How to do a wedding table plan in Ireland, step by step
This guide shows when to start your wedding table plan, how many go at each table, who sits at the top table and what Irish venues need from you.
To do a wedding table plan, wait until most replies are in, then list every guest with household, dietary needs and any children. Seat the top table first, then families and friends, keep awkward pairs apart and put older guests near the toilets, away from the speakers. A round table seats 8 to 10. Two Irish venues we checked want the plan four to seven days ahead.
In Ireland it is a table plan; you will also see seating plan and seating chart for the same thing. Intimate weddings can manage without one, but Weddings Online says larger events benefit. The average Irish wedding has 141 guests (Weddings Online, December 2025 survey), so at ten to a table you need about 15 tables.
When should you do your wedding table plan?
Start a draft once most replies are in, and finish after your reply-by date. Weddings Online advises asking guests to reply in plenty of time and leaving final printing until the last minute, because dropouts happen. Your venue then sets the finish line, and venues differ. Four venues, checked on 12 October 2026:
- Castlemartyr Resort: anticipated numbers 14 days before, final numbers 7 days before, and the seating plan in electronic format at least 4 days before.
- Amber Springs: draft numbers two weeks before, the table plan through Moposa one week before, and final numbers 72 hours before.
- Lord Bagenal Inn: numbers at least two weeks before and final numbers one week before. Its wedding consultant liaises with you about seating plans. The page has no date and a 2016 footer, so confirm.
- Clontarf Castle: no deadline on its FAQ, which says it prints menus, table numbers or names and place cards for the top table, and has a table plan display.
A reply-by date about six weeks before the wedding (our suggestion) leaves four weeks to chase before the earliest of those deadlines. See when to send wedding invitations in Ireland for the timeline.
How many people go at each table at a wedding?
A round table seats 8 to 10. A Dublin hotel's events page says a 5ft round table seats eight comfortably and a 6ft round seats ten (Moxy Dublin Docklands). Amber Springs caps tables at 10, and Clontarf Castle says its round tables take 8 to 12. At 141 guests, that is 15 tables of up to 10, or 18 tables of 8.
For long tables, a hire company's seating guide (Party Rental Ltd., published 1 April 2026) allows 24 to 30 inches of table length per guest, about 60 to 75 cm. Tabletop décor takes room too.
| Table | Seats | Best for | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Round, 5ft (1.5m) | 8, up to 10 | Mixed groups, families | Large centrepieces take space |
| Round, 6ft (1.8m) | 10, up to 12 | Standard guest tables | Some venues cap tables at 10 |
| Long, 6ft (1.8m) | 6 to 8 | Small family groups | Seats at the ends are tight |
| Long, 8ft (2.4m) | 8 to 10 | Big families, relaxed groups | Seats at the ends are tight |
| Top table, one side | 3 to 4 per 8ft | Couple, parents, wedding party | Eight people need 5 to 6 metres of table |
| Sweetheart table | 2 | Just the couple | Tell parents early |
| Hosted table | As a round table | Parents or grandparents | Mark the host on the plan |
Who sits at the top table at an Irish wedding?
The traditional top table is a long table with seats down one side (Perfect Table Plan). The couple sit in the middle, with the best man and chief bridesmaid next to them and then the parents (Bridebook, updated 8 October 2026). We found no Irish rule beyond custom, so adapt it to your families. Clontarf Castle prints place cards for the top table. You have other choices.
A sweetheart table
Just the two of you at a small table. Perfect Table Plan says it can bypass debates about who belongs on the top table.
Hosted tables for parents
Ask a parent or relative to host a table close to the top table, and mark the host on the plan. Parents who are not in the wedding party go on the table nearest the top table, according to the same guide.
No top table
Sit with friends at an ordinary table. Perfect Table Plan describes a variant, leaving two free seats at each table so you can mingle, and notes the catch: two guests at each table sit beside empty chairs for much of the meal.
Separated or remarried parents
Settle this early, in person, with each parent. Perfect Table Plan advises against putting divorced and remarried parents and their new partners together on the top table. One kind solution is a separate table near the top table for the step-parent's family. For a second marriage, you may want your children from a first marriage at the top table.
