Tips and tricks

Get the most from your plan

We know we keep banging on about this but it really is very simple to use. You can start as soon as you have a guest list because it's really easy to remove people at a later date if they can't come.

Take one guest. Let's call him Mr Happy. A pop-up box will appear for you to add as much or as little information as you need: who he is coming with (Mrs Happy, Miss Happy, Mr Cheerful and Mrs Cheerful); if he should be added to a group (General Happiness or, more likely, bride's family); if he is attending (Yes, No, Unconfirmed); whether he is a child; sex; additional information (vegetarian, dairy allergy or whatever is relevant) and finally 'cannot sit at same table as' (Mr Angry, Mrs Grumpy) or 'cannot sit at a table anywhere near' (Mr Very Angry, Mrs Really Grumpy).

Take one floor plan: Choose your table shape (round, rectangular, banquet or a combination of all three); choose how many seats at each table (again you can have a different number of seats at each table) and then drag and drop the tables to match your function space.

And now we'll begin: Just select a guest (or a party of guests) and drag them to where you want them to sit, or click on a table or seat. And repeat to end of list. If you try to split up a group of people who are supposed to sit together (The Happys and The Cheerfuls) then Save Our Seat will warn you. If you try to seat mortal enemies at the same table or an adjoining table (Mr Happy and Mrs Really Grumpy) you will also receive a warning. Once you have finished you can view the plan by sex or by who is attending to see if you've got the mix right or added someone who can't come by mistake. If you are not happy with what you've done, you can swap guests or even tables, just by clicking on one name and either dragging them to a new seat or clicking on the seat you'd like to move them to. If you try to do anything silly, Save Our Seat will tell you.

Once you are happy with the plan, you can print out PDFs of the relevant information for the relevant party (by party, by table, by table with details, by guests for display at entrance to function, by seating chart and by seating chart with key).

Sit back, relax and congratulate yourself on a job well done – or plan what you can do with all the time you've saved by using Save Our Seat.