Help & guide
Everything you need to know
Short answers to the questions couples ask most. Still stuck? Email support@tablevows.com — a real person will reply.
Getting started
What's the fastest way to begin?+
Create an event, click “Create a quick layout” to get tables sized to your guest count, import your guest list, then press Smart seat. You'll have a complete first draft in about two minutes — then fine-tune by dragging.
Can I try it without my own guest list?+
Yes — on your dashboard choose Open the sample wedding. It has 64 guests, households, meal choices and a couple of family rules so you can try everything.
Is there a checklist?+
Every event shows a small “Getting started” guide in the corner of the floor plan that ticks itself off as you go. You can collapse or hide it.
Guests & households
How do I import my guest list?+
In the guest list, click “Import from spreadsheet”. Upload a CSV or paste straight from Excel or Google Sheets. Include a header row and we'll recognise name (or first + last), group, side, household, meal and allergies. Anyone already on your list is skipped.
What are sides?+
Each guest belongs to one partner's family or is shared (friends). Sides are colour-coded on the floor plan, and each of you can filter the list to just your own family.
How do households and plus-ones work?+
People in the same household always sit together — Smart seat never splits them unless a table is too small. Open a guest and use “Add a plus-one” or “Link someone to this household”.
Seating
How do I seat someone?+
Drag them from the list onto a seat. Dropping onto someone swaps the two. On a phone or tablet, tap the guest in the list, then tap a seat or table.
What does Smart seat do?+
It fills every empty seat in one click: households stay together, groups sit with their friends, and your “keep apart” and “seat together” rules are respected. If everyone already has a seat, it offers to rearrange the whole room. Lock a guest's seat to stop it ever moving them.
How do rules work?+
Open the Rules tab (or a guest's details) and choose “Keep apart” or “Seat together”. The Checks tab lists anything that breaks a rule, splits a household, or leaves someone without a seat.
How do I move around a big room?+
Scroll or pinch to zoom, drag any empty space to move around, and press 0 (or the fit button) to see the whole room. Press F — or the focus button — to hide both side panels and use the full screen.
Planning together
How do I invite my partner?+
Click Share → Plan together, enter their name, pick their family side and whether they can edit or just view, and send them the private link. It works once. Your partner joins free.
What happens if we both edit at once?+
Changes appear on each other's screen within a couple of seconds and are merged field-by-field, so nobody overwrites anybody. You'll see who's online and which table they're working on.
Can I undo a mistake?+
Yes — Ctrl/⌘+Z undoes your last change (only yours, never your partner's). History shows every change with who made it, and you can restore any earlier version in one click.
Printing & sharing
What can I print?+
The floor plan, an alphabetical seating board, escort cards, place cards, table numbers, a caterer report and a QR welcome sign. Use “Print / Save as PDF” — choose Save as PDF in the print dialog to get a file.
How does the QR seat finder work?+
Turn it on under Share → Guest seat finder and print the QR welcome sign. Guests scan it, type their name and see their table highlighted on a map, plus who they're sitting with. It's part of the Wedding Pass.
Can my venue or caterer see the plan?+
Yes — turn on the venue & caterer link under Share. They get a read-only page with the floor plan, table lists and meal counts that's always up to date.
Pricing & billing
What's free?+
Everything you need to plan: unlimited guests and tables, Smart seat, rules and checks, planning with your partner, autosave and history, CSV export and printing (with a small Table Vows mark).
What does the Wedding Pass add?+
The QR seat finder and sign, prints without branding, up to 5 collaborators and 5 events, and the venue & caterer link. It's $12, paid once — no subscription.
Where are my receipts?+
On the Billing page, with a link to each receipt.