How to make a seating chart
A good seating chart gets made in four passes: rooms, tables, people, polish. Here is the exact workflow, using the maker above.
- 1
Lay out your tables
Add round, rectangle, banquet, or head tables from the toolbar, then drag them to match your room. Snap-to-grid keeps rows straight, and each table shows its own seat count.
- 2
Import your guest list
Paste names one per line, import a CSV from Excel or Google Sheets, or type guests in one at a time. The counter tracks how many are seated versus still waiting.
- 3
Seat everyone
Click Auto-seat to fill the room instantly, then refine: click a guest, then click their seat — or drag a name straight onto a chair. Swaps happen automatically when a seat is taken.
- 4
Title it and export
Add your event name, venue, and date so they print at the top, then download a PNG for sharing or a print-ready PDF for the easel by the door.
Why seat people on purpose?
Whether it's a wedding reception, a fundraising gala, or fourth period, the seating chart is quiet logistics that decides how the event feels. Assigned seats end the awkward scramble for chairs, keep couples and families together, split up the two people who shouldn't share a table, and make sure guests of honor can actually see the action. Venues and caterers ask for one because meal service runs table by table — and teachers keep one because learning goes better when the back row isn't self-selected.
The tool on this page handles the general case — any mix of tables, rows, and arcs. If your event fits a pattern, the dedicated pages go deeper: weddings, classrooms, banquets, band rooms, and corporate events — each opens the same editor preloaded with a sensible starting layout.
How many seats fit at each table?
The most common planning question has a boring, reliable answer. Standard rentals seat the following comfortably:
| Table | Size | Seats comfortably | Max |
|---|---|---|---|
| Round | 60" (5 ft) | 8 | 10 |
| Round | 72" (6 ft) | 10 | 12 |
| Banquet (rectangle) | 6 ft | 6 | 8 |
| Banquet (rectangle) | 8 ft | 8 | 10 |
| Sweetheart | 48" | 2 | 2 |
Leave roughly 54–60 inches between table edges so chairs can pull out back-to-back and servers can pass. If you're working from a floor plan, sketch the room's fixed features first — dance floor, stage, buffet, doors — then drop tables into what's left. The canvas above pans and zooms, so you can work at ballroom scale.
What this maker includes
- Every table type: rounds from 2–16 seats, rectangles, banquet tables, one-sided head tables, sweetheart tables, plus straight rows and curved arcs of chairs for ceremonies, classrooms, and bands.
- Real guest management: paste or CSV-import up to 400 names, auto-seat in one click, drag to rearrange, and watch per-table counts update live.
- Clean exports: hi-res PNG for sharing and a print-ready PDF sized for letter paper. Free exports include a small footer credit; Pro removes it.
- No account, no upload: your chart lives in your browser and autosaves as you work. Undo, snap-to-grid, and zoom are all standard.
Prefer to start from a layout instead of a blank room? The template gallery has classic receptions, classroom rows and pods, gala banquets, concert band arcs, and more — one click loads any of them into the editor.