Who sits next to whom? That is one of the loveliest and one of the trickiest parts of your planning. In your dashboard you will find the Tischplan (seating plan) for it, right below Gäste (guests) in the sidebar. It works with exactly the guest list you have already been looking after, so you do not have to type anyone in a second time. The seating plan is free and included in every event.
In the Tischplan, every table is a card with its seats. That works on a computer, on a tablet and on your phone. On a computer with a large screen you can also open the Grundriss (floor plan) via „Grundriss gestalten“ (design the floor plan): there you see your venue from above and put every table exactly where it will really stand. Both show the same tables and the same seats, so you can switch at any time.
Right at the top there are four numbers that always show you where you stand: Platziert (seated), Ohne Tisch (without a table), Tische (tables) and Freie Plätze (free seats).
Adding your first table
Click „Tisch hinzufügen“ (add table) at the top of the page. In the dialog you enter:
Name (optional): If you leave the field empty, the table is simply called „Tisch 1“, „Tisch 2“ (table 1, table 2) and so on. But you can also call it „Familie Weber“ (the Weber family) or „Tafel am Fenster“ (table by the window).
Form (shape): Rund (round), Lange Tafel (long table) or Eckig (square). The icon on the card and the chairs on the floor plan follow from it.
Plätze (seats): how many people fit at this table, from 1 to 40. If the field is left empty, it tells you so before anything is saved.
Notiz (optional) (note): a short reminder for yourself, for example „Am Fenster, neben der Tanzfläche“ (by the window, next to the dance floor).
The dialog remembers the shape and seats of your last table. So if you add twelve identical tables for eight, you only set that up once. You can have up to 60 tables, which is enough for a celebration with well over 400 people.
Every new table gets a card in the seating plan and right away a free spot on the floor plan. If there is no free spot left there, the room grows a little by itself, and a short message tells you the new size.
You decide the order of the cards yourself: drag a card by the handle at the top right to another spot. That works on a computer; on your phone the tables are listed one below the other.
Giving your guests their seats
On a computer on the left, on your phone at the top, you will find the column „Ohne Tisch“ (without a table) with everyone who does not have a seat yet. At the top of the column you can filter by reply („Zusagen und Offene“, accepted and open, or „Nur Zusagen“, accepted only) and by group.
On a computer you drag a person by the handle to the left of their name. There are two targets:
Onto a free seat: the person gets exactly this seat number.
Onto the table's card: the person gets the next free seat at this table.
On your phone there is no dragging, it would only get in the way of scrolling. Tap a person instead. „Platz wählen“ (choose a seat) opens with all tables and how full they are, and one tap on a table seats them there. If a table does not have enough room, it tells you why right there, for example „voll“ (full) or „noch 2 frei, für alle 3 fehlt ein Platz“ (2 still free, one seat short for all 3). This also works with the keyboard. With „Vom Tisch nehmen“ (remove from table) someone goes back to „Ohne Tisch“.
Seating families together
Anyone who signed up with a companion or children appears in „Ohne Tisch“ as a block of their own, and a fine line shows who belongs together. At the top of the block you will find the button „Alle 3 zusammen setzen“ (seat all 3 together; with two people „Beide zusammen setzen“, seat both together). It opens „Platz wählen“ for everyone at once. On a computer you can also drag the whole block onto a table by its handle. Everyone then gets a fixed seat, as close together as possible. If not everyone fits at the table, the app seats nobody and lets you know, so that no family ends up half seated.
If you tap the main guest of such a sign-up, „Platz wählen“ first asks: „Wer kommt mit?“ (who is coming along?)
„Mit Greta Weber und den Kindern“ (with Greta Weber and the children, preselected): everyone from the sign-up moves along and sits as close together as possible.
„Nur Anna Weber“ (only Anna Weber): only this person moves, the others stay where they are.
Children and a companion without their own entry automatically sit with the main guest and move along when you move the main guest. If you drag such a child or companion to another table on their own, this person gets their own seat and stays there. A companion with their own entry is seated like any other guest, quickest together with the whole block. So that you never have to guess who belongs to whom, it says „Begleitung von Anna Weber“ (companion of Anna Weber) or „Kind von Anna Weber“ (child of Anna Weber) below the name.
The seating plan thinks of the family when clearing up, too: if you tap a main guest who is already seated, a button at the bottom says, for example, „Alle 3 vom Tisch nehmen“ (remove all 3 from the table; with two people „Beide vom Tisch nehmen“, remove both from the table). That takes everyone from the sign-up who sits at the same table. If you choose „Nur Anna Weber“ at the top, the button is called „Nur Anna Weber vom Tisch nehmen“ (remove only Anna Weber from the table). And if you delete a child in the guest list via the three dots on their row, their siblings keep their seats.
Taking the household along
If you have just seated someone, someone else from the same Haushalt (household) still has no table, and there is room for all of them at that table, a short message appears at the bottom with the button „Auch hierher setzen“ (seat them here too). One click, and the rest of the household sits at the same table with fixed seats. If something has changed in the meantime and there is no longer room for everyone, the app seats nobody and tells you so. The message stays for 20 seconds. If you have just deliberately chosen „Nur …“ (only …), it does not appear. You fill in the household field for each guest; you can read more in the article „Gruppen und Haushalte: deine Gäste ordnen“ (groups and households: bringing order to your guest list).
