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The royal family
Original poster

Table plan at wedding

151 replies

BradfordGirl · 07/01/2023 16:52

Apparently at Harry and Meghan's wedding reception the table plan followed the American protocol of sitting couples next to each other. William and Kate insisted on changing the table plan at their table and having couples sitting apart.

OP posts:
Original poster
BradfordGirl · 07/01/2023 23:51

My2pence2day · 07/01/2023 23:30

Oh that's very lovely, I have never thought about it that way. I hate when I'm stuck sitting next to someone boring!

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Someone lonely is fine.
Who I avoid though are the bores who talk at you - usually middle aged men. I have zero interest in "being kind" to them.

OP posts:
Fabfam · 07/01/2023 23:58

I personally wouldn’t have any thoughts about who I sit next to at a wedding. Husband I can cope with being on our own for a couple of hours and I enjoy chatting with different people.

Fabfam · 08/01/2023 00:02

Also I cannot remember or care what our seating plan was at our wedding but everyone just enjoyed the occasion!

My2pence2day · 08/01/2023 00:08

BradfordGirl · 07/01/2023 23:51

Someone lonely is fine.
Who I avoid though are the bores who talk at you - usually middle aged men. I have zero interest in "being kind" to them.

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Ha ha, my DH always gets annoyed at me because I will leave him to talk to the boring person and quickly make a run for it to find someone else and he will get stuck with them. I feel a bit bad, but I find small talk excruciating with someone boring ...

Original poster
BradfordGirl · 08/01/2023 00:35

@Fabfam I can cope. But I want to enjoy myself.
I am too old to waste time listening to boring middle aged men talk at me. Fuck that. Life is too short.

OP posts:
AppleDumplingWithCustard · 08/01/2023 01:13

Samcro · 07/01/2023 19:09

Ignoring the topic, I find the whole idea interesting. I can’t think of anything worse than having to sit with people I don’t know, so find it an odd custom at a wedding

Really? You’ve obviously led a charmed life then.

IceStationStallion · 08/01/2023 01:16

I have never once sat in mixed groups at a wedding.

clyspa · 08/01/2023 01:35

It's been reported it was another person at the table that moved things.

Also unclear:

  1. Did they go around changing everyone or just switched themselves?
  2. Did they move off the allocated table?
  3. Who cares really?

For me, unless they were wholesale changing my table plan so that it upset other guests I can't get excited. Likewise telling a few people discreetly they were expecting at Eugenies wedding isn't that big a deal

But again we are missing vital context and other viewpoints ultimately

Original poster
BradfordGirl · 08/01/2023 01:36

It was about changing the table plan, not just swapping a place,

OP posts:
greenspaces4peace · 08/01/2023 02:00

6 pages in but has it been pointed out that in an american formal seating plan, w would be up at the head table as best man.
k would have been seated with other people closely related to the guests of honor (b&g). megan's mom for instance.
if the tables are long rectangles, some people prefer to face their partners vs seated next to them. then their is the short person who ends up facing the tall table centerpiece and cant see a darn thing. swaping seats is somewhat expected.

greenspaces4peace · 08/01/2023 02:06

if not simply swapping, maybe security issues that came to light later in the day or someone who didn't show up.

RewildingAmbridge · 08/01/2023 07:37

@BradfordGirl I grew up in the East end of London long before gentrification and now live in Essex, so definitely not posh! We seated couples apart but on the same table at our wedding. Why should only single people be placed next to randoms? I couldn't tell you if anyone swapped seats, I was too drunk busy enjoying myself.
Also Harry days they did it, W&K say they didn't. Who knows, either way. I can't say it would bother me.

bakalava · 08/01/2023 10:49

I think they were having some fun and standing up for Kate after all the bullying. Meghan was breaking all of the rules and being difficult for months so they decided to get her back in a small way on a day when she could not make a scene about it 😂It obviously worked!

toomuchlaundry · 08/01/2023 12:36

It would have to be a pretty crap wedding if bride and groom were spending time concentrating on if someone on a table was sitting in a different place than per the table plan

Blip · 08/01/2023 13:39

I eat with my DH almost every night and get to chat to him a lot. I wouldn't usually opt to sit with him at a sit down meal though as this is about the opportunity to socialise with other people. I would also often swap seats before or after pudding to speak to other people. This doesn't mean that DH isn't my favourite person to sit next to just that I'd prefer to socialise at a social event.

The only time I wouldn't want to do this is if I was feeling unconfident or unwelcome at an event or if I knew the other people at the table would be boring or unpleasant company.

Tulipomania · 08/01/2023 13:45

Wow. I thought it was incredibly crass to seat couples next to each other at any social event, let alone a wedding.

However, it's also beyond the pale for a guest to change a carefully thought out seating plan.

Ladyluck22 · 25/09/2023 22:21

How well do his parents get on? If ok I would ask them as I would assume they don’t regret the happy times like having there son. You could also have a table with your father-in-law’s new marriage as well, which is also part of your new family.

Mumsnut · 25/09/2023 22:37

Ahem….

00100001 · 25/09/2023 22:39
One Piece Lol GIF by Funimation

wordler · 25/09/2023 23:56

It’s not an American thing to sit next to your spouse - at every dinner party / wedding I have been to here in the States spouses never sit next to each other.

Usually round tables though at weddings so you are across from your Partner and can still see and talk to them.

At dinner parties you are supposed to be talking to other people

ALittleTeawithmilk · 26/09/2023 01:58

BradfordGirl · 07/01/2023 21:30

As I said, I think agreeing to swap places with individuals is fine. But saying to the whole table, I don't like this sitting next to partners, lets rearrange so nobody is sitting next to their partners, is rude.
And if William says this to you at his brothers wedding, who is going to object? People will feel forced to do this.
Nobody likes everything at someone elses wedding, but you have to go along with things.

I think it’s a power trip. There’s a hierarchy and it’s enforced from the top down.

The fact that the monarch inherits all the wealth because they were born first is very unfair and creates an unhealthy atmosphere where each heir learns they will have the final say one day, meanwhile they have say over everyone below them in the hierarchy (heirarchy ) which makes for shite family relations.

This is exemplified by the Royal Family. So very unhealthy to make one sibling more powerful than the other.

Its a business, a family business. And family businesses can be very unhealthy for the people born to it, even more so the people who marry into it. There’s a good chance that having broken free of it, Harry’s not coming back for anything but very special occasions. Meghan will probably come back for Charles’ funeral but will leave asap imo. She’d be mad to do more.

Their children are so much better off away from all this.

Harry writing his book and doing the netflix doc is in line with family tradition. Mum did it, Dad did it. Even Aunt Sarah did it. The fact that Charles did it is astonishing as he was next in line to the throne and would get the ultimate benefit given time. If Charles couldn’t keep mum about his experiences of family life, his parents (and his marriage), knowing that one day it would all be his, why should anyone else?

IceStationStallion · 26/09/2023 19:00

I don't think Meghan will come back to the UK ever especially at Charles' s funeral when William and Catherine will be King and Queen.

pilates · 26/09/2023 19:46

And how do you know this information op?

colourwheelofortune · 26/09/2023 21:01

Another non story to slag off the RF. Based on nothing, not even truthful and vague as fuck. It was a royal wedding, therefore there may have been protocols to follow.

pilates · 27/09/2023 05:57

Exactly right @colourwheelofortune