How to Create a Wedding Seating Chart: Expert Tips for Your Guest Floorplan

Jul 10, 2025

[[toc-anchor:What is a Wedding Seating Chart & Why Does It Matter]]

Planning a wedding is an intricate process, and the seating arrangement and venue layout are crucial for the success of an event. Having a streamlined floorplan and seating chart helps planners to answer the following questions:

Will the furniture fit as expected?
How should the tables and chairs be arranged?
Where will guests sit?
How do we communicate guest meal choices & allergies/dietaries with the venue and caterers?
How can I help my client visualise the setup?

Today, many wedding planners still rely on outdated manual methods, such as Excel spreadsheets, paper diagrams, or freehand sketches. This can often lead to inefficiencies, miscommunication, and last-minute chaos.

With modern digital tools like That’s The One, wedding planners can streamline these processes, eliminate guesswork, and save themselves a lot of time. Our team has collaborated closely with planners to understand their challenges with floor planning and develop a solution that truly meets their needs.

👉 Tired of last-minute seating chart chaos? Try your 30 day free trial here.

[[toc-anchor:Table Seating Chart Wedding Tips & Best Practices]]

These are the things you should bear in mind when looking for a floorplan & seating chart tool to make your life easier. Can you:

✅ Map Venue Layouts to Scale

Upload exact venue dimensions & furniture
Easily adjust table sizes and placements in real-time

✅ Drag-and-Drop Seating Chart

Effortlessly move guests around
Color-code seats based on meal choices and allergy/dietary preferences.

✅ Export summary document for Caterers & Vendors

Instantly download and share digital floor plan PDF
Outline guests in alphabetical order (for table plans) and in seat order (for serving dishes & placing name cards)
Clearly outline guests with allergies/dietary restrictions
Real-time count of number of meals, tables, adults, babies

✅ Instant Capacity Calculations & Adjustments

Real-time guest count updates ensure an accurate seating plan
If a guest cancels, their seat is automatically flagged for reassignment

[[toc-anchor:Top Wedding Seating Chart Tools & Floorplan Makers]]

Selecting the right tool can turn chaos into clarity. Below, we’ve rounded up four of the most popular seating-chart solutions so you can compare features, ease-of-use, and pricing.

Prismm/Allseated

Prismm (previously Allseated) is a venue-agnostic, cloud-based floorplan and seating tool built for both in-person and hybrid events. Here is an example of their floorplan builder:

Prismm Floorplan Best Features

Virtual walkthrough: Preview layouts in 360° to ensure sightlines and flow.
3D floorplan builder on Prismm: Drag-and-drop tables, stages, dance floors, and other elements in true scale.
Guest list sync on Allseated: Import your guest spreadsheet, assign meal choices, and auto-seat based on household or group.
Immersive 3D views and virtual tours
Venue layout library of 150,000 floorplans
Superb for very large venues or complex layouts.

Prism Floorplan Limitations

Steeper learning curve for designers unfamiliar with CAD-style interfaces.
Not wedding-specific; lacks specialized features (eg. export for caterers)
Seating guests into the floorplan feels outdated and requires many clicks (lives on the Allseated platform). See tutorial here.
Will require additional integrations/additional software subscriptions for complete planning functionality
Price: starting price is $35

Canva

Canva is a great tool for accessing template libraries - they also have templates to create simple seating charts. Here is an example of their floorplan builder:

Canva Best Floorplan Features

Intuitive, familiar interface for anyone who’s used Canva before.
Ideal for couples who want to create a simple floorplan visualisation for tables, chairs, name labels
Thousands of premade “wedding seating chart” layouts
Edit collaboratively with a live link
Download as PDF or PNG
Price: Free tier available

Canva Floorplan Limitations

Floorplan is not built to scale - will not be fully accurate
Lacks “table logic” and is not connected to a guestlist - you must manually type guest names, their meals and track counts.
No 3D or tools

Aisle Planner

An American software with a full wedding-planning suite. Here is an example of their floorplan builder:

Aisle Planner Floorplan Best Features

Planners, couples, and vendors can edit simultaneously with live updates.

