Your escort or seating card display presents a wonderful opportunity to personalize your celebration where guests naturally congregate. Typically, table number cards are stuffed into envelopes personalized with guests’ names, or tented cards are calligraphed with names and table assignments on the front.
Add a personal touch to the cards and the table set up by taking cues from your invitation design, the reception location, the season, or your personalities and give guests something to talk about during cocktails!
The possibilities for the perfect seating card display are endless, the outcome, truly memorable!
Colorful hand-scripted cards displayed on a dramatic, decorative paper-covered magnet board will help guests find their seats with style. Organize escort cards alphabetically by last name in neat rows with red silk dupioni button magnets.
Photo Credit: Grapevine
If you are handy with a sewing machine, consider making a silk pocket banner to hold the cards. Or take the concept a step further and create canvas boat sales for a junk shop boat. It may not be sea worthy, but your guests will be raving about it long after the celebration has passed!
Photo Credit: Grapevine
Photo Credit: Modern Bride
Photo Credit: Modern Bride
How about creating pocket stands from paper and tucking your seating cards inside?
Photo Credit: Grapevine
Or, for an outdoor wedding, clothespin cards to an acorn swag or grommet dragonfly shaped cards to picnic fabric and pin them to a clothesline.
- © 2010 Grapevine
Photo Credit: Modern Bride
Short on time? Add a quick embellishment such as paper flowers to a tented card and line them up on a table covered in moss or grass. Or add a fish graphic and perch atop a glass table filled with shells.
Photo Credit: Michelle Rago
Photo Credit: Michelle Rago
Photo Credit: Michelle Rago
Simply change the shape of your escort cards to a circle, square or tall rectangle adding a graphic flourish or rhinestone and feather embellishment to create visual interest.
Photo Credit: Grapevine
Photo Credit: Michelle Rago
If you love shabby chic or vintage finds, hinge 2 salvage barn doors together and hang escort cards from them using aged brass upholstery tacks.
Photo Credit: Michelle Rago
Nautical themed wedding? Attach circle shaped cards inside working brass compasses. They are the perfect display stand and double as a unique and useful favor.
Photo Credit: Grapevine
All Designs: Copyright 2010 Grapevine
Website: GrapevinePaperie.com
Celebrity invitation designer and paper guru Karen Bartolomei is the founder and creative director of Grapevine, a couture invitation design studio in Boston, MA. Her signature designs have graced the pages of every major bridal publication including In Style Weddings and Martha Stewart Weddings. She was recently featured on the cover of the Style Section in The Boston Globe. She has been featured as the paperie expert on HGTV’s Ultimate Wedding Guide, Chronicle and BetterHomesandGardens.com.
Hailed as the “Sky’s the Limit Stationer” by Modern Bride and “Paper Perfection” by Elegant Bride, she has created exclusive announcement designs for John Henry (owner of the Red Sox), Giuliana Rancic (E! News anchor), Glenn Gordon Caron (creator and producer of the TV shows Moonlighting and Medium), Al Harrington (of the New York Knicks), Actor Sam Huntington, Actor David Krumholtz and celebrity wedding planners Michelle Rago, Preston Bailey and David Tutera.
Her book, “Paperie for Inspired Living: Stationery and Decorations for Weddings, Parties, and Other Special Occasions,” has been featured on Martha Stewart Radio, InStyle.com, TheKnot.com, the Literati Scene, and WomensDay.com and is available now on Amazon.com.