Seating Chart Maker

How do I make a seating chart?

Start with the guest list and group people who must sit together, such as couples and families. Set up your tables with the venue's seat counts, seat the head table and close family first, then fill the rest party by party. Check that no table is over its seats, then print a list guests can use to find their table.

1. Paste your guest list, one per line, with a party name for people who sit together.
2. Add your tables and their seat counts.
3. Press Auto seat the rest, or drag guests onto tables.
4. Add keep-apart rules and fix anything the board flags.
5. Pick a sign design and size, then download the PDF and the place cards.

Seating a class instead of guests? The classroom seating chart maker lays out desks in rows, pairs, groups or a U.

How does auto seat decide who sits where?

It treats each party as one block and seats the largest parties first. Each party goes to the table where its members already sit, or else to the fullest table that still has room for all of them, which keeps big gaps free for big parties. This is the best-fit decreasing method from bin packing. Oversized parties are split.

Test lists of 120 guests in parties of 1 to 6 (about 37 parties per list, 200 lists each), computed when this page was built:

So when every seat is spoken for, plan to move a few people by hand, or ask the venue for one more table.

What is the difference between escort cards and place cards?

An escort card, usually set at the entrance, tells a guest which table to go to. A place card sits at the table; Wikipedia's entry notes that place cards generally show the guest's name and table number. The alphabetical list here works as one large escort sign, and the place cards print four to a page and fold in half.

How many guests fit at a round table?

It depends on the table size the venue rents, so use the seat counts from your venue or rental company. Set any number from 1 to 40 seats per table here. The board shows the seats left at each table and flags any table with too many guests.