Finding someone
The search field at the top of the „Ohne Tisch“ column finds names, also via the family's last name or the household.
As soon as you type something, the checkbox „Ganze Anmeldungen zeigen“ (show whole sign-ups) appears above the results, and it is already ticked. If you find a child, for example, the whole family shows up right away, meaning everyone from their sign-up who does not have a table yet. That also applies if the person you found is already seated. If nobody from the family is seated yet, it is a block as usual: you seat it with „Alle 3 zusammen setzen“ or, on a computer, drag it onto a table by its handle. The filters for reply and group still apply. If not everyone in the family matches your search, the matches are slightly highlighted. If you untick the box, you only see the people who match the search themselves.
The search also finds everyone who is already sitting at a table: they are listed under „Schon an einem Tisch“ (already at a table), for example with „Sitzt an Tisch 3, Platz 2“ (sits at table 3, seat 2). One click on „Zeigen“ (show) jumps to that table's card, which lights up briefly. On the floor plan, „Zeigen“ selects the table and makes the person light up on their chair.
Seat numbers and swapping
Every seat at a table has its number, you see it in the small circle in front of the name. If you drag someone onto a seat that is already taken within the same table, the two swap their numbers. That is the quick way when two people would rather sit the other way round.
If someone comes from another table or from „Ohne Tisch“ onto a seat that is taken, this person gets the nearest free seat. That way nobody loses their own seat without you noticing. If nothing is free at the table any more, the app tells you.
Sometimes someone sits at a table but without a fixed number: for example a child who joined when their guest was already seated, someone whose number was dropped when a table was made smaller, or an older entry. These people appear on the card under „Am Tisch, ohne festen Platz“ (at the table, without a fixed seat), and an empty number is then labelled „Belegt, ohne festen Platz“ (taken, without a fixed seat), because on paper the seat is already taken. Drag the person onto an empty number, or tap them and choose „Festen Platz geben“ (give a fixed seat).
If someone is listed under „Platz doppelt vergeben“ (seat assigned twice), two people are sitting on the same number. That can happen when the two of you assign the same seat at the same moment. Give the person under „Platz doppelt vergeben“ a free seat: drag them onto a free number, or tap them and choose „Festen Platz geben“. Then everything is tidy again.
When someone declines
„Ohne Tisch“ lists everyone who has accepted and everyone whose reply is still open. Anyone who has declined does not need a seat and does not appear there in the first place.
If someone who already had a seat declines, the seat counts as free again straight away and is no longer counted. On the card the person appears under „Hat abgesagt“ (has declined), and with „Platz freigeben“ (free up seat) you clear them away with one click. Someone who has declined does not get a new seat; for them „Platz wählen“ only offers „Platz freigeben“. If you give the old seat to someone else, it is freed up automatically along the way. If the person accepts after all later on, they are back in their old seat, as long as nobody else has been given it in the meantime. Otherwise they appear under „Ohne Tisch“ and you give them a new one.
When too many people sit at one table
If more people sit at a table than it has seats, the card points it out to you. That is not an error and does not hold you up: either you give the table more seats via Tisch bearbeiten (edit table), or someone moves.
The same applies if you reduce the number of seats later on. The dialog tells you beforehand how many people are sitting there right now and who loses their fixed number because it is above the new number of seats. Everything stays saved: whoever loses their number appears under „Am Tisch, ohne festen Platz“, and if too many people sit there, the table only shows a note.
Editing or deleting a table
The menu at the top right of every card gives you two options, and on the floor plan you reach the same ones via the small bar on the selected table:
Tisch bearbeiten (edit table): change the name, shape, seats and note. Anyone who is already seated stays seated.
Tisch löschen (delete table): really only the table goes. Everyone who sat there, including companions and children with a seat of their own, then appears under „Ohne Tisch“ and waits for a new seat. Nobody is deleted, and the dialog tells you beforehand how many people are affected.
Every move is saved straight away, you do not need a save button. If something does go wrong, you immediately see the saved state again along with a short note.
Designing the floor plan
You open the floor plan via „Grundriss gestalten“ at the top of the seating plan. It needs room and is therefore made for a computer with a large screen, from a window width of about 1280 pixels. On smaller screens the seating plan shows a note, and you keep seating your guests there via the cards.
On the left there is „Ohne Tisch“ again, in the middle your room from above, and one square in the grid is one metre. With the button „Raum“ (room) at the top left, which shows the current size (at the start „Raum: 16 × 12 m“), you enter the width and length of your venue in metres, from 4 to 80 metres per side. Rough values are completely fine. The room everything starts with holds about twelve round tables for eight people each.
Placing tables: drag a table to where it should stand. One click selects it, then you can rotate it in small steps, edit it or delete it. You can also move a selected table with the arrow keys, in bigger steps while holding the Shift key. You zoom with „−“, „+“ and „Einpassen“ (fit).
