight guests.
“The entire evening we felt as though we had just our friends over for dinner. It was truly amazing,” says Shannon.
If you have a larger guest list you can do what Mellinda and Rondell did. They had 57 guests at their medieval themed wedding, and had guests sit at a “U” shaped table – with the head table at the bottom of the “U”.
The “I’ll Sit With Whomever I Want” Table – Maybe you’ll have a small wedding party (or won’t have one at all). Why not include your closest family members at your table? As I mentioned earlier, Darin and I choose to sit with our parents. We wouldn’t have had it any other way!
