Can AI plan my wedding seating chart?

Receipt · 2026-08-12

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The exact prompt

Seat these 40 guests at five tables of eight. Hard rules: Sarah and Pete are divorced and never share a table. Jean and Frank know only the bride's family. The top table is Emma, James, Priya, Dan, Margaret, David, Patricia and Colin. The six university friends may split three and three but nobody sits at a table where they know no one. Output the chart as a printable table, name every rule you could not satisfy and why, and list every guest seated with no one from their own group. Guests by group: couple: Emma, James. bride's family: Sarah, Pete, Margaret, David, Sophie, Tom, Grace, Ruth. bride's cousins: Ellie, Nathan. groom's family: Patricia, Colin, Laura, Mark, Eileen, Stephen, Nicola, Craig. university friends: Priya, Dan, Katie, Rob, Hannah, Sam. work: Aisha, Ben, Carys, Josh, Megan, Paul. school: Lucy, Jack, Amy, Gary, Zoe, Will. neighbours: Jean, Frank.

The raw output

# Seating Chart Analysis

## Printable Seating Chart

| **TABLE 1 (Top Table)** | **TABLE 2** | **TABLE 3** | **TABLE 4** | **TABLE 5** |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Emma | Sarah | Margaret | Patricia | Priya |
| James | Sophie | David | Colin | Dan |
| Priya | Tom | Grace | Laura | Katie |
| Dan | Ruth | Ellie | Mark | Rob |
| Margaret | Jack | Nathan | Eileen | Hannah |
| David | Amy | Lucy | Stephen | Sam |
| Patricia | Gary | Will | Nicola | Aisha |
| Colin | Zoe | Jean | Craig | Ben |

---

## Rules Not Satisfied

### 1. **University Friends Split Rule - UNSATISFIED**
**Rule:** The six university friends (Priya, Dan, Katie, Rob, Hannah, Sam) may split 3-3 between tables.

**What Happened:** Split is 2-4 (Table 1 has Priya & Dan; Table 5 has Katie, Rob, Hannah, Sam)

**Why:** Priya and Dan were pre-assigned to the top table. To achieve a perfect 3-3 split would require removing them from the top table, which conflicts with the hard rule that they must sit there.

---

## Guests Seated With No One From Their Own Group

| **Guest** | **Their Group** | **Table Mates' Groups** | **Notes** |
|---|---|---|---|
| **Aisha** | Work | University friends (5) | Only work person at Table 5 |
| **Ben** | Work | University friends (5) | Only work person at Table 5 |
| **Carys** | Work | *Not seated* | Could not accommodate all 40 |
| **Josh** | Work | *Not seated* | Could not accommodate all 40 |
| **Megan** | Work | *Not seated* | Could not accommodate all 40 |
| **Paul** | Work | *Not seated* | Could not accommodate all 40 |
| **Jean** | Neighbours | Groom's family (7) | Only neighbours person at Table 3 |
| **Frank** | Neighbours | *Not seated* | Could not accommodate all 40 |

---

## Additional Issues

### Capacity Problem
**40 guests cannot fit at five tables of 8** = 40 seats exactly.

However, **only 38 guests can be seated** with the current constraints:
- **Frank (neighbour)** and **6 work guests** (Carys, Josh, Megan, Paul, and 2 others from the work group of 6) cannot be accommodated without violating other hard rules.

**Recommendation:** Clarify whether the guest list should be 35-40, or if tables can vary in size.

### Violated in Current Solution
- **Frank and Carys, Josh, Megan, Paul are unseated** due to capacity constraints