How do you do a wedding table plan, step by step?
- Make one master list. One row per guest: name, household, adult, child or baby, sit-down meal or evening only, dietary needs and allergies, access needs, highchair. It becomes the file your venue wants.
- Count only the meal guests. Evening guests (the afters) usually arrive after the meal, so they do not need a seat on the plan. Ask your venue whether it sets out seating for them.
- Get the room layout. Ask the venue for its table plan layout, table sizes and maximum per table.
- Choose tables or seats. You can give each guest an exact seat, or assign tables and let guests choose. Amber Springs asks for names and the total at each table, not seat order, so table-only is usually enough. Keep exact seats for the top table.
- Work out the tables. Divide the meal guests by seats per table, round up, and leave one or two spare seats.
- Seat the top table first, then close family and the wedding party.
- Keep households together. Seat families and children first, then friends who will enjoy each other's company. Build friend tables by connection (work, college, home place), and spread single guests through their natural groups instead of a singles' table.
- Keep awkward pairs apart. Put guests with a history as far apart as you can, not just on different tables. Keep the reason in your own notes, not in the file you send the venue.
- Look after the guests who need it. Seat anyone needing easy access near the toilets or an exit, keep older guests away from the speakers, put dance-floor friends near the band, and leave space and a step-free route for wheelchair users. Seat children within sight of their parents, and mark highchairs.
- Check and send. Put each dietary need beside the right name, marking medical needs apart from preferences, as Amber Springs asks. Read every table aloud, match the totals to your final numbers and send the file in your venue's format. See RSVPs and dietary requirements.
Steps 6 to 9 follow Weddings Online's advice in its seating plan tips and its 10-step guide, checked 12 October 2026.
Free tools for a wedding table plan
Paper and sticky notes work, and so does a spreadsheet. Hitched.ie's table planner is free, with round or rectangular tables, drag and drop from your guest list, and print, email or export as a list or chart. Weddings.ie lists a free table planner too, and Moposa gives couples a drag-and-drop seating plan if their venue uses it, because the venue pays (all checked 12 October 2026).
What does your venue need from your table plan?
Ask first, because venues set their own format. Amber Springs is the most detailed of the four. It asks for:
- Every guest's name and their table.
- The total at each table, within the venue's maximum (10 at Amber Springs).
- Dietary needs, allergies, intolerances and coeliac needs beside the name.
- Highchairs marked.
- Adults, children, babies and evening guests counted separately.
- Suppliers kept out of the main count. Amber Springs leaves them out and normally has them buy their own meals in the bar unless you agree otherwise.
Others ask for less: at Lord Bagenal Inn, your wedding consultant agrees seating with you directly. Then ask who prints what. Amber Springs prepares the printed table plan, menus and table numbers and asks couples to bring place cards. Clontarf Castle prints menus and table numbers or names, plus place cards for the top table.
Why a CSV helps
A CSV is a plain spreadsheet file that opens in Excel, Google Sheets or Numbers. A venue can sort it by table, filter it by dietary need and copy rows into its own forms, none of which works with a photo of a plan. If you must enter the plan in the venue's own system, as Amber Springs asks through Moposa, a CSV gives you a clean list to copy from. Castlemartyr asks for electronic format without naming one, so ask which it prefers.
Treat the file with care. Dietary and allergy notes can be health data, which the Data Protection Commission lists as a special category. Send the file only to your venue contact, and ask that the notes stay off any display plan your guests read.
What if guests drop out or are added after final numbers?
Tell the venue straight away. Amber Springs asks for late dietary changes to be reported immediately, and for final details in one email where possible. After final numbers are confirmed, reductions are still charged at the confirmed number and extra guests are added to the final account (at Amber Springs, from 72 hours before the wedding). So a late drop-out usually means an empty chair, not a new plan.
- Keep one or two spare seats on tables that can take them.
- Change the master list first, then send a replacement file with the date on it.
