Place Cards, Escort Cards, Seating Assignments - Unique Options

Photo by Michael Grace-Martin

Unique Place Cards

For some people traditional is not enough and they want to look for unique or different ways to tell their guests where their seat is at the reception. There is honestly an endless number of ways you can do this, and really the only limit is your own imagination. Above is a picture of one wedding where they combined two wedding elements to make one very special presentation. For anyone who is familiar with the concept of "The Warming of the Rocks" you will know this is where each guest holds a rock, makes a quiet wish to the new bride and groom, and then places that rock into a container with the rocks from all the other wedding guests. Then after the wedding the bride and groom take that container and all of the warmed rocks and they place it in a special place in their home like a fireplace mantel or feature shelf. Then the container and the rocks give off all the positive energy of the wedding guests and fill the home with all the wishes from the people they love. In the photo above the couple put rocks on top of each place card so that each guest would get their seating assignment and a rock to warm at the same time.

You can also combine the idea of a place card in with your wedding favor. In the photos below you can see how couples have used a take home element to the place card and essentially covered the needs of both elements in one. In the top photo pewter frames hold a 'photo' the displays the guest name and table name for everyone at the party. The one below it shows bright blue candy boxes with the guests' names and table printed on the outside. And the third photo shows a tree sapling that has a tag attached that lists the place card information.

Photo 1 - Heather Bohm-Tallman
Photo 2 - Shannon DeCelle Photography
Photo 3 - Niki Rossi Photography

Guest Seating Charts

Lastly there are ways to communicate guests' seating assignments without the use of a card of some other grab and go method. A new trend in seating assignments is using a seating board or a seating chart like the ones shown below. This is a very clean way to relay this information to your guests, and can avoid the hassle of having to write out or print out individual place cards. The downsize to this method is that any last minute adjustments can't be made as easily because once the board is printed no changes can be made. But as long as you have the time and the faith then this is a very classy look for the entrance to your reception room and a great visual to display the colors, design elements, and other fun information for your guests to see. And if you have a high guest count, say 150 or more, consider having two printed so you can avoid having a long line waiting at the door.

Photo 1 - McGarry Photography
Photo 2 - Tracey Buyce Photography