In my ongoing Wedding Series, today I am sharing a simple step to creating simple DIY Escort Cards.
As our wedding date neared and we began receiving our response cards, the question arose as to how we would accommodate everyone at the reception. Because we had guests coming from out of town, friends from both families, people with disabilities and many people who weren’t acquainted with each other, my husband-to-be felt we needed to make sure people were seated with people they knew and felt comfortable with. We also had a special group of friends who had been high school friends, coming from all over the country and this would be a kind of mini “reunion”. We wanted to make sure they would be seated together to insure they would have a great time.
So the decision was made to incorporate a seating arrangement.
Now the decision was, what kind of card to designate the seating? Escort card? Place card? And what’s the difference?
Place cards are cards that show guests where to sit at a particular table; Escort cards are the little cards that guests pick up on the way into the reception venue or room. They are usually arranged in alphabetical order on a table or other receptacle, and typically say the guest’s name and what table they are seated at.
We didn’t care what actual seats people sat in – we only wanted people to be sitting at a table with people they were familiar with and so we chose to have Escort Cards.
If your wedding is casual, you can skip both place cards and escort cards at your wedding and let guests sit wherever they’d like. Keep in mind, however, that it is nice to have an assigned seat as a guest and makes one feel welcome.
Once I had decided on the escort card, I knew I wanted a simple but elegant look for my guests. Searching through the ideas I found online, nothing quite caught my eye. So I set out to create my own…. and you can too!
DIY Escort Cards
I found these simple, cream colored cards from Hobby Lobby. Rather than just using them as they were, I wanted to make them “my own” and add the elegant look I desired.
After receiving my RSVPs, I created my guest list. Working with my reception location, I obtained a table chart of the layout of the reception tables, which had been numbered, and began assigning my guests to each table, keeping in mind who knew whom, etc. If this seems overwhelming to you, I found this wonderful article:
6 Indispensable Tips for Assigned Seating at the I Do Boutique.
I printed the table numbers I would need onto the cards from Hobby Lobby. The number of chairs and couples at the table determined how many of each number I would need. (I put couples on one card). I wanted a color that would be distinct and not overpower the names, which would be added later, and chose a deep taupe color.
Once the table numbers had been printed, I chose a cream colored vellum in the scrapbooking section of Hobby Lobby to print the names on.
Using a layout for the names, I printed them on the vellum and carefully cut the names in rectangles to position over the numbers on the card, leaving enough space above the name for a small double punched hole. (Just a disclosure – I know no one by the name of Bob and Elizabeth Johnson.)
Once the names had been created to fit the card, the two pieces were held together and punched with a doubled slotted punch, found at Hobby Lobby.
A simple satin ribbon was then threaded through the punched slots and tied into place.
The knot of the ribbon was centered with a rhinestone to give the escort card the elegant look I desired.
Just the right touch to coordinate with the total look of the wedding.
I invite you to pin this to your Pinterest wedding board. You can find the wonderful things I am pinning HERE.
To find more touches to this elegant wedding theme, visit Creating DIY Elegant Wedding Invitations.
Stop by soon as we walk down the aisle to even more wedding ideas and tutorials.
If you’ve missed the other posts in this series you, can find them here:
Celebrate with a 4th of July Wedding
Celebrate with a 4th of July Wedding Part 2
Simple DIY Wedding Table Decor
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Yours was a gorgeous wedding, and an equally gorgeous & fun reception! I think back on that weekend often, always with fond memories. Thanks for including me.
You knew we had to have your there Sandy! It wouldn’t have been the same without you!