Planning a festive board

1. Start a plan

Choose Open the Table Planner for your lodge and start a new plan. Pick a room layout — a top table with sprigs, a U-shape, rounds or trestles — or one of your lodge's saved room layouts, so the same room is ready each time. Give the plan the event's name and date.

2. Set out the room

• Tap a table for its bar: − and + change the number of seats, and you can rotate, copy or delete it.
• Drag the white handles to make a table longer or shorter a seat at a time.
• Add end seats at the foot of the sprigs for the Wardens, and keep any chair for an office ("Keep this seat for… the Chaplain").
• Add room items such as the doors, bar or a pillar, and use a floor plan of the room as a background if you have one.

3. Add your guests

• Type names as you would on the summons — W.Bro. John Smith PPrJGW — and the planner works out the rank.
• Paste a list, or import a spreadsheet, or copy people from an earlier plan.
• Record meal choices, dietary needs, partners, and whether each person has paid for dining.

Only record dietary or health needs people have agreed to share. See your lodge and personal information.

4. Seat everyone

• Drag a guest to a seat, or tap a guest and then a seat. Drop someone onto an occupied seat to swap them.
• Precedence: the Worshipful Master in the centre of the top table, the principal guest on his right, then by rank, right and left — and the Wardens at the foot of the sprigs.
• Auto-seat fills the room for you, keeping partners together, parties at the same table, and anyone you've asked to keep apart, apart. Then move people as you like.
• The issues list tells you about anything that looks wrong, such as an empty kept seat.

5. Working together

Everyone on your team with access sees the same plan. One person changes a plan at a time: if someone else is editing, the planner says who, and you can look, print and export. If they've finished but left it open, choose Take over editing.

Every change saves as you go, and you can undo. Earlier versions are kept, and a deleted plan stays in Recently deleted for 30 days.

6. Print for the night

• The floor plan and table lists
• Place cards (tent cards), and table number cards
• An alphabetical "find your seat" list for the door
• The top-table order for the Director of Ceremonies, and the toast list
• The catering summary for the caterer
• The dining list, with who has paid

You can also download a plan as a spreadsheet (CSV) or a plan file to keep. Print a copy before the night, in case the venue has no signal.

Need a hand?

Email web@lodgeofalliance.org. We aim to reply within 2 working days.