Aisle Planner Limitations

Imperial metrics (inches) only: Not user friendly for planners outside of the UK
Non-Intuitive Interface & Steep Learning Curve: Controls for scaling & rotating tables can feel buried, and it often takes several tries. G2 TrustRadius
Challenges Printing & Exporting Layouts: Including guest names, table numbers, and meal indicators often require workarounds (screenshots, PDF hacks, or third-party design apps) to produce a usable hard-copy. The export can only connect with main meals & allergies (not starter & dessert options also). G2 TrustRadius
Limited Help Resources: Little on-screen guidance and built-in tutorials for the layout module are sometimes hard to locate. G2 TrustRadius

That’s The One

A modern all-in-one planning software built for planners around the world.Here is an example of TTO's floorplan builder:

Download an Example Floorplan Export here.

TTO Best Floorplan Features

Smart drag-and-drop guests into seats
Easy floorplan & furniture scaling
Connects with guest starter, main meal, dessert, allergy, dietary and accessibility needs
Export in 1 click to share with caterers & venues
Snap tables into place on an accurate venue background
Available for all kinds of events, not only weddings
Clean & modern interface

TTO Limitations

Feature set continues evolving; power users may miss some advanced floorplan reporting.

Try your 30 day free trial here.

[[toc-anchor:That’s The One vs. Other Floor Plan Tools]]

Feature	That's The One	Prismm	Canva	Aisle Planner
Drag & Drop Guests into Seats	✅ Yes	❌ No	❌ No	❌ No
To-Scale Floorplans	✅ Yes	✅ Yes	❌ No	❌ No
Furniture Library for Weddings	✅ Yes	✅ Yes	❌ No	✅ Yes
Synced with Guest Meals & Dietaries	✅ Yes	❌ No	❌ No	✅ Yes
Color-coded Guest Dietaries	✅ Yes	❌ No	❌ No	✅ Yes
Metric & Imperial Measurements	✅ Yes	✅ Yes	❌ No	❌ No
Capacity Calculations & Adjustments	✅ Yes	❌ No	❌ No	❌ No

👉 Unlike general floorplan platforms, TTO is built specifically for weddings and professional planners who need fast, flexible, and detailed floor plans.

Download an Example Floorplan Export Created On TTO Here.

[[toc-anchor:2min Tutorial On How To Create A Seating Chart on TTO]]

Read full floorplan guide here

[[toc-anchor:Common Mistakes and How To Avoid Them]]

Below are the top pitfalls couples and planners encounter with actionable tips to steer clear of each one.

⚠️ Last-Minute Guest List Changes

Mistake: Waiting until the week of the wedding to finalize your wedding guest seating chart leads to frantic reshuffling (your planner would not let this happen!)
Tip: Lock in your seating chart atleast 1 month before the big day. If anyone is flagged as “not attending” in your seating chart, make sure to clear their seat and reassign seats.

⚠️ Overcrowded Tables

Mistake: Cramming too many names onto each table in your seating chart wedding design - it's uncomfortable for guests, makes conversation awkward and service slow.
Tip: Stick to 8–10 guests per standard round table (or 6–8 per rectangle) unless your venue floorplan allows more breathing room. Use the “clearance borders” around the tables in the floorplan as a guide to test traffic flow between tables.

⚠️ Ignoring Accessibility & Sightlines

Mistake: Placing elderly guests or people with mobility needs at back tables or behind pillars.
Avoidance Tip: Map entrances, exits, and focal points on your wedding seating chart tool first. Then assign higher-need guests to the most accessible tables.

⚠️ Manual Data Entry Errors

Mistake: When doing things manually, you may make errors like duplicating guest names or (even worse!) forgetting a guest!
Tip: On TTO, your guest list is directly synced with the seating chart on your floorplan. This makes sure to avoid errors!

