Assign guests to tables in your InviteBird seating chart

To assign a guest in your InviteBird seating chart, tap Seat beside their name and choose a table. Use Seat all for a whole party, select several names to seat them together, or drag names onto tables on a computer, phone or tablet. If the board is empty, create your tables first.

The board at a glance

The Seating section has two sides. To be seated lists everyone who still needs a chair, with a count of unseated guests. The Room board shows your tables. On a phone, a Tables / To seat switch flips between them; on a wider screen you see both at once.

Each table shows how full it is — for example seated of capacity, with a few open — so you can see where there's room as you go.

Every table is on the board. Guests are seated at a table, not at a numbered chair. Drag the grip at the top-left of a table card to change the order of your tables — printed charts and table signs follow that order.

Seat one guest

In the To be seated list, tap Seat next to a name and pick a table from the menu. That's it — the guest moves onto the board and the counts update. You'll get a quick confirmation like "Priya seated at Table 3."

The menu lists tables with room first. Next open table jumps to the first table with room for everyone you're seating, Last used repeats your last choice, and once you have more than six tables a search box helps you find one by name.

You can also drag a name straight onto a table. With a mouse or trackpad, click and drag. On a phone or tablet, press and hold the name for a moment until it lifts, then drag — your tables appear along the bottom of the screen, so you can drop the name on any of them without scrolling. A quick swipe still just scrolls the list. Dragging is only a shortcut: Seat does the same job, so you never have to drag.

To take someone off their table, drag them onto the To be seated list (on a phone or tablet, onto Drop here to take off the table at the bottom of the screen), tap Move beside their name and choose Unseat this guest, or open the table and untick them.

Seat a whole party together

When a guest is bringing others, they appear as a party — for example "party of 4 · 4 to seat." Tap Seat all to place everyone in the party who still needs a seat at one table in a single move, keeping them together. Dragging the party card does the same.

To see the individuals, tap the party open. Each member — the main guest and each additional guest, shown as guest of [name] — gets their own Seat button, so you can place them separately when you want to.

Split a party across tables

Sometimes not everyone in a party sits together — a couple's older kids at a friends' table, say. Open the party, then seat an individual member at a different table than the rest. You can also drag one person onto another table to peel them off. The main guest and each additional guest keep their own seat from then on, so moving one never drags the others along: drag a main guest and their plus-ones stay where they were, and drag a plus-one on their own to seat them apart.

Once everyone in a party has a seat, the party leaves the To be seated list, and Seat all goes with it. To bring a split party back together, open the table you want them at and tick each person in its Guests at this table list (everyone is listed there, including plus-ones sitting elsewhere), or tap Move beside each name.

Seat several guests at once

To fill a table quickly, tick the checkbox beside several names — even across different parties — then use the Seat together bar that appears and choose one table. It's the fastest way to build a "college friends" or "work crew" table from a scattered list.

Seat from the table itself

Open any table on the board to bring up its Guests at this table checklist. Every person is listed, including plus-ones sitting apart from their party. Ticking a name seats that person here (if they were at another table, they move); unticking moves them back to unseated. It's a handy way to fill one specific table without hunting through the main list.

Over capacity is allowed

If you seat more guests than a table's capacity, InviteBird flags it as over capacity on the table and in the header — but it never blocks you. Seat everyone the way the day will actually run, then adjust capacities or move a chair if you like. To change a table's size or shape, see Creating tables.

Find, filter and sort the list

When the To be seated list gets long, use the chips above it to show All, Attending, Maybe or No reply guests, or just one of your tags (you only see the chips that apply to your guests). Sort the list A-Z or by Biggest party. Once more than eight guests are waiting, a search box appears too.

Guests who have declined are tucked under a Declined (n) line below the list. Open it if you want to hold a seat for one anyway.

Table options and Undo

Tap the three dots on a table card for Edit table, Move everyone to… (sends the whole table to another table in one go) and Clear table (takes everyone off but keeps the table). Deleting a table unseats everyone at it in one step, plus-ones included.

A move, Move everyone to…, Clear table and Delete table can all be undone: tap Undo in the message that appears (it stays for about eight seconds) and everyone goes back exactly where they were.

When a guest changes their party size

The table plan follows the guest's reply. If a guest replies with a smaller party than you planned for, the extra seats are freed and the names, meals and table spots for the people who aren't coming are dropped. If they reply with a bigger one, the extra people show up in To be seated. If you change a guest's party size yourself after they've replied, that updates their reply too, and the newest edit wins. The number you set for a guest is only the most they may bring.

Let InviteBird seat everyone

The Smart seating card can draft a whole plan for you — tagged groups first (Family, College), then households, then everyone else — and you refine it from there. That's covered in Keeping households and groups together.

Once you've checked the assignments, download your seating chart and place cards for the venue and welcome table. Update and re-download the printed pieces if guests move tables.

Common questions

How do I move a guest to a different table? Tap Move beside their name on the table and choose the new table, or drag them from one table to another. Their old seat clears automatically.

How do I unseat someone? Drag them onto the To be seated list (on a phone or tablet, onto Drop here to take off the table at the bottom of the screen), tap Move and choose Unseat this guest, or open their table and untick them. They return to the unseated list and stay on your guest list.

Can I seat additional guests separately from the main guest? Yes. Open the party and give each person their own table with their Seat button (or drag them individually). To put them back together, move each person to the same table.

Do I have to seat everyone? No. Seating is optional and you can leave anyone unseated. Guests who look up their table before you've placed them simply see a friendly "a table hasn't been assigned yet" message — see Find Your Seat for guests.

Why does a guest still show as "to seat" when I've seated the main guest? Because one of their additional guests isn't seated yet. Parties stay in the list until every member has a chair. Open the party to seat the remaining people, or use Seat all.

Can I change the seating after the event? No. Once an event has wrapped or been canceled, the seating plan is kept exactly as it was.

Related articles

• Creating tables
• Keeping households and groups together
• Allowing plus-ones and additional guests
• Printable seating charts and place cards