formal seating

SEATING GUESTS

This is a guessing game at best. You will place people at the table according to social rules and your boss will come along and rearrange the lot. I have spent an hour getting the place cards set and then my employer would come along and shift the whole table around. To avoid this game of musical place cards I put out the head and foot place cards and the guest of honor and wife cards and give the rest to the lady of the house to do as she sees fit. (Then the husband will come along and the whole process starts over). The basic rules for the table are:

Your employer will decide which is the head and foot of the table.

The guest of honor will sit to the right of the lady of the house. There are two schools of thought as to the seating of the hostess. One is that she sits at the foot of the table but this may mess up the man woman man setting order. The other way is for the guest of honor to sit at the foot and the hostess to sit to his right. The wife of the guest of honor will sit to the right of the host. This is subject to change according to the wishes of your employer.

Serve the guest of honor first. If you are the only server finish that side of the table. Then serve the wife of the guest honor and her side of the table. The man of the house is next and the lady of the house is last.