Over this past year I’ve received requests from brides to create seating charts for their wedding receptions. It got me thinking about the benefits of a chart over individual place cards that are so useful to seat your friends and family.          

 So what’s difference between the two & what are the benefits?

 Traditionally I’ll receive requests for the individual guests to be written out on their own card to escort them to their designated table. These little cards are cleverly refered to as “Escort Cards” and are usually found on a table when you enter the reception area beautifully organized alphebetically by last name. Once you get to your table sometimes you will find another matching card to designate your individual seat and these are called “Place Cards”. One benefit of designating your guests table is to group people together that know each other (ie. work friends, family members, childhood friends, etc.). The main benefit to designating specific seats at a table is usually meal related. Place cards can be color coded or graphically coded to indicate a meal choice for that guest.

It’s all about organizing the details. See all these little cards really do serve a purpose! I’m sure you can think of even more reasons why they would be useful at your wedding.

Now back to those seating charts… I suppose they don’t sound very exciting but with a little creativity they can create a special detail for years to come. A seating chart eliminates all those individual Escort Cards you would find coming into a reception. Instead guests would stop by the chart to quickly locate their name and designated table. *Note: you can still have Place Cards at each table for specific seating if you are offering guests a choice in meals. A seating chart saves on space for more intimate venues as it can be hung on a wall or propped on an easel. They also save on paper if you are concerned with what will happen with all those individual cards once they’ve served their purpose.

Here’s the creative part about seating charts that gets me all excited – they can be made a million different ways! Below you can see that one bride used an engagement photo as the focal point and we created table cards with the guests names listed below. Now that she and her man are in wedded bliss they hang this framed beauty in their home as reminder of those they shared their day with. The second seating chart was created with lush materials including handmade japanese paper which covered the entire board. Double sided satin gold ribbon held each card into place, while the scroll design pulled graphic elements in from the rest of the wedding.

As with everything to do with weddings you have choices! Be as creative as you want and customize it to your special day. Please feel free to leave a comment if you have any questions!