Creative Seating Cards and Displays

Heart Escort Cards

These three-dimensional escort cards are as easy to make as they are refreshing to look at. At first glance, they appear to have been blown onto the table by a warm summer breeze. Following the instructions below, make them using a heart-shape craft punch, bright-white ink, scissors, glue, and paper in a range of hues that complements your palette.

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Creative Seating Cards and Displays

Envelope Table Assignments

Miniature envelopes holding stamped table assignments were pinned to a fabric-covered board propped on an easel on the lawn.

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Creative Seating Cards and Displays

Spring Light

A fresh lawn of wheatgrass makes a glorious field for butterflies to flutter about. Banners bearing guests' calligraphed names seem to billow in a gentle breeze. The butterfly wires are attached to skewers covered with floral tape. Feather butterflies, from BJ's Craft Supplies. Calligraphy, Deborah Delaney, 212-877-8773.

Creative Seating Cards and Displays

Summer Bright

Play up a beach theme with these petite chaise lounges and parasols. Print guest names and table numbers onto decorative paper, and then cut out rectangles and curve them into lounge chairs (pull the paper back and forth along the edge of a table while holding it taut to achieve the wave). Then arrange them in a sand-filled tray, and adorn each seat with a bright umbrella. Paper umbrellas, Birthday Direct.

Creative Seating Cards and Displays

Winter Cool

Snowbanks of rock salt and frosty mountains fashioned from torn paper dusted with a sprinkling of glistening glitter turn an escort card table into a magical wonderland. Glitter, by Martha Stewart Crafts, from Michaels, michaels.com for stores.

Creative Seating Cards and Displays

Fall Fire

The rich colors of autumn are echoed in this forest set amid rolling hills of moss. Craft-punched bright paper leaves bearing guests' names transform bare branches into majestic trees; we cut slits into the branches with a craft knife and then slid in the leaves. Mega giant oak leaf, maple leaf, and birch leaf punches, by The Punch Bunch, from Scrappily Ever After, scrappilyeverafter.com.

Creative Seating Cards and Displays

"Seating" Cards

These tiny chairs may be too small for sitting, but they are the perfect size for displaying guests' names and table numbers. The seats are made from heavyweight paper -- we used pale yellow for ladies and pale green for gents -- and can be calligraphed or run through a printer. Tidy rows, however, won't stay that way if a breeze blows by, so make this an indoor display.

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Creative Seating Cards and Displays

Favor Boxes

Here, favor and seating card function as one. Place small favors, such as truffles or small soaps, in rectangular boxes, and wrap in colorful solid and patterned papers. Print guests' names and table numbers onto adhesive-backed paper, cut out, and affix to the top of each box.

Creative Seating Cards and Displays

Lavender Seating Cards

For an aromatic seating card, two strips of paper -- with the guest's name printed on one end and the table number on the other -- are tied with satin ribbon to lavender wrapped with floral tape.

Creative Seating Cards and Displays

Rubber Stamped Seating Cards

Stamps can be used to create seating and table cards so guests can find their places. Instead of labeling each table with a number, give each a constellation (for instance, Orion). Stamp it on a card, and place in a holder. Then guide your guests to their tables by making them seating cards with their table's constellation inside. Stamp the card and fold it; on the bottom half of the outside, hand write the names, and stamp a few stars in silver ink.

Creative Seating Cards and Displays

Wooden Seating Cards

Show your ingrained sense of style with seating cards crafted from paper-thin wood veneer.

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Creative Seating Cards and Displays

Shell Seating Card Holders

Perfect for a wedding by the ocean, these scallop shells clasp table designations as if bearing treasures from the sea. Guests pull out their cards to discover their table numbers, which are hidden behind the shells.

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Creative Seating Cards and Displays

Keepsake Seashell Seating Cards

Instead of numbers to assign guests their tables, use names of seashells. Each type of shell represents a different table.

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Creative Seating Cards and Displays

Handbag Seating Cards

These purses and briefcases may not hold guests' belongings, but they're a charming way to designate their seats (table numbers are written inside). To make, use 3 1/2-by-5-inch folded seating cards (we used pink for women, brown for men). Unfold cards. With a utility knife, cut 2 slits wide enough for ribbon in the fold, 1 inch from each edge. Insert ends of 3-inch-long ribbon into slits; it will stay in place without gluing or tying.

Creative Seating Cards and Displays

Parasol Seating Cards

These cheerfully colored umbrellas sporting seating assignments dot miniature sand dunes at the entrance to a summer reception.

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Creative Seating Cards and Displays

Pomegranate Seating Cards

Create a simple, natural display that's rich in color by propping seating cards atop beautiful pomegranates.

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Creative Seating Cards and Displays

Patterned Seating Cards

A display like this is sure to capture your guests' attention. Use heavy-weight patterned papers in coordinating designs and colors. We combined flower and vine motifs, but you can use dots, stripes, or another pattern.