Seating guests: drag a person onto a chair and they get exactly that number, or onto the table and they get the next free seat. You drag whole sign-ups as a block. If you tap a person, „Platz wählen“ opens just like in the seating plan.
Connections: the button „Verbindungen“ (connections) at the top shows lines between everyone who signed up together, and hides them again.
If a table stands outside the room, for example after you made the room smaller, it has a dashed outline, and above the plan it says something like „1 Tisch steht außerhalb des Raums“ (1 table is outside the room). One click on „In den Raum holen“ (bring into the room) puts it at the nearest free spot. Where there is not enough room, the room grows along with it.
What the markers mean
Green tick: this person has accepted.
Smaller rose gold circles: children sit here.
Red hatched table with a red edge: two tables overlap. At the top it then says, for example, „2 Tische stehen ineinander“ (2 tables overlap). Push them apart a little, otherwise they cannot be set up like that in the venue.
Dashed outline: the table stands outside the room.
Grey chair: the seat is taken, but without a fixed number yet.
Red „!“: there is something to sort out at this table, such as a decline with an old seat, a seat assigned twice or more people than seats. One click on it shows you exactly this table in the seating plan, its card lights up briefly, and everything can be sorted out there.
Planning together
If the two of you plan together via Einstellungen → Gemeinsam planen (settings → plan together), you can both work on the seating plan and the floor plan at the same time. Whatever the other person changes appears for you straight away. While you are dragging someone or a dialog is open, a change waits for a moment and then arrives all at once, so nothing jumps away under your finger. Every seat assignment is saved individually: if you seat Anna and the other person seats Greta at the same moment, both stay seated. If someone has deleted a table you were just about to seat someone at, a short message tells you.
Printing and exporting
Once your seating arrangement is ready, you take it with you to the venue. Via „Exportieren“ (export) at the top of the page you get three PDFs:
Tischplan als PDF (seating plan as PDF): table by table, with seat numbers, names and a note on each person. Diet and allergies are on a line of their own for every person, and the header of each table shows the total for the kitchen, for example „davon 2 Kinder · 1× vegan · 1 Person mit Allergien“ (of which 2 children · 1× vegan · 1 person with allergies). If details are missing, for example for children or for guests without a reply, that is stated honestly too. Declines that still have an old seat are shown in grey with „Absage, kein Stuhl“ (declined, no chair). If a table runs onto the next page, its name appears again at the top of that page. This is the version for you, for everyone who helps you, and for the service staff.
Tischliste A bis Z als PDF (table list A to Z as PDF): everyone who already has a table, sorted by last name, with table and seat number. After that, also from A to Z, everyone who does not have a table yet, marked „noch offen“ (still open). A seat assigned twice is marked „(doppelt)“ (double), and declines are not on the list. Handy for the reception, when someone asks for their seat in the evening.
Grundriss als PDF (floor plan as PDF): your room from above with all tables on one page, to pass on to your venue. Tables outside the room are dashed and counted. Table names run along angled long tables. If a table's name does not fit on it, a letter appears instead, and below the legend it says which table is meant.
The header of every PDF shows the date of your celebration, if you have entered it, and when the file was created. The files are named after your event and the day of the export, so you can easily find different versions in your downloads folder.
And if you prefer working with a spreadsheet: the guest list export under Gäste has the columns Tisch (table) and Platz (seat) as soon as you have added your first tables. The template „Sitzplan“ (seating plan) already has both ticked, and in the template „Für den Caterer“ (for the caterer) the table comes right after the name. You can read more about the export in the article „Gäste importieren und exportieren“ (importing and exporting guests).
Frequently asked questions
Can my guests see their table?
No. The seating plan is only for you and for the person you plan with. Nothing about it appears on your event page, in the sign-up form or in your emails. If you want your guests to know their seats, use place cards or a board at the entrance, just as you always would.
Does the seating plan cost anything?
No. Just like your guest list, the seating plan is included in every event, along with the floor plan and the PDFs, even before you unlock your page.
Does the floor plan work on a phone or tablet too?
Not on a phone, the screen is too small for it, and not on most tablets either: the floor plan needs a window width of about 1280 pixels. You seat your guests there via the cards in the seating plan, which works just as well. You set up the floor plan on a computer.
What happens when someone declines?
The seat becomes free again straight away and is no longer counted. On the card this person appears under „Hat abgesagt“ so that you notice, and with „Platz freigeben“ you clear them away. If they accept after all later on, they are back in their old seat, as long as nobody else has been given it.
I cannot find someone in „Ohne Tisch“.
Type the name into the search field. The search also finds everyone who is already sitting at a table, and „Zeigen“ takes you straight there. If the column says „Nur Zusagen“ at the top, you will not see anyone with an open reply there. Anyone who has declined is not listed in „Ohne Tisch“. If the person already had a seat, the search finds them under „Schon an einem Tisch“.
Can I seat someone at two tables?
No, every person sits at exactly one table. If you drag them somewhere else, their old seat is free again straight away.
Can the two of us work on the seating plan at the same time?
Yes. With „Gemeinsam planen“ you see the other person's changes straight away, and every seat assignment is saved individually, so you do not overwrite each other.