At a dining table, there are many things that you’ll need to think about besides the menu. An important consideration is where the guests should sit, as this could decide whether or not your guests enjoy themselves or network successfully. There are some basic rules to guide your decision.
◇Ask guests of honor to sit in order. If you invite a guest of honor, for instance, a boss, an elderly relative, a visiting superstar, there are etiquette rules regarding their seating.
◇Try to make the people who have common interests sit together. This is the most useful starting point.
◇In general, you should try to seat families together and work colleagues together. But if you know people don’t get along, try not seating them together. It is worth breaking tradition to have a pressure free event.
◇Avoid guests of mixing age sit together. Young children should sit with their parents. Older children can sit with their parents or on a table together.
◇Try not to seat all the people who don’t fit on other tables together. It is probably better to separate such guests evenly.
◇A female guest of honor is usually seated on the right side of the host, while a male guest of honor is usually seated on the right side of the hostess.
◇Try to seat even numbers of males and females in a table. It is a tradition to alternate male-female-male-female guests in some cultures. Some business dinners are seated male-male-female-female for variety.
◇Try to avoid seating guests on the same table as ex-partners, unless you are sure this is OK. Keep in mind that there are 4 corners in every room.
◇If there are speeches or announcements, make sure the people giving them are not seated with their back facing anyone.
◇Try to seat pregnant, elderly and disabled guests and guests with small children where they can go to washrooms and use other facilities conveniently. Don’t make them sit at tables that are going to be taken away to make space after the dinner.