Creative Seating Cards and Displays

Perfectly Suited

Here's a winning look: Deal out seating cards disguised as the playing variety to guide guests to their tables. If you like, have extras printed without names, and use them to number the tables. Place them in stands on tables, and you've got style in spades.

Creative Seating Cards and Displays

Beribboned Seating Cards

A mat, woven of 4-inch-wide grosgrain ribbons in lavender, yellow, cream, and mustard, creates a setting for seating cards. To make cards, have ivory card stock folded and calligraphed or handwritten with guests' names and table numbers. Cut two small slits in the paper, and then slide in a length of cotton seam binding, rubber stamped with the names of the bride and groom.

Creative Seating Cards and Displays

The Write Stuff

Why hire a calligrapher to tackle your seating cards when you can save money using simple handwritten ones and enjoy a fun afternoon with friends to boot? Enlist people whose penmanship you admire (the bigger the range of styles, the better) to join you to write the names of guests on blank cards. For a see-through look like ours, write with dark ink on a white card and slip it inside a light-colored translucent or glassine envelope (they come in many hues).

Creative Seating Cards and Displays

Drawn On

Here, marigold card stock offsets gray-on-white seating cards, which are adorned with whimsical line illustrations. Guests' names are printed on the tags, and the table numbers appear on the bright yellow paper they're pinned to. A pewter tablecloth further alludes to the wedding palette.

Creative Seating Cards and Displays

Seating Card Sacks

Just pair a tag and a bag (with whatever goodies you choose inside) for an easy and economical favor that also serves as a seating card. We used a rubber stamp to give muslin bags a dotty border, but you can add any motif that fits your theme. Tuck cardboard inside the bags as you stamp so the ink won't seep to the other side. Print tags with guests' names and table numbers on a computer, then cut out with an oval craft punch; the tiny flower is made with another stamp. Punch hole at top of tag and thread drawstrings through.

Creative Seating Cards and Displays

Letterpress Cards

Letterpress seating cards display the four patterns used throughout the wedding.

Theresa and Jon's Wedding

Creative Seating Cards and Displays

Booklets

Liezel and Christopher used petite handmade coral and aqua quotation books as seating cards. The couple compiled favorite sayings about life and love and bound them in card-stock covers with thin brown satin ribbon.

Liezel and Christopher's Wedding

Creative Seating Cards and Displays

Surrounded by Flowers

Among the rows of seating cards, pink, white, and plum-colored cymbidium orchids in glass vases rest on a porcelain dish.

Sheila and Steve's Wedding

Creative Seating Cards and Displays

Tented Seating Cards

Tented seating cards are elevated to new heights atop a pillow of carnations. Cut several standard bricks of floral foam in half horizontally, soak in water, and place in shallow plastic flower-box trays. Snip off the carnation heads, leaving a little bit of stem on each, and insert into the foam; each half-brick should hold about two dozen carnations and four seating cards.

Creative Seating Cards and Displays

Beribboned Seating Cards

Before the meal, guide guests to their seats with the help of a beribboned bulletin board. Wrap the perimeter of a piece of plywood in paper tape to cover its rough edges. Then, using ribbons and fabric strips in assorted colors and patterns, cut pieces long enough to stretch across the board and around to the back. Stretch each ribbon across the surface, stapling both ends to back of board.

Creative Seating Cards and Displays

Ribbon Seating Card Display

For an all-frills setup with little fuss, slip seating cards in between rows of ribbons. Cover foam boards (ours are 20 by 30 inches) with satin and grosgrain ribbons; randomly layer narrow ribbons over wide ones. Pin the ribbon ends to backs of boards, inserting straight pins at an angle to secure. Slip in envelopes by their flaps or bottoms.

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Creative Seating Cards and Displays

Ribbon Tapestry

A novel way to display seating cards at a formal wedding is to hang them gracefully from a wall in a ribbon tapestry; guests simply slip their envelopes out from the sides.

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Creative Seating Cards and Displays

Wreath Displays

A wreath display for any season.

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Creative Seating Cards and Displays

Drawn Diagram

Guests skim the alphabetized list at the right of this elegant seating chart to find their table number, then locate their table on the floor plan.

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Creative Seating Cards and Displays

Eyelet Frame

Leaning on an easel or hanging on a wall, a framed display of eyelet-inspired seating cards is charming.

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Creative Seating Cards and Displays

Windproof Card Holder

This pretty display keeps seating cards from being blown away by a breeze. To make it, cut a sheet of decorative paper to fit a tabletop. Use a T square and pencil to lightly draw two parallel lines a quarter inch apart for each card. With a utility knife, cut slits a bit longer than the card's height; slide cards into place. Attach paper to tabletop with double-sided tape.

Creative Seating Cards and Displays

Floral Display

Greet your guests with an inviting display. Single silk cosmos in juice glasses bear tags with each guest's name and table number. Print the tags from a computer in color onto card stock. Cut cards to size, and trim with scallop shears. Punch a hole in each; tie to a flower with waxed twine.

