Would You Assign Seats at a Dinner Party?

Lately I've been thinking about an Irish etiquette point that I miss from our days in Dublin. In Ireland, it is considered poor manners to sit next to your spouse/partner at a dinner party or event. The general thought is that you already spend so much time with your partner, the point of being out is to meet new people and converse with others. This comes naturally to Patrick and I...not to say that we don't enjoy being around each other, but when we are out we naturally tend to chat with different crowds and Patrick in particular loves to meet new people.

I've never assigned seating at a dinner party (we didn't even do it at our wedding!) but I think there is actually something really nice about putting thought into where people sit and who would be most interested in chatting with whom. Jenny and the girls did a great job of assigning seating at my baby shower, everyone seemed to be getting along well and they seated me next to the out of town guests.

Would you feel comfortable going to an event or party and sitting separately from your partner? Do you assign seating at parties you throw?

PS. Tips on seating arrangements at a party (Patrick is definitely the Charmer!) and dinner party etiquette from 60 years ago (ATTN: JENNY).


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2 comments

  1. AnonymousMay 21, 2014 at 1:43 PM

    I've always wanted to host a party with assigned seating! But I don't think my friends would go for it. I wanted to do assigned seating for my wedding too but I was already stressed out enough without making seating charts so it didn't happen.

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  2. JennyMay 21, 2014 at 11:39 PM

    I always try and sit not by Jason, on airplanes when we're traveling with other friends, at parties, etc. Often people think its strange. WHICH IS SO WEIRD TO ME! If I sit next to him at a party, what will we have to talk about on the car ride home?

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