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How to Make an Alphabetical Seating Chart

Guests look for their own name, not a table. Here's how to make an A to Z seating chart that shows each guest's table and seat, and print it.

  • How-to
  • Seating Cat
Made for this: Seating Cat

At a wedding or a dinner with a table plan, guests arrive looking for one thing: their own name. A chart laid out table by table can make them read through table after table to find it. An alphabetical seating chart lists every guest A to Z with their table next to their name, so each person finds their line and goes. This guide covers how to set one up, then how to make and print it with Seating Cat, our seating chart planner for iPhone and iPad.

What goes on an alphabetical seating chart

  • Every guest, A to Z. One line per person, couples included, so nobody has to know whose name a couple was listed under.
  • Their table, by name or number, and their seat if you've planned seats.
  • Nobody missing. A guest left off the list is the one standing at the door asking. Check the count against your guest list before you print.

First names or last names?

Decide before you type the list, because the order follows the names as you write them.

  • First name first ("Ana Silva") sorts under A. It reads naturally, and it looks right on a place card.
  • Last name first ("Silva, Ana") sorts under S. It can help when many guests share a first name, but the name then appears that way everywhere it's printed.

Whichever you pick, write every name the same way, so the list stays in one order.

Make it in Seating Cat

  1. Add your tables. Tap Round table or Long table under Add your first table, then use the + button for more. Tap a table's ⋯ button to Rename it ("Table 1" works, so does "Garden") or to set its seats.
  2. Add your guests. Type a name into Add a guest and tap Next on the keyboard; the box stays ready for the next name. To bring in a whole list, tap Add guests, then Paste a list, and paste one guest per line.
  3. Watch the commas when pasting. In Paste a list, a comma starts a meal or group tag, so "Ana Silva, Vegetarian" adds Ana Silva with the tag Vegetarian. That means a pasted "Silva, Ana" would add a guest called Silva with the tag Ana. The sheet shows what it's about to add, like "12 guests, 2 tags: Vegetarian, Kids", so check that line before you tap Add 12. For last-name-first with a comma, type those names one by one into Add a guest instead, or leave the comma out ("Silva Ana").
  4. Seat everyone. Drag a name from Not seated yet onto a seat, or tap the name and then a seat. When the last guest is placed, Not seated yet changes to Everyone has a seat.

To fix a name, tap the guest (or their seat), tap Edit in the bar at the bottom, change it and tap Save. Their seat stays.

Tap Print at the top left, then Print chart, or Share chart PDF to send it to the venue, a planner or a print shop. The chart starts with every table and who sits where, then a Find your seat list:

  • every guest A to Z, in two columns, with their table and seat beside their name, like "Table 2, seat 3";
  • anyone you haven't seated yet, in the same A to Z order, marked "Not seated yet", so a missing seat shows up on paper before the day;
  • as many pages as the list needs, each page numbered at the bottom.

The list starts on a new page when there's little room left after the tables; otherwise it starts on the same page. If you want only the A to Z pages for the door, choose those pages in the print options, if they offer a page range. When the list starts on the same page as the tables, that first page has both.

The PDF is Letter size in the US and Canada and A4 in most other places, set by your device's region. The list is printed in ordinary text size, so it suits a table or a board that guests walk up to, rather than a sign read from across the room.

Place cards with the table on them

From the same Print menu, Print place cards gives a card for every guest, six to a sheet, with their table's name under their own. Cut on the solid lines and fold on the dashed ones, and each card stands up as a tent. Guests you haven't seated yet get a card with no table line.

What it costs

Seating Cat is free for one event, with no limit on guests or tables: drag and tap seating, tags, the chart with its Find your seat list, and plain place cards to print or share as a PDF, with no watermark. There's no account and no ads. Seating Cat Pro is an optional one-time purchase that adds more events, importing a guest list from a CSV file, and the Gilded, Garden and Modern place-card themes. You don't need it for the A to Z list. More on the Seating Cat page.

Quick answers

Does the A to Z list show seat numbers?
Yes, when a guest has a seat: their table and seat, like "Table 2, seat 3". Guests without one are marked "Not seated yet".

Can I print only the alphabetical list?
The list comes with the chart, after the tables. To print just its pages, pick them in the print options, if they offer a page range. Its first page may also hold the last tables.

Can I sort by last name?
The list sorts by each name as it's written, so write last names first if that's the order you want. When pasting, leave out the comma or it becomes a tag.

Where is my seating chart kept?
In the app's own words: "Your seating is kept on your phone and in your own backups, and leaves only when you print or share it."

Try Seating Cat

Try Seating Cat: free, no watermark, no sign-up → iyio.com/apps/seating-cat