Well that was awkward
Hello all! I don't post very often here, but after attending a recent wedding, I had to at least put my thoughts down.
The wedding was beautiful, the food was top notch, and I had a really great time... except during the social hour. My husband was Best Man and he was off getting his picture taken with the rest of the bridal party during that time. No biggie! I am, after all, an adult who fully understands the wedding-day agenda. So I get to the reception hall and I get in line for hors d'oeuvres. I chatted with some people around me about the ceremony and the weather and everything was fine. Until I went to find my seat. Seats were assigned, and I went to the table with the name cards but could not find my name. I scanned it about half a dozen times before I realized that no, my name would not magically appear if I tried to find it hard enough. So I started walking around. There were some people still milling around, but nearly the entire hall had found their seats when I realized that the head table had one more plate than was in the party. I casually walked over and lo and behold my name card was there. Since I didn't know anyone at the wedding except the bride and groom, I'm nearly 100% positive that she seated me there to be by my husband at dinner. But this created a really awkward effect: If I had sat at the head table before the bridal party arrived, I would have stuck out like a sore thumb. So I couldn't sit down without feeling EXTREMELY self-conscious and therefore anxious (things that I struggle with continuously and go to therapy for; I mean, just thinking about sitting by myself at the table gave me anxiety). I also was the only person in the hall who never sat down once during the social hour. I chatted with people in line just fine, but I think a lot of that was because we were forced to be near each other. As soon as they had what they went up for, they went back to their table. Since the seating was assigned, I couldn't sit in someone else's seat to try to make small talk either. I was in limbo for an hour and a half and it kinda sucked. =/
I don't think there is ever going to be a perfect solution to seating the bridal party's significant others, and I really do think the bride was trying to be thoughtful of me, but damn it was a rough reception.
The wedding was beautiful, the food was top notch, and I had a really great time... except during the social hour. My husband was Best Man and he was off getting his picture taken with the rest of the bridal party during that time. No biggie! I am, after all, an adult who fully understands the wedding-day agenda. So I get to the reception hall and I get in line for hors d'oeuvres. I chatted with some people around me about the ceremony and the weather and everything was fine. Until I went to find my seat. Seats were assigned, and I went to the table with the name cards but could not find my name. I scanned it about half a dozen times before I realized that no, my name would not magically appear if I tried to find it hard enough. So I started walking around. There were some people still milling around, but nearly the entire hall had found their seats when I realized that the head table had one more plate than was in the party. I casually walked over and lo and behold my name card was there. Since I didn't know anyone at the wedding except the bride and groom, I'm nearly 100% positive that she seated me there to be by my husband at dinner. But this created a really awkward effect: If I had sat at the head table before the bridal party arrived, I would have stuck out like a sore thumb. So I couldn't sit down without feeling EXTREMELY self-conscious and therefore anxious (things that I struggle with continuously and go to therapy for; I mean, just thinking about sitting by myself at the table gave me anxiety). I also was the only person in the hall who never sat down once during the social hour. I chatted with people in line just fine, but I think a lot of that was because we were forced to be near each other. As soon as they had what they went up for, they went back to their table. Since the seating was assigned, I couldn't sit in someone else's seat to try to make small talk either. I was in limbo for an hour and a half and it kinda sucked. =/
I don't think there is ever going to be a perfect solution to seating the bridal party's significant others, and I really do think the bride was trying to be thoughtful of me, but damn it was a rough reception.