The UK version of the same problem

Search "seating chart" and you get American tooling priced in dollars and sized for US Letter. Search "table plan" and the UK results are mostly Etsy printables and stationery designers. The job is identical — seat the guests, print the board — but the vocabulary and the paper size differ, and a plan plus its matching stationery should come from one list or something always drifts out of sync.

Wedding table plan view with guests assigned to round tables
The table plan view: guests dragged onto tables, counts per table visible at a glance.

One list drives everything

Put the confirmed guests in a spreadsheet — name, partner, meal choice, any note for the venue. That single file feeds three outputs:

  1. The table plan board — the display guests see on arrival, exported as a PDF sized for your frame or easel.
  2. The place cards — flat or tent-fold cards on each setting, A4 card stock, cut lines included.
  3. The table numbers — matching numbers or named tables in the same style.

Because all three read the same roster, a table swap on the morning of the wedding means re-printing a few cards — not rebuilding three documents.

Arranging the plan

In the seating tool, lay out the room first — top table plus rounds, or one long banquet table. Drag the wedding party onto the top table (parents, witnesses and the couple read the room best from the centre), then place family groups. Auto-assign fills whoever is left so the last twenty names don't become an evening of shuffling.

Table plan canvas with round tables and assigned guests
Round tables around a top table — the classic UK wedding room layout.

Printing for a UK printer

Everything outputs on A4 — no Letter-size guesswork. Print the board PDF at a print shop in A3 or A2 for the easel; run the cards and table numbers at home on 250 gsm card at 100% scale. For the cards themselves, see printable table numbers and the escort vs place card explainer for what goes at the entrance versus at each setting.

Last-mile checklist

  • Alphabetical or by-table? UK venues usually list guests alphabetically on the board; by-table order suits small weddings.
  • Keep two spares. A couple of blank place cards cover surprise plus-ones.
  • Hand the venue the plan. Coordinators lay settings faster from a printed plan than from verbal instructions.