A Singapore wedding banquet seats guests at round tables of ten: the main table at the front with the couple and usually both sets of parents, family tables closest to it, the groom's side and the bride's side on either half of the hall, then friends and colleagues grouped by circle, and the hotel needs the final table list about two weeks before the day. The Private Wedding App builds that plan from your confirmed RSVPs: round tables set to ten seats, each guest dragged in with their meal and allergy flags, and a printable table list for the hotel, as part of the full planner at S$24.99/month or S$249 once, lifetime. 3-day free trial.
In a Singapore banquet hall, the seating plan is the part of the wedding that carries the most family politics per square metre. Thirty round tables, ten seats each, two families, a main table everyone will look at, and a hotel that needs the final list two weeks before the day. This guide sets out the conventions most Singapore families follow, the order to build the plan in, and how to turn RSVPs into a table list the hotel and the reception desk can actually use.
Start from the yes list, not the invite list
The most common seating mistake is drawing tables from the invitation list. Some guests will decline, some will bring a partner you did not expect, and some will never answer. Build the plan only from guests who confirmed, then fill the gaps as replies come in. Hotels count in tables of ten, so a plan with 247 confirmed guests is 25 tables, and the last table needs three more people or a merge.
Collect what the plan needs at the same time as the RSVP: how many people each guest brings, their meal choice and any allergy. Halal, vegetarian and no beef are the usual Singapore asks, and they decide which tables the kitchen serves differently.
The meal and allergy tracker collects each guest's dish and dietary needs with the RSVP, so they arrive in the seating plan already attached to the name.
Who sits where: the conventions
Families differ, but most Singapore banquets follow the same map. The main table, sometimes called the VIP table, sits at the front centre near the stage. The tables around it belong to close family. The hall is then split, with the groom's side on one half and the bride's side on the other, so each family's relatives are near each other and near their own parents for the toasts and table visits.
In the seating plan you name each table freely ("Main table", "Groom's family 1", "Colleagues") and place it on the layout, so the map on screen matches the hall.
Build it in this order
Seat the hard constraints first and the easy ones last. Families who must not sit together, elders who need to be near the exit, guests with wheelchairs, and children are fixed points. Everyone else fits around them.
The seating plan lets you drag or tap guests onto tables, split a party into individuals or regroup it, and reset the layout when the hall changes.
- Set every round table to ten seats, then name the main table
- Seat the main table and both families' tables
- Seat the wedding party and parents' own guests
- Group friends and colleagues by circle
- Check allergy flags and meal choices table by table
- Leave one buffer table until the RSVP deadline has passed
What the hotel needs, and when
The hotel's banquet team needs two things: the final number of tables and the table list with special meals marked. SingaporeBrides etiquette suggests sending invitations 6 to 8 weeks ahead with a reply-by date 3 to 4 weeks before, which leaves about two weeks of buffer before the hotel's final count. Use that buffer to chase the guests who have not answered, because an unanswered guest is still a seat you may pay for.
Send the kitchen a per-table breakdown: how many standard, vegetarian, halal or no-beef meals at each table, and which guests have a severe allergy. Banquet service in Singapore is fast, and a waiter who knows Table 12 has two vegetarians gets it right the first time.
The caterer day sheet prints final counts, plate counts per meal, the allergy roster with each guest's table and a per-table breakdown, so the hotel gets one clean page.
At the reception desk: how guests find their table
In Singapore, guests arrive at the reception table, hand over their ang bao and ask for their table number. Helpers look it up on a printed list, which works until 40 guests arrive in the same ten minutes. Two things speed it up: a sorted printed list, and letting guests look it up before they arrive.
The Private Wedding App can do both. Switch on "Let guests look up their table" and the RSVP page shows a Find your table card: a guest types their name exactly as on your list and sees their table, without browsing anyone else's. For the desk itself, optional door check-in gives each confirmed guest a personal entry pass, and helpers scan it on any phone to see the party, the table and the meals, with live arrived and expected counters.
Read how Find your table works, and print your table list from the seating plan for the desk as a backup.
Your next step
Open the seating plan on the free trial, add your tables of ten and drag in the guests who have already confirmed. Every new RSVP lands in the unassigned list with its meal and allergy, so the plan keeps up with the replies instead of being redrawn every weekend. If you have several events, such as a ROM lunch and an evening banquet, each one gets its own plan, explained in ROM, tea ceremony and banquet.
Start the free trial, then stay monthly at S$24.99 or pay S$249 once for lifetime access, with the invitation, RSVP, guest list, budget and seating plan in one place.
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Try the full planner →How many guests per table at a Singapore wedding banquet?
Ten. Hotels and restaurants price and set banquets per round table of ten, so 200 guests is 20 tables and 300 guests is 30.
Who sits at the main table at a Chinese wedding banquet?
Usually the couple and both sets of parents, sometimes with grandparents. Some parents prefer to host their own table of relatives, in which case the main table holds the couple, the closest family and the wedding party.
How do we arrange family tables at a wedding banquet?
Close family at the tables nearest the main table, elders nearer the front, with the groom's side on one half of the hall and the bride's side on the other.
When does the hotel need the final table list?
Ask your banquet manager, and plan for about two weeks before the day: SingaporeBrides suggests a reply-by date 3 to 4 weeks before the wedding to leave that buffer.
How do guests find their table at a Singapore wedding?
At the reception desk, from a printed list. The Private Wedding App adds two options: a Find your table lookup on the invitation where a guest types their name to see their table, and optional door check-in where helpers scan a guest's entry pass and see their table and meals.
What is the best app for a wedding banquet seating plan in Singapore?
One that is filled by your RSVPs. The Private Wedding App seats confirmed guests at tables of ten with their meals and allergies, prints the plan and a per-table caterer sheet for the hotel, and keeps it in sync with the guest list, for S$24.99/month or S$249 once, lifetime.
How do we handle halal and vegetarian guests in the seating plan?
Collect the meal choice and dietary needs with the RSVP, then check them table by table. In The Private Wedding App each seated guest shows their meal and allergy flags, and the caterer day sheet counts special meals per table.
What do we do with guests who never reply?
Chase them before the hotel's final count; until then, keep one buffer table. Optional reminder emails in The Private Wedding App go to pending guests with an email address before your reply-by date, and the WhatsApp button reaches the others.