Seating Guests at Events (Part II)

Earlier this summer I wrote about seating guests at events like smaller home parties.

Another way to seat guests at parties and events of nearly any size--one that's trendy now--is to seat them at one or more long tables or several tables pushed together to form one long table, with chairs along either side.

But get this--this method was popular at parties and events back in the 1920s--1940s! If you've ever seen old Hollywood movies, there are many scenes in which people at fancy dinner parties are seated at a long table or two.

But what's different today is that your event doesn't have to be fancy to use this seating arrangement, although where this arrangment IS most popular now is at weddings and dinner parties. This arrangment would be great even for outdoor parties, whether done as casual get-togethers or more formal affairs like outdoor weddings.

We recently catered a dinner party at which the hostess chose this arrangment, and the event design, which we collaborated on with her, was very of the moment.  White muslin tablecloths and chair covers, pale green satin chair sashes, many small mirrors and tea lights on the table and sideboard, fresh pears with handwritten leaf-shaped paper name cards tied to the stems, combined with our gold-edged plates, our mirror-finish cutlery, and our classic stemware.  Dazzling! And very current and cool.

But here's one thing you need to keep in mind about this long-table arrangement: guests WILL get up from their chairs and squat or bend to talk to guests at the other end of the table during the course of the dinner.  This can be disconcerting for some; and with smaller tables happens less as people are able to talk to everyone at their table and so what typically happens is that after the dinner, say, at least one or two people from each table will get up and walk around to talk to others.  But with smaller tables this is less noticed than with the long table.

Also, if you use this arrangment, make sure that your tablecloth(s) are tucked and not puddled on the floor as soneone can trip on the tablecloth and fall when they get up to talk to someone at the far end of the table.

If people getting up to talk to others during the dinner bothers you or you don't have a long space to accomodate a long table, stick to smaller tables or a regular dining room table combined with smaller tables, round or square.  And remember: you can always seat more people at round tables than at square or rectangular ones, if that's important for your event.

Enjoy!

Kristina

Fandango Catering and Events
(713) 522-0077
www.fandango-catering.com