The guest section (or guests and tables section in the customer’s Sonas portal) is one of the most important aspects in the planning of a wedding. The section is broken down into 4 categories: Guestlist, Add Guest, Seating Plan and Room Layouts. As with the other sections, both you and your customers can amend the guestlist as necessary until the section is locked and finalised by the venue. Note: Guest’s individual food choices can only be amended after the Food Menus have been confirmed by your customers.
Guestlist
Click on the Guestlist page in the sub-menu for Guests.
This page will give you a general overview of the current number of people attending the wedding, separated into the details for the daytime and evening guestlists.
Each one includes a breakdown of the number of adults, children and infants attending, separated into two sections: included and confirmed guests.
The included numbers are the amount of people attending the wedding, as agreed with the customer in the cost of the package.
The confirmed number of people are those who have been added to the guestlist and are now being counted in the final numbers.
The bottom half of the page lists the confirmed guests in attendance. The details for each guest include: Name, VIP, Special Requirements, Table and Menu Choices.
When you click on an individual guest on this list, you will be taken to their personal choices page where you can amend the above categories and add in extra details where required. The top section includes the basic guest details such as:
Name and Surname
Role (e.g. Best Man, Bridesmaid or if a normal guest leave as None)
Category (Daytime/Evening)
Type (Adult, Child or Infant)
Attending Status (Yes/No/Maybe)
The middle section of the guest’s details outlines any special dietary requirements and/or food allergies that they may have. It is important that this is completed accurately as it will determine which of the food choices can be made from the chosen menu.
Other notes can be added in this section including any specific duties that guest may have on the day.
- The bottom section is related to the guests' individual food choices. Once your customers have chosen their menu, each of their guests can pick their starter/main/dessert (or other options based on the Product Menu templates setup by your venue). Note: If they have any dietary requirements or allergies, they will be alerted if their menu choice contains any of those ingredients.
- Click save in the top right hand corner of the screen to save the changes for the section.
- The timeframe in which the customer must finalise their guest list can be determined in the general section of your venue’s sub-menu.
Add Guest
To add a guest to the wedding guestlist is a very simple process:
Click on the Add Guest page in the sub-menu for Guests.
Input the basic details of the guest including:
Name and Surname
Role (e.g. Best Man, Bridesmaid or if a normal guest leave as None)
Category (Daytime/Evening)
Type (Adult, Child or Infant)
Attending Status (Yes/No/Maybe)
Click Add in the top right hand corner of the screen to add the guest to the list.
Seating Plan
The seating plan is an important part of the planning process for your customers. In this section you will have to add in the tables that will be used for the wedding breakfast and then your customers can decide on the seating using the list of confirmed guests for the event. Note: The amount of tables required for the total number of guests in attendance should be added in here first. I.e. if you have 64 guests and you are using 8 tables of 8 people, add the tables in first and then add the guests one by one. The room layout is the final part of the guests section and it will only let you coordinate the table onto the floorplan if the tables have already been added at this stage.
Click on the Seating Plan page in the sub-menu for Guests.
In the top left hand corner of the screen, click Add Table
Choose the tables available to you to add in for this event from the drop down list. The list here is based on the list of fixtures set up in your Areas & Fixtures menu at an earlier stage. Note: If you need to amend or add any fixtures please review these in the sub-menu for your venue.
As you click on each table they will be added to the list at the bottom of the screen. Each table includes a description with information on the capacity allowed at each one, highlighted in green.
To add a guest to the table simply drag and drop each of the confirmed names onto their respective tables. The order in which the guests are added to the table will also determine the order of the seating arrangements too. Guests can be moved around on the table or switched onto a different table by dragging their names and dropping them as before.
Room Layout
The room layout is the final part of the guest section which allows you and your customers to plan out the areas that will be utilised during the wedding. The layouts can vary depending on the templates available for the ceremony, reception and evening events. As with the table planning in the previous section, the list of layouts is based on the list set up in your Areas & Fixtures menu at an earlier stage. Note: If you need to amend or add any fixtures please review these in the sub-menu for your venue.
The most important layout is that of the wedding breakfast - once the guests have been allocated their seating arrangement, the next step is to work out where in the room these tables will be located.
To add a room layout:
Click on the Room Layout page in the sub-menu for Guests.
Click the Actions menu in the top right hand corner and then + Create New Layout.
Fill out all of the boxes including:
Layout Name (description of the layout e.g chapel for ceremony)
Area (choose from the predetermined list of layout templates created for your venue)
Type (ceremony, dining or evening)
Linen (linen type - select if applicable for the event)
Once the Area has been selected, the list of fixtures that are available for that area will instantly appear below.
Click save in the top right hand corner of the screen to save the changes and the floor plan will appear at the bottom of the screen.
Click on the Missing Fixtures button on the top right hand corner of the floor plan to add in the tables and fixtures you wish to add to the plan. You can add each fixture by clicking the + button next to each one. Note: The amount of tables available to add onto the layout is relative to the amount of tables added into the seating plan section. It is advisable that you fully complete the seating plan/table setup before planning the room’s layout.
You can move the fixtures around the floor layout by clicking and dragging them on this page. Each fixture can also be rotated to ensure the layout is arranged as required for that event.
Click save in the top right hand corner of the screen to save the changes and finalise the layout.
Using the Actions button, the customer can send the Guest section for revision or the venue can lock it down as finalised.