There are only a few choices when it comes to setting up a wedding reception seating chart. Fortunately, selecting one for a catered Maui wedding reception is not much different than choosing from seating options for a wedding on the mainland. Should you use one large banquet table so everyone is seated at the same table? Or, should you choose several round tables or smaller long tables with 8 to 10 people seated at each table?

If you are using wedding food stations (chef action stations) or a self-service buffet where the caterer isn’t serving seated guests or a combination catered buffet along with interactive food stations, the wedding table arrangements and seating charts are still important and should not be left to last minute planning. Unless you are offering only passed pupus (Hawaiian hors d oeuvers) for your wedding without a seated dinner reception, you’ll still want to select wedding table seating arrangements matching the overall ambiance of your wedding style. Decisions, decisions! What to do and how do you figure out which table seating option is the best for the style of Maui wedding reception you’ve decided on? To help, quickly scan through a few tips with recommendations and advice I share with couples planning on getting married on Maui:

1. Long Banquet Tables and Farm Tables – When a single long table with the wedding couple seated at the end along with the wedding party and wedding guest attendees ensures everyone is seated together at the same table while providing ambiance to make each wedding guest feel like they are more a part of the couple’s wedding than if the bride and groom are seated at a separate guest of honor table along with the wedding party and parents. For weddings on Maui, skipping the formal wedding tradition of seating the wedding couple separately from the guests is a frequent request especially when less than 50 attendees. Larger wedding receptions can be accommodated using a few long tables placed end to end. When the wedding attendance list is larger than what could be reasonably seated and served comfortably at a single table, seperate long tables are utilized. Regardless of using long tables, you’ll still want to decide who sits where especially if the usual family estrangements exist. While everyone hopes the divorced parents would get along or the squabbling brothers should put their differences aside for your wedding, that isn’t always reality. Instead of expecting quests to behave appropriately, we recommend couples getting married on Maui specify where guests are seated at their wedding reception instead of leaving it to chance and risking anyone feel uncomfortable or awkward. If the newlyweds would like to individually converse with each guest and personally thank them for attending their wedding on Maui, large tables can make it more difficult for quiet conversations but not impossible. Take a look at this wedding reception in Lahaina for more ideas on seating everyone at a single table. What could be more intimate than an oceanfront wedding reception with everyone enjoying dinner together seated with the bride and groom? Imagine watching a beautiful Maui sunset before sitting down to enjoy a beachfront wedding reception dinner just a few steps from the water! Include full service catering with our professional wait staff serving a customized menu matched to your preferences. Whether you decide on a catered gourmet dinner including filet and lobster tails or choose less extravagant catering menu options, everyone seated at the same table provides the ambiance for the most intimate wedding reception experience.
2. Round Tables – While round tables or separate rectangular tables makes it easier for the bride and groom to share a few minutes of time with each guest to thank them for attending their wedding on Maui, the overall ambiance isn’t always as intimate for the guests as it would be if everyone is seated at the same table. If you decide to stick with a traditional wedding seating plan using round tables for the wedding reception guests, many destination wedding couples will choose to seat themselves at a rectangular long table facing the wedding reception and their invited guests while the guests are seated at round tables. Doing so allows the wedding couple to enjoy viewing the entire wedding reception and their invited guests. Choosing to seat the wedding party along with parents at the host table is also something you’ll need to decide on. Dependent on the size of the wedding party, we often recommend seating the wedding party and parents at guest of honor tables arranged at the front of the reception area but not necessarily seated at the same table as the wedding couple. Various sizes of round tables are available ranging from 36 inches for seating 4 through 72 inches for seating up to 10 guests.
3. Wedding Food Stations – With growing popularity, wedding food stations on Maui are being requested more often and for good reasons! This affordable wedding catering option provides a feeling of personal service as guests have the most opportunity to interact with the chef preparing each course of their dinner as they watch. Guests love being able to ask the chef questions about the preparation techniques or the fresh local Maui ingredients being utilized in their dish. Though the guests will be serving themselves, most couples still want to provide their quests with tables and seating for their reception dinner. For both self-service catered buffets and wedding food stations, we recommend leaving plenty of room for guests to easily get up to serve themselves from a catered buffet or wedding food stations. Round tables, rectangular tables or a combination will easily accommodate space needs for guests to move about the reception and may provide the most flexibility for the couple getting married to share time with individual wedding guests the way they want to. If you aren’t hosting a dinner for the wedding reception, you’ll still want to provide a few tall ‘high-boy’ tables so guests aren’t left to hold their food plates.

Whatever choices you make regarding wedding seating arrangements with seating charts, you can count on us for expert wedding planning and catering advice or for help finding the best wedding service professionals or wedding equipment rentals on Maui. We only work with professional wedding service providers who have proven to be reliable and experienced for wedding cakes or any other components of the wedding we don’t directly supply as part of our Maui catering services. Ask for our personal recommendations and we’ll put you in touch with suppliers for wedding flowers, wedding officiates, wedding coordinators on Maui or we can make all the arrangements on your behalf. We don’t mark up or charge extra fees for introductions to professional service providers!

Need help planning a wedding on Maui or creating a catering menu for a wedding reception on Maui? Hit the button below to use our easy Maui wedding questionnaire to provide a few details about your vision for a wedding in Hawaii. We’ll reply with a detailed quote or we’ll respond with a few tips and advice to ensure your destination wedding in Hawaii is exactly as you’d like it to be. Though we provide full service wedding planning, we are equally happy providing only the catering for a Maui wedding or working with DIY wedding planners. We’ll provide as much or as little help as prefer. We plan it, we prepare it and we serve it! One call does it all! Start Planning a Wedding on Maui NOW:{{cta(‘2f3ec34f-8c06-40fc-bb27-75700f95a429′,’justifycenter’)}}

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