The Importance of Place Cards for Weddings or Corporate Events

Elevate your next event with modern calligraphy; the exquisite art of hand-lettering. Adding custom calligraphy to your social or corporate event conveys a style of vintage glamour that only comes from the unique artistry of a calligrapher’s expertise.

Viviane Rodrigues is a professional calligrapher in NYC, who specializes in creating handmade and custom lettering for weddings, social, and corporate events. Place cards are very important to direct the guest to their table and seat. Place cards can be tented or flat, written on the client’s cards, or even on a non-traditional surface, such as leaves or fruits.

Place cards can be painted in watercolors, written on agate slices, wood or ribbons, and placed at each table to denote each guest’s place. If you are hosting a sit-down dinner reception and serving different options, many venues will require place cards. This is to subtly mark the cards by color or accent to indicate which guest is getting which food, avoiding mix-ups and potential problems with food allergies.

For wedding receptions, place cards can be purchased with the rest of your wedding stationery; sourced from independent stationers or calligraphers; or found on marketplaces such as ETSY. You can also take the DIY route, and either print out pre-made templates or create your own. Place cards, as well as escort cards, are typically sold in sets ranging from $1 to $6 per card. Larger sets commonly have a lower price per card, due to volume discount.

Wedding escort cards are the informal sibling of place cards. They direct guests to a table, rather than a seat. Once guests arrive at their table, they are free to choose their own seat if there are no place cards. Escort cards are commonly placed in a grouping just before the entrance to the dining area, so that guests can locate their table for the night.

Similar to place cards, escort cards can be purchased as part of your wedding stationery suite, sourced from marketplaces, or handcrafted for that extra-special touch. Neither escort cards nor place cards need to actually be cards. There are many unique and creative options, such as flowers or fruit. Often, couples will have both escort cards and place cards, but it is totally fine to skip place cards and opt for escort cards only.

While it is certainly possible to skip both escort cards and table cards, (and a seating chart altogether), there are several reasons why that’s not a good idea. You will end up needing more tables, as guests tend to seat themselves unevenly. Without guidance, people tend to spread out and leave a few empty seats at most tables. More tables mean more chairs, centerpieces, linens, and more money spent. In addition to the increased cost, tables peppered with empty seats are less appealing in wedding photos.

For a truly informal backyard style wedding where seating is ample and scattered, foregoing both escort and place cards can work. For a formal sit down or buffet reception in a venue with a traditional layout, seating confusion can be easily avoided with escort cards, place cards, or both.

Viviane Rodrigues provides professional calligraphy, handcrafted in your chosen style and font to make your wedding or event truly unique and memorable.