Wedding Place Card & Escort Card

Place card, escort card, tableau de mariage: explanation

During the organization of your wedding, you have surely to reflect on how to organize the reception. In particular, one of the most frequent doubts for the newlyweds is the assignment of the seats: is it better to leave the guests free of sitting where they prefer or to assign them a precise seat?
Options are different and it is possible to choose between various solutions. All of them have a specific function, which is to indicate to your guests their table and where to find it inside the reception hall.

It is better to opt for the seat assignment if the number of invites is very high. It would be different for a standing dinner or with few guests. In any case, the aim is helping all guests to understand what to do and where to go. In particular, we want to avoid the risk of leaving some friend or relative alone with unknowns,
Let’s see how to assign seats and which instruments we have available.

Seating chart
Seating chart or Tableau de Mariage is a static notice board used for the arrangement of tables and guests. It is used for a specific need: that of assigning a precise seat to a precise table to all the guests. We talk about it in detail here.

Escort card
If the tableau de mariage is an element that communicates to the guests which table has been assigned to them, the escort cards has the same aim but they are mobile. In fact, they are used to bring each guest to its table and seat. Arranging the escort cards on a table at the entrance of the reception (the alphabetic order would make the research easier), will indicate to the invite where to go. Moreover, the guest could take the escort card and bring it with him. Instead of the classic card, you could choose an object or a particular card coherent with the global theme and it could become a souvenir to keep.
On the escort card, the guest would find his name and table (according to the theme, the table could have a specific name. The easier and most immediate way is following a numeration).

Place card
Once arrived to the table, the place card will indicate to the guest where to seat. If it is a non formal wedding, let your guests the possibility to sit where they prefer at the table you fix for them. Normally, tables are set for 8, 10 or at maximum 12 people, so it is not necessary to impose a specific seat. The conversation should develop without problems. It is different if you have planned a more formal situation, which has to respect the Etiquette. In this case, the assignment of seats has to be decided before, reminding to alternate men and women. The Etiquette reminds also to separate a married couple but not an engaged one.

In case of imperial tables, organizing the assignment of seats is more useful.

How to realize creative escort card?

As we have already said, it is not necessary using simple cards to create your escort cards or place card. As we have explained talking about the Seating chart, and more generally, about the wedding stationery, you can indulge in creating them, using your fantasy and creativity. You have only to choose a style or a theme and use it to project everything.

You can use objects. For example, if you have chosen an ecochic theme, you can create your escort card with recycled materials or natural ones, as a small succulent plant (without thorns is better) and a small card or wooden board.

If you have chosen a vintage theme, you could opt for a card tied with a cotton ribbon to an old key or a piece of cutlery (a teaspoon for example).

You could also choose the theme ‘cinema’ and realize old movie tickets and using the same style for the announcements, party favours, coordinating the same style for the cutting cake, sweet corner and photo booth.