Guests are used to seeing the same table configurations time after time: schoolroom or boardroom tables for meetings, and 10-person rounds for banquets. But some event planners are reconfiguring tables into unusual shapes for a fresher look that makes meetings more interactive, and events more mingle-friendly.
X-shaped formations—created by putting together long banquet tables—are visually striking and can help send a message about the event. GQ special projects director Nicole Onufrey used the X configuration to fit 90 people in one room for a recent sales meeting dinner. "They challenged me to have everybody seated at what appeared to be one table because they had to do a communication exercise as part of the evening," says Joan Steinberg of Match Catering and Eventstyles, who catered the event. "Throughout the evening people had to get information from their neighbors, and then stand up and share that information with everyone else. Whenever they stood up, they needed to see everybody else." The X-shape also allowed everyone—from the publisher to the administrative assistants—to be seated and treated equally.
Similarly, a T-shape can seat more guests in a smaller space. Liz Sanzo, corporate events manager for iStar Financial, favors them for small dinners. "They work really well with smaller, more intimate events, like a dinner for 18 to 20. It's a little more unique and it breaks up the table a bit so even though it's like one table, it's not one long table so everyone's spread out. There's more of a community feeling."
The open square—made from long tables in a large square formation—works well with speakers or entertainment. Attendees sit on the outside of the square facing the center, where a performer can play to the whole group without anyone twisting in their seats or craning their necks to watch.
Another look: mixing round, square and long tables. "Sometimes we do a rectangle for 12 to 14 people and then combine it with squares and rounds," says Great Performances' Liz Neumark. The assortment of shapes worked well to accommodate 350 guests at a tented, outdoor event at the Central Park Zoo for the Englewood Hospital.
"Mixing it up gives it dramatic impact," says Neumark. "It's not just another round table."
—Suzanne Ito
This article originally appeared in our newspaper, the BiZBash Event Style Reporter.
X-shaped formations—created by putting together long banquet tables—are visually striking and can help send a message about the event. GQ special projects director Nicole Onufrey used the X configuration to fit 90 people in one room for a recent sales meeting dinner. "They challenged me to have everybody seated at what appeared to be one table because they had to do a communication exercise as part of the evening," says Joan Steinberg of Match Catering and Eventstyles, who catered the event. "Throughout the evening people had to get information from their neighbors, and then stand up and share that information with everyone else. Whenever they stood up, they needed to see everybody else." The X-shape also allowed everyone—from the publisher to the administrative assistants—to be seated and treated equally.
Similarly, a T-shape can seat more guests in a smaller space. Liz Sanzo, corporate events manager for iStar Financial, favors them for small dinners. "They work really well with smaller, more intimate events, like a dinner for 18 to 20. It's a little more unique and it breaks up the table a bit so even though it's like one table, it's not one long table so everyone's spread out. There's more of a community feeling."
The open square—made from long tables in a large square formation—works well with speakers or entertainment. Attendees sit on the outside of the square facing the center, where a performer can play to the whole group without anyone twisting in their seats or craning their necks to watch.
Another look: mixing round, square and long tables. "Sometimes we do a rectangle for 12 to 14 people and then combine it with squares and rounds," says Great Performances' Liz Neumark. The assortment of shapes worked well to accommodate 350 guests at a tented, outdoor event at the Central Park Zoo for the Englewood Hospital.
"Mixing it up gives it dramatic impact," says Neumark. "It's not just another round table."
—Suzanne Ito
This article originally appeared in our newspaper, the BiZBash Event Style Reporter.

An X-shaped table was a visually striking setup that helped everyone talk to each other at a GQ sales meeting dinner at Mothers Studio.