When to send the seating chart to your venue

Every venue and caterer has its own schedule, and it is usually in the contract. Look for two dates: when the final guest count is due, and when they want the table assignments. The count usually comes first, because it sets the food order. The table list often comes a little later, but not always.

If the contract does not say, ask. Then write both dates on your calendar and count back. The timing guide has a schedule that works backward from the wedding day.

The venue does not need your beautiful poster. It needs a plain, accurate list: every guest's name and table number, easy to scan. Many also want a count per table and any meal choices or allergies, which usually live in your RSVP records rather than the seating chart.

Tablecharm's "Compact list for the venue" export is that plain list: guests alphabetical by surname, table number beside each, in two columns. For our 100 guests it was two Letter pages. The same chart also exports a CSV of name and table, which some caterers prefer to import into their own software.

Before you send anything, check three things. The couple's names at the top are yours, not a sample. Every guest has a real name, not "Iris's Guest". And the chart has been solved since your last change.

Tablecharm's "Ready to print or share" checklist covers all three: it flags the sample couple's names, counts placeholder names, and says when changes still need a solve. The complete marked preview lets you review every name, while final files and the guest link require payment.

Changes after the deadline happen. A guest cancels, someone adds a partner. Tell the venue promptly and send a fresh list rather than a note, so there is only ever one current version. In Tablecharm, remove or add the guest and solve again; every solve after the first moves as few guests as it can and tells you what moved, so the list you send changes only where it must.

Print the posters and place cards after the venue list is settled, not before. The two weeks before guide covers that final stretch.

Some venues ask for a floor plan as well as a list. Up to eight tables, Tablecharm exports a plan with the names at each table. Larger rooms export the real layout with a number on every table, and the names stay on the seating poster. Check that Table 1 on the venue's plan is the same table as Table 1 on your list before the posters go to print.