FREE · PLANNING & SCHEDULING TOOLS
Seating Chart Maker.
Arrange guests at tables for a wedding or event: couples kept together, guests kept apart, seating wishes, pinned tables, drag-and-drop, place cards.
Your data stays in your browser: nothing is uploaded.
Step 4 of 4: Plan
Steps to use Seating Chart Maker
Enter the guests with an optional group and tags, the tables with their shape and seats, and the links: who must sit together, who must be kept apart and who would like to sit together. Press Arrange the tables, then drag guests between tables and export the plan, the list or the place cards.
How Seating Chart Maker processes your input
“Together” links are merged into blocks (union-find), placed largest first, then improved by seeded simulated annealing on moves and swaps of blocks and a final exhaustive descent. Capacity, “apart” links and pinned tables are hard rules; wishes, keeping groups on few tables, nobody alone from their group and even table filling are optimized.
Seating Chart Maker: worked example
A fictitious wedding of 38 guests: a head table of six, four round tables of eight and a children’s table, with nine couples, one pair to keep apart and three seating wishes.
Make a seating plan in four steps
- Guests: type or paste the list, one per line as “name; group; tags”. “Ana & Leo” adds a couple who will sit together. Tags such as child or vegetarian are only shown on the plan.
- Tables: give each table a name, a shape (round, rectangular or a head table seated on one side) and its number of seats, or add several identical tables at once.
- Links: who must sit together (couples, a parent and a young child), who must be kept apart, and seating wishes weighted from 1 to 5.
- Plan: press Arrange the tables. The plan respects every rule it can, then keeps wishes, keeps each group on as few tables as possible and avoids leaving a guest alone from their group.
Example: the 38 guests of the sample wedding fit on a head table of six, four round tables of eight and a children’s table. All three wishes are met and nobody sits away from their whole group; the two families of nine cannot fit at one table of eight, so they use two tables each.
Adjust the plan by hand
Drag a guest onto another table, or select a guest and then press Move here on a table; select a guest and then a guest at another table to swap them. A couple or family always moves together, and a move that would overfill a table or seat two guests who must be kept apart is refused with the reason.
Pin a guest with the pin button to keep them at their table when you press New arrangement; a pinned guest can also be chosen in the Fixed table column. Undo and Redo cover the last 30 changes. Guests added after the plan appear under Not seated yet until you place them or arrange again.
Print and share
Export a PDF with the plan of each table and the alphabetical list “name → table”, table cards to stand on each table, place cards to cut out, a CSV file for a spreadsheet or a PNG image, or print the page. Save the plan as a .json file or share a link to open it on another device. For a gift draw among the same guests, try the Secret Santa generator; to share the costs of the event, the expense splitter.
Questions about Seating Chart Maker
How many guests and tables can I use?
Up to 1,000 guests and 150 tables of 1 to 60 seats. A wedding of 300 guests on 30 tables is arranged in well under a second on a computer.
What happens when the rules cannot all be met?
Before arranging, the tool explains the problem: too few seats, a group that must sit together but is larger than the largest table, or two people both pinned to one table while they must be kept apart. Fix it and arrange again.
Is the plan the best possible?
It is the best found by a fast search that tries many moves and swaps. On small events it matched the best possible plan in every test; New arrangement gives another good plan.
Are my guest names uploaded?
No. The plan is calculated in your browser and saved only in this browser, unless you save a file or copy a share link yourself.
Is Seating Chart Maker free, and do I need an account?
Yes. This tool is free to use in your browser without an account. Processing takes place on your device.
What are the limits and what should I check?
Up to 1,000 guests and 150 tables of 1 to 60 seats. The plan is the best found by a seeded heuristic, not a proof of the best possible plan; on tiny events it matched the exact optimum in tests. Tags are displayed only. Nothing you type is uploaded. Review the result before using it in your work.
Is my input sent to a server?
Your input is processed in your browser and is not uploaded by this tool. Files and pasted text are cleared when the page is refreshed. Normal website requests are still required to load the page and its libraries. Read the privacy explanation.