Creative Seating Cards and Displays

Favor Boxes

Here, favor and seating card function as one. Place small favors, such as truffles or small soaps, in rectangular boxes, and wrap in colorful solid and patterned papers. Print guests' names and table numbers onto adhesive-backed paper, cut out, and affix to the top of each box. We arranged these favor boxes in porcelain trays, elevating some on painted wooden boxes (above) and securing them with floral putty to add visual interest.

Creative Seating Cards and Displays

Outdoor Grace

To hold the seating cards, teak boards were cut to the width of the table and then given deep, angled slits; envelopes calligraphed with brown ink enclose table numbers, and chartreuse cymbidium and cattleya orchids floating in glass bowls are placed between the rows.

Susan and James's Wedding

Creative Seating Cards and Displays

Anchored Seating Cards

Balmy, breezy weather is the hope of every bride planning an outdoor wedding. But breezes can be the bane of featherlight escort cards lined up unprotected on a table. To make sure the winds don't get the best of them, secure the cards with lengths of decorative ribbon.

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Creative Seating Cards and Displays

Seating Card Stands

An orderly arrangement of seating cards can get jumbled as guests find their names. Tuck flat cards into the creases of accordion folds, and they'll stay in tidy rows.

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Creative Seating Cards and Displays

Michelle and Devon's Seating Cards

Seating cards seem to sprout from moss and germs in a weathered-stone urn from the Levinson's garden (each card has a wire "stem" that's been tucked into the moss).

Michelle and Devon's Wedding

Creative Seating Cards and Displays

Melissa and Sam's Seating Cards

A garland of eucalyptus and bay leaves frames rows of seating cards decorated with botanical rose prints. The paper table runner evokes vintage wallpaper.

Melissa and Sam's Wedding

Creative Seating Cards and Displays

Gregg and Mark's Seating Cards

White seating cards with calligraphy rest atop a bed of smooth-edged blue sea glass.

Gregg and Mark's Wedding

Creative Seating Cards and Displays

Eva and Daniel's Place Cards

Eva painted a trout on each place card, while Daniel tied the flies.

Eva and Daniel's Wedding

Creative Seating Cards and Displays

Sara and Charles' Seating Cards

Silhouettes decorate these seating cards.

Sara and Charles' Wedding

Creative Seating Cards and Displays

Fraser and Matthew's Seating Cards

The number of hears on tented playing cards designates table assignments. The guests' names are on the other side.

Fraser and Matthew's Wedding

Creative Seating Cards and Displays

Anne and David's Seating Cards

White and pink hydrangeas are placed among rows of seating cards displayed on glass etched with stars. Underneath is lavender felt.

Anne and David's Wedding

Creative Seating Cards and Displays

Butterfly Seating Cards

Bride Laura Normandin calligraphed her seating cards, then rubber-stamped each one with a butterfly, which she cut into a silhouette before folding the card.

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Creative Seating Cards and Displays

Wrapped Paper Boxes

These favor boxes, which double as place cards, are wrapped with our ombre-inspired paper.

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Creative Seating Cards and Displays

Watercolor Place Cards

To make a real splash, pair a bright bouquet with an ombre tablecloth and set with our watercolor-style place cards that require no artistic talent -- just a printer.

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Creative Seating Cards and Displays

Playful Display

The design of this seating-card display is inspired by Plinko from The Price Is Right.

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Creative Seating Cards and Displays

Petticoat Drier Escort Card Display

A petticoat drier was used to hang these escort cards made from vintage wallpaper which the bride purchased online. To fit with the drying theme, the cards were attached with miniature clothespins.

Creative Seating Cards and Displays

Leaf Escort Cards

In lieu of an escort table, tuck leaves into slits in branches -- guests will see the arrangement as a piece of modern art. It makes an understated impression but can be tailored to fit a more formal affair. Some ideas: Uplight the branches in a dramatic hue, or paint them white. Punch used: No. 12. Punches by Martha Stewart Crafts.

Creative Seating Cards and Displays

Confetti Escort Cards

What appears to be colorful confetti at first glance is actually a jaunty take on place cards. Tossed out on a table, a smattering of color-coordinated circles announces guests' names and table numbers with flair. To ensure that your palette is as elegant as it is effervescent, make sure to mix in muted shades with neon brights. Or just follow our lead and temper tangerine and shocking pink with moody midnight blue, gold, and bright white.

Creative Seating Cards and Displays

Cherry Blossom Escort Card Display

To make our escort card holder any time of year, insert a few leafy branches (we used quince) into a vase and, using map pins, attach blossom-shaped confetti, each bearing a name and table number. Confetti, Artistry in Motion.

Creative Seating Cards and Displays

Retro Escort Cards

Infuse your special day with the elegant color combination of pink and navy. To incorporate this palette into your dinner decor, opt for escort cards with a design as crisp as navy itself -- like these at left. 50-millimeter moire satin ribbon, Mokuba New York, 212-869-8900.

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