Traditions and Etiquette of Seating at the Wedding Reception
When seating your guests at your
wedding reception,
the first thing you need to decide is if you need
place
cards,
escort cards, a seating diagram or some combination of the three.
For casual dinners or those that
feature buffets and stations, you might choose to assign guests to a specific
table,
but let them choose their own seats at their tables. Assigning tables is a
courtesy even at the most relaxed
weddings
as it takes the pressure off of less social guests and helps encourage mingling.
Your tables may be traditionally
numbered,
or you can get creative and assign each table a name or theme. These
table numbers
or names usually reflect either the overall theme of the wedding, or something
that is meaningful to the couple such as cities they have visited together,
sports teams they enjoy watching or favorite books and authors.
To inform guests of their
table
assignments, you will need to post a seating list or use “escort
cards”.
The seating list can be organized by table for smaller
weddings
or alphabetically for larger guest counts, and
escort
cards
should be alphabetized and displayed at the cocktail hour or at the entrance to
the dining area. It is acceptable to assign one
escort
card
for each couple or family seated at the same table.
If you are having a seated meal and
have more than one entrée option, you will need to assign every guest a specific
seat in order for servers to locate them easily. Guests will still locate their
table number on a diagram or via an
escort
card,
but an additional “place
card”
at each place setting is also necessary. One
place
card
is needed for each guest, and you may wish to indicate the meal preference by
assigning an ink color or special symbol on the cards to the guest’s choice
(i.e. beef = blue ink and seafood = white ink).
Escort cards and
place
cards
may be carefully handwritten, inscribed with calligraphy or printed
professionally or at home.
Advantage Bridal carries many different styles of
place
cards,
including themed cards, classic white and ivory, place card frames and printable
varieties so be sure to start your shopping today!
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