Build a seating chart maker with drag and drop rules

The pieces of a table plan

People: Name, group (bride's family, work friends, Year 9 set 2), and optional notes such as dietary needs, a wheelchair, a high chair. Paste a list in one go rather than typing names one by one.
Tables: Shape (round, long, top table, classroom desks in rows), number of seats, and a name or number. A room layout you can arrange so the plan resembles the venue.
Rules: Keep together (couples, a parent and child), keep apart, must sit at a particular table, and needs access (near an exit, step-free).
Unseated: A sidebar of people not yet placed, filterable by group, which shrinks as you work.

Dragging, with rules that warn

The core interaction is dragging a name from the sidebar onto a seat, or a whole household onto a table at once. Rules should be checked live: a keep-apart pair at the same table turns both names red with a short reason, an over-full table shows its count in red, and a "Problems" panel lists every broken rule. Warnings rather than blocks work better: sometimes you'll break a rule on purpose.

An automatic arrange button is tempting, and a simple one helps for large events: seat groups together, honour keep-apart rules, fill tables evenly, then let you adjust. Be wary of promising an optimal plan. With many rules, a quick algorithm can find a good arrangement but not always the best one, and people want the final say anyway.

Keyboard support. Dragging isn't the only way: pick a person, then pick a seat. That also makes the tool usable without a mouse and with assistive technology.
Undo. Many steps of it. Moving a table of ten by mistake is easy.
Lock. Fix a table once it's settled so the arrange button leaves it alone.

Printing the plan

Two printouts do different jobs. The venue or caterer needs a plan by table, showing each table's guests and any dietary notes. Guests at the door need an alphabetical list with their table number, large and readable from a distance. Ask for both as print layouts, plus a room diagram that fits one page. The browser's print dialog can save any of them as a PDF.

Weddings, events and classrooms

A wedding seating chart usually has a top table, round tables of eight or ten, and lots of family rules. A charity dinner adds sponsors to place near the stage. A classroom seating chart is different again: rows or groups of desks, pairs chosen for learning reasons, and a plan that changes each half-term. Say which you're building, because the defaults differ.

"A table plan maker for our wedding: 92 guests pasted from a list with groups, one top table of eight, eleven round tables of eight. Rules: keep together, keep apart, near the exit. Drag to seat, or pick-then-place with the keyboard. Live warnings and a problems panel. Simple auto-arrange that respects locks. Print by table with dietary notes, alphabetical with table numbers, and a one-page room diagram. Saves on this device. Elegant, quiet design."

For the rest of the planning, see the wedding planner app and the wedding website for guests and RSVPs. Teachers might pair it with the random name picker.

Limits

No RSVP import by connection. If RSVPs arrive through a wedding website's form, you paste the confirmed list in; the app can't fetch them.
No collaboration. Two people can't edit the plan on two devices at once. Work on one device, or pass a file.
Not a floor-plan tool. The room layout is a simple diagram, not a scaled plan. For measured layouts, see the floor plan maker.
No guest-facing lookup by default. You could publish a find-your-table page, but anyone with the link could see every name. Think about that before publishing guest lists.

Questions people ask

Can a seating chart maker handle families with children?

Yes. Treat a household as a group that's kept together, and mark seats for high chairs or children's meals so they show on the caterer's printout.

Can I save several versions of the plan?

Ask for named plans, such as 'Plan A' and 'If it rains', each saved on the device, with a copy button.

How many guests can it manage?

Hundreds, comfortably, since the data is small. For very large events, ask for search and filters in the sidebar.