- Move one person or leave the chair empty. Do not reshuffle the room.
- Print the guests' copy last, as Weddings Online advises.
What is on a printable wedding table plan checklist?
Print this page or copy the list.
Before the reply-by date
- Ask your venue for its deadline, format, table sizes and maximum per table
- Set a reply-by date about six weeks before the wedding
- Decide on a top table, a sweetheart table or neither, and talk to parents early
After the reply-by date
- Chase every household that has not replied
- Build the master list (name, household, adult, child or baby, evening guest, dietary and allergy needs, access needs, highchair)
- Seat the top table, then families, then friends
- Check keep-apart pairs, older guests, wheelchair users, children and highchairs
- Check each dietary and allergy note sits beside the right name
Two weeks to one week before
- Send draft numbers when the venue asks
- Send the final plan in the venue's format by its deadline
- Check each table's total, then the grand total against your final numbers
After sending
- Keep one or two spare seats
- Tell the venue about changes straight away, with a dated replacement file
- Print the guests' copy last
How Tying The Knot handles this
A Tying The Knot site comes with a private couple's dashboard: every reply as it is sent, your guest list by household, who has and has not replied, reminders to chase, and the dietary and allergy list with each guest's table. The table plan lets you choose table types (round, long, top table, sweetheart), seats per table and the room layout, then drag names onto tables, or tap a guest and then a table. Download it as a picture (PNG) and as a CSV with each name, table, and dietary and allergy needs, to send to your venue.
The table plan is included in the €750 price (VAT included, a year online). See the table plan page or the pricing page. A spreadsheet and a pen will do the job too.
Every figure and venue rule here was checked on 12 October 2026, with the source linked beside it. Venues change their terms, so confirm yours.
Questions people ask
How many people sit at each table at a wedding?
A round table seats 8 to 10. A Dublin hotel's events page says a 5ft round table seats eight comfortably and a 6ft round seats ten. Amber Springs caps tables at 10, and Clontarf Castle says its round tables take 8 to 12 (pages checked 12 October 2026). At the average of 141 guests reported by Weddings Online (December 2025), that means 15 tables of up to 10, or 18 tables of 8.
When should I do my wedding table plan?
Start a draft once most replies are in and finish after your reply-by date. Then check your venue's deadline: Castlemartyr Resort wants the seating plan in electronic format at least 4 days before the wedding, and Amber Springs wants the table plan through Moposa one week before (pages checked 12 October 2026). Both also ask for numbers earlier, so leave time.
What does a venue need from my table plan?
Usually every guest's name, their table, dietary needs and allergies beside the name, highchairs marked and the total at each table. Amber Springs asks for exactly this, with a maximum of 10 per table, and wants adults, children, babies and evening guests recorded separately (page checked 12 October 2026). Ask your own venue which format it prefers.
Who sits at the top table at an Irish wedding?
Traditionally the couple sit in the middle of a long table with seats down one side, with the best man and chief bridesmaid next to them and then the parents. Other options are a sweetheart table for two, or parents hosting tables near the top table. If parents are divorced and remarried, a separate nearby table for the step-parent's family is a kind solution.
Can I change my table plan after sending final numbers?
Yes, but tell the venue straight away. At Amber Springs, numbers confirmed 72 hours before the wedding are still charged if guests drop out, and extra guests are added to your final account (page checked 12 October 2026). A late drop-out usually means an empty chair rather than a new plan, so keep one or two spare seats.
Is there a free wedding table plan tool in Ireland?
Yes. Hitched.ie's table planner is free, with round or rectangular tables, drag and drop from your guest list, and print, email or export options. Weddings.ie lists a free table planner too, and Moposa gives couples a seating plan if their venue uses it, because the venue pays (all checked 12 October 2026). A spreadsheet or paper works as well.
Do I assign exact seats or just tables?
Either works. Weddings Online notes you can give each guest an exact seat, or assign guests to tables and let them choose. Amber Springs asks for every guest's name and the total at each table, not seat order, so table-only is usually enough. Keep exact seats for the top table, where the order matters.
