Start with one person per row
A practical seating plan begins with an accurate list of attendees. Use one row for each person who occupies a place, including children when they need their own chair. Keep a stable guest ID beside each name. IDs make it possible to distinguish two people with the same name and to retain assignments when you edit a spelling or meal choice.
The first import can use a CSV with only a name header. Optional group, meal and notes columns make the handoff more useful. If you supply IDs, use them consistently in pair rules. Once the workspace is created, its guest editor shows IDs for everyone; keep those identifiers when adding, removing or correcting rows.
Translate preferences into explicit constraints
A named group can represent a household, couple or another set that genuinely needs one table. When group keeping is enabled, identical non-empty labels stay together. A together rule joins two guests and, transitively, any groups already linked to them. An apart rule requires different tables; it does not specify a distance across the room.
Review large groups before generating. A combined group that is larger than every table cannot be seated without changing a group rule or table capacity. A pair linked together and also marked apart is contradictory. These are specific problems you can correct, rather than a vague judgement that the whole event is too complicated.
Use generation as a checked starting point
Place any fixed groups manually and lock their table assignment. Generate the remaining arrangement, then inspect the outcome. A complete result passes the constraints you entered. It is not a prediction of how guests will get along, and it does not establish any physical property of the venue.
The search has a finite work budget. If it reaches that limit, the existing plan remains in place and the message explains that no complete arrangement was found within the budget. You can reduce unnecessary rules, change capacities or place and lock a few groups before trying again. Do not interpret a timed-out search as proof that an event cannot be arranged.