[[toc-anchor:Case Study: How a Planner Cut Setup Time by 50% Using That’s The One Seating Chart]]

Meet Sandra, an independent luxury wedding planner (@infusionweddings). Before TTO she was using excel to create floor plans but was pained by having to repeatedly collect and manually map guest dietaries over by hand. This would typically take hours and it soon became the part of planning she dreaded the most.

Then, she discovered That’s The One. The floor plan tool instantly impressed her with its seamless integration.She realised she could design her floorplans from scratch or upload a template and set it to scale. Furniture could be added effortlessly, guests could be dropped into their seats, and an automated PDF export could be created to summarise all the key information in one place. As a result, Emma cut her setup time in half and drastically reduced guest list errors due to the precision of That’s The One’s floor plan tool.

👉 “That’s The One’s floor plan tool saved me hours per event. My clients love the visual layouts, and last-minute changes are stress-free!” – Sandra, Infusion Weddings

Read more testimonials

[[toc-anchor:Conclusion & Next Steps]]

You’ve now explored the ins and outs of creating the perfect wedding seating chart.

Next Steps → Select Your Tool! Try That’s The One wedding seating chart maker or compare Prismm/Allseated, Canva, and Aisle Planner to find the best fit.

Ready to get started? Head over to That’s The One to launch your wedding seating chart today!

👉 See how That’s The One can make your life easier - book a free demo today

👉 Read full floorplan guide here

👉 Download an Example Floorplan Export here

[[toc-anchor:FAQs About Wedding Seating Charts]]

How do I integrate meal choices into my wedding seating chart maker?

When using TTO, this happens automatically! When you drag-and-drop your guests into their seats, select export and your PDF document will automatically have this information.

How do I lock the floorplan to prevent my client from moving things around?

Go to your floorplan settings and use the toggles to lock various elements, such as images, shapes and furniture. This allows you to “lock” the floorplan but still allow your client to allocate guests into seats.

How do I choose the best wedding seating chart tool?

Keep the best practices in mind and make a list of what is important to you. Whilst some tools like Canva, offer free seating chart templates, you will have to manually map your guests and their dietaries from a separate RSVP/guestlist file where you have this information mapped. We suggest using digital tools because all of this information is synced, saving you time and errors later down the line.

What features should I look for in a table seating chart wedding layout?

The two main features to look out for when building a digital seating chart are to check if:

You can set it to scale (so that you have confidence in the furniture layout and guest seating)
The floorplan and seating chart are synced with your guest information and their meal choices and allergy/dietary requirements

This will ensure your floorplan is accurate and that the catering team has everything they need for the big day.

Is it possible to design and edit my wedding seating chart on my phone?

It is possible to keep the PDF export on your phone, however we do not advise to build your floorplan on your phone, as it can be quite fiddly when moving furniture and guests around. Take our a glass of wine, put some music on, and enjoy building your seating arrangements on a large laptop or monitor!

Can I use the floorplan to design other types of seating, like ceremonies?

Yes absolutely, you can place individual chairs into a ceremony formation. Once finalised, you can similarly place guests into seats.

What’s the best way to share my wedding seating chart with the caterers and vendors?

The easiest way is to export your wedding seating chart as a PDF and email it to the caterers and vendors. They will have all the information they need in one place:

total number of guests and meals
A highlight of all guests with an allergy, dietary or accessibility concern
All guests listed out in alphabetical order, alongside their table/seat number and meal choice
All guests mapped out table by table in seat order, alongside their meal choice
A zoomed in visual of each table with guest names, color coded seats according to meal choices and allergies clearly marked

How do I train my planning team on a new seating chart wedding tool quickly?

We recommend referring to this guide, which includes a step by step breakdown in addition to a YouTube tutorial.

What support options are available if I run into issues with my table seating chart wedding layout?

You are able to chat do us directly on live chat 9am-5pm GMT in the platform. Otherwise email support@thatstheone.com and we will get back to you within 24 hours.