Wedding Stationery: Necessary Details
By Monserrat Urena
In real estate it’s all about location. In weddings, it’s all about the details. From the engagement to the reception, details are what make a wedding memorable and unique. Certain personalized wedding elements—such as escort cards, table cards, and place cards—are not only pretty, but also functional. It’s figuring out exactly what each does that’s the confusing part! Have no fear. Here is a primer on the cards that make up your wedding stationery.
Escort Cards
Escort cards let each guest know which table he or she has been assigned to. These cards are often placed on a table near the entrance to the reception. You can put the escort cards in envelopes or use tent cards, according to the style of your wedding. Place the guest’s name on the front of the envelope or tent card and the table information on the inside. There’s plenty of room to be creative in designing your escort cards. One neat way to personalize them is to combine elements of your wedding dress or bouquet in their design. An alternative to escort cards is a beautiful wedding seating chart—these are often displayed in a large frame, hung or placed on an easel.
Table Cards
Table cards identify the tables in your reception room.
These cards, like the escort cards, can be personalized to reflect the
couple’s interests and loves. Name your tables after favorite childhood
books, bands, flowers, locations, colors, or love songs, for example.
The options are endless. Once your guests have found their assigned tables,
they will need to know where to sit. This is where your careful thought
about the details comes through, in the shape of a place card.
Place Cards and Menu Cards
Place cards show guests their seats at their assigned tables. Writing a guest’s name on both sides of the card helps tablemates get to know one another. The card itself can be as formal or informal as you like. You can use place cards as a multipurpose wedding favor, too. Decorative and themed holders
and frames to display escort or place cards make for an attractive addition to the reception. And
your guests can take them home as a souvenir of your special day. Many couples dream up creative
forms of place cards (I’ve seen rocks with metallic calligraphy, album or CD covers, keychains, luggage tags, and chocolate place cards) and place card holders (pinecones, shells, votive candle holders, and almost anything miniature—Adirondack chairs, pianos, topiary trees, etc.).
An alternative to a place card is a personalized menu card, with the guest’s name listed at the top and the menu description beneath it. Personalized menus are particularly useful when you off er your guests a choice of entrée at the reception site. You may also choose to use both a place card and a menu card at each setting. In this case the two typically match, follow a theme, or complement each other. With the place card on the table there is no need to personalize the menu card if you don’t want to. These small details add to your guests’ comfort and pleasure, and help prevent awkward situations, and reduce unnecessary stress. Now that you know which card does what and where it goes, have fun with your planning!
More Articles