Many times I go to a wedding and I see that the floor plan includes a sweetheart table, which is a table for just the bride and groom or a head table, which is a table for just the wedding party, all sitting on one side of the table facing the same direction. Both of these table types are good for pictures however to sit at them for dinner is BOOOORRING!
As a bride and groom, you have invited the people in your life that you care the most about to join you on your special day. If you opt for a sweetheart table, the two of you sit by yourselves and watch everyone else sit at tables of ten having a good old time while the two of you quietly eat. I’ve probably seen this 500 times. The bride and groom either quickly eat or don’t eat and get up and start going table to table to interact with the guests and thank them for coming. In a head table situation, you can easily get caught in the trap where the person on each side of you is talking to the person on the other side of them and you have no one to talk with. The dates of the bridesmaids and groomsmen sit at another table, without their dates.
In my humble opinion, the most fun you can have at dinner during your reception is to sit at a round table for ten people with your close family members, your wedding party, some members of your wedding party and their dates or your eight favorite people in the room. Usually, no one will analyze why the seating chart is the way it is.
If there isn’t table numbers and/or assigned seating, plainly mark two seats, one for the bride and one for the groom and sit with whatever eight people choose to join you. This is important because I’ve seen many times where the bride and groom (always the last to enter the room) don’t have a seat at all.
In conclusion. Sweetheart and head tables make for good pictures. If you want good pictures more than you want to enjoy a social dinner, go for it! If you want to have a fun social dinner with your loved ones, now you know how! 😉