Escort Cards vs. Place Cards
As a wedding planner turned bride, I’ve seen a lot of unique escort card and place card ideas over the years. Today, I’m sharing my top five favorite ideas!
Quick note, in case you didn’t know. Escort cards assign guests to a specific table. Place cards tell them what seat to sit at once they get to that table. I always recommend doing escort cards, but place cards are really a preference. It’s a lot of work to assign each guest to a specific seat, especially if you have 100+ people.
The bulk of my clients did the traditional tented escort card display. There are a lot of options for making this style unique, whether it’s changing the colors, fonts, or shape of the card. However, if you have the budget, I highly recommend incorporating these as touch points to really bring the overall aesthetic of the evening to life for your guests.
Here we go!
Escort Cards:
1. Go all in on the theme. One of my brides did an Alice in Wonderland / Garden Party theme so naturally we did vintage drawings of the characters tied to a key. It was the perfect touch and was an added favor for guests to take home.
2. Champagne wall…you know I had to! Or even mini champagne bottles. Add a small tag with the guests’ name and table number. How cute!
3. Small potted succulents. I had a client do this and it was beyond perfect for their outdoor wedding at Tiny Boxwood’s Houston. Why do escort cards AND favors when you can combine them in one?!
Place Cards:
4. Make it a dessert! Love the idea of doing a macaroon with calligraphy or a cupcake with a cute fondant name tag! Great photo opp but also delicious for the guests!
5. Probably my favorite and not just because this is what I did for my own wedding. Agate slices with hand calligraphy. I fell in love with this idea after I recommended it for one of my brides. It can get pricey, so I only did the head table and parents/grandparents. I used inLoft Calligraphy from Etsy, and it was perfect! I also had them create one with my new last name and now have all three displayed in our house. Our parents even have theirs out as décor.
