How to get guests to stray from "Bride Side" & "Groom Side"?

Your officiant can also encourage people to do so.

Are you having ushers? If so, they can escort guests without asking which side they are from.

Don't have any signs. The last wedding that I went to people just sat where there were seats. We sat with friends. Other friends sat across the aisle from us. I didn't notice if there was a "Bride's side" or a "Groom's side" other than where the parents were.

Like @Tina BoBina said - if you have ushers they can make sure the sides are close to even! Otherwise I really think the sign will work - honestly unless people googled it at the ceremony I doubt most remember which side is which

I found this at Hobby Lobby & couldn't resist. We had a beach wedding (obviously) but I had more family in attendance so I didn't want the groom's side to be empty. With that & having just enough chairs for our guests kind of made it a no brainer.

I agree that ushers can help. Your groomsmen can act as ushers. Or like Devon said, having just about the right number of seats. We had both and our guests were mixed on both sides. I've seen pictures of my cousins on the groom side and H's best friend on the bride side.

I am having a sign made that says " Pick a Seat, Either Side your Loved by both the Groom and Bride! Since I have such a big family and my FH doesn't I didn't want it to look lopsided. Also having our ushers just ask if they are family then they get sat closer but that's it then they will just place people.

Thank you so much everyone! I don't have ushers, so I'm going to have to have the groomsmen direct traffic. There aren't going to be a heck of a lot of people there anyway. Thank you for the suggestions! I really like the wording on that sign, @DAK, I think I'll go with that wording! Thank you again for the suggestions, I never even thought to have the groomsmen play ushers. And now that I think of it, the officiant also said she would help in place of ushers too.

We did the same thing, pick a seat not a side because his side was like 80% of the guest list so it would look weird too. I haven't been to too many weddings though that specified bride and groom side anymore.

We're going to have a sign, but it's to help eliminate confusion. In Jewish weddings the sides are flipped. FHs family is Jewish and mine is Christian, so the end goal is get everyone seated without anyone worrying about it.

Fall Bride beat me to saying it! I have this sign...

I will have more guest then my FW so We are have a sign that says. Pick a seat not a side either way it's for a bride !

Honestly, no sign will actually make people sit in a specific spot. But if one side is filling up, people will typically fill in the other side so that their group of friends/family can all sit together!

Depending on your venue and how many guests you have, you could look into doing a unique ceremony setup to avoid a sign. I had a small wedding do one solid block of chairs to avoid sides and she walked around them and onto the side. There is also a spiral setup or circular shape that might be fun!

You can definitely use a sign (which I plan to do), but also where are you getting married? Unless it's a church or other place where seating cannot be removed, you should be fine. Usually a venue will put out enough seats for those who RSVP and maybe a few extras just in case!

Good luck

@Tracy I LOVE that!!

We're not going to have any signs, but I "think" (this plan could definitely change) we're going to have the ushers seat people traditionally but if one side appears to be filling up more than the other their main goal is going to be to keep it even.

Also - if you set up the amount of chairs for the people you're expecting, even if his family all goes to one side, they're going to run out of seats quickly and have no choice but to fill in the other side. (I don't know what your venue is, but if it's like a church where you have way more pews than you need then this is a moot point).

I think the best plan it to have ushers seat people evenly on each side. We had a sign, even though I typically roll my eyes at them, because my mom loved the saying and wanted to make it. It was about two weeks before the wedding and I honestly just didn't care enough to convince her that it was unnecessary. Ours said, "Pick a seat, not a side, you're loved by both the groom and bride."

I will have quite a bit more than FH in attendance. However, if they want a seat, they'll have to take what's available. We won't have many extra seats.

I plan to get a cute sign, my FH is the one that will have the smaller side and he really liked the sign idea. My plan is to purchase a pre-loved sign and then pass it on!

I've thought about having a sign, but we're also planning on having ushers. I'm hoping they'll distribute people evenly because FH's side of the invite list is much longer than mine. With the ushers, the sign might not be necessary.

My fiancé and I welcomed guest and handed out programs for my friends wedding and everyone that came just kind of sat down. A few people asked us what side and we just said the whole chose a seat not side were all family now thing (mainly because we weren't sure which was which and the sides were already mingled up by the time people asked.)