Seating plan guides

The parts of a seating plan that are genuinely hard: knowing what to ask people in advance, keeping the wrong two guests apart, and making a corporate dinner worth attending.

• How to turn RSVP form answers into a seating plan

  What to ask on the form so the answers are actually useful, how to structure the spreadsheet so it imports cleanly, and why the export-and-arrange method falls apart the second time you do it.

• How to seat guests who do not get along

  Divorced parents, exes and feuding relatives. How far apart people need to be in the room rather than on the list, why buffers have limits, and the check almost nobody does before printing.

• Seating a corporate event or conference dinner

  Deciding what the evening is for, mixing departments without killing the conversation, where to put senior guests and sponsors, and what to collect from attendees in advance.