Designing Your Sweetheart Table

In this election year where we are listening to candidates pontificate their opinions and policies, I would like a turn to step up to the podium and ask my fellow Americans (and all other non-Americans who read The Wedding Yentas) to stand with me on this ever-important topic; this movement; this debate: To sweetheart table or not to sweetheart table? The answer, my friends, is to sweetheart table. Thank you. May G-d bless you. And may G-d bless America.

After making such a bold statement in support of marriage between newlyweds and a sweetheart table, I will have my cabinet on standby to take calls from the press, but allow me to continue with a state of the sweetheart table spiel (p.s., this year, I say all news outlets should hold spiels instead of debates. Much more entertaining).

Why am I in favor of sweetheart tables?

Three reasons:

• You have your own personal home base. You won’t be sitting much anyway, but when you are, it’ll be nice to have a little turf you can call your own. Your guests who want to offer you mazels and hugs know where to find you to have an intimate chat sometime between the salad and the entree. This takes some of the pressure off of you to have to get up and make the rounds in a small amount of time. People can come to you and they won’t mind.
• You’ll have another opportunity to extend your style. Props like “Mr.” & “Mrs.” signs, decked out chairs, or flower arrangements can furnish your sweetheart table, thereby making it a vehicle to tie in your theme, color scheme, or any additional design concepts.
• You get the best seat in the house! Normally, sweetheart tables are placed in front of the dance floor and in a position where you can look out and see all your guests surrounding you. If you are at a long banquet table with your bridal party, the placement of the table is not as flexible as a small, intimate table for two. Having the best seat in the reception hall is ideal during speeches, watching special dances, and generally taking it all in. You’ll be the focus of the reception area and why shouldn’t you be?

However, it is important to make your sweetheart table tasteful. Setting it apart from the rest of the tables is fine; those few, subtle touches that declare the table special and unique to the bride and groom is totally acceptable. On the flip side, decking it out in gaudy drapery or an over abundance of flowers that make you look like Tarzan and Jane in the jungle is not the way to go.

Bottomline: The sweetheart table should complement the main tables, not appear to be out of place or swallow you up in the general world of your wedding reception ambiance.

Okay, I’m just going to leave it at that.

Moving on…

While it’s nice to have the home base of a sweetheart table, that also doesn’t take you off the hook of doing the right thing and making the rounds to see your guests. At a time that feels right for you (this is usually at some point during the salad or entree), you should really make sure you visit the tables to say hello and thanks to your guests. They will think you are both a lovely couple: a gracious bride and a mensch of a groom. The concept of you home base is to give you a semi-private place to enjoy each other’s company as newlyweds, but you should definitely not ignore your guests altogether.

Needs ideas for sweetheart table design? Look below for some sweet eye candy!