Insanely Creative Escort Cards and Seating Displays

Amber Gress
These unique ideas for escort cards and seating charts won't just blow your guests' minds—they'll guide them to their tables.
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Amber Gress
Get More Ideas for Your Wedding Décor and Details

After the ceremony and cocktail hour, your guests will be looking for their reception seats. That's why you're currently looking for ideas to guide them there on the big day. Sure, you can go with classic seating cards, which are typically just pieces of paper with names and table assignments on them. But not everyone wants to follow tradition, and if you're one of those people, what's the fun in plain-white rectangles? Don't worry—your search for innovative ideas is over. Throughout the years, we've come across dozens of creative escort cards, as well as some incredible seating charts and displays.

You won't believe the things that couples have swapped in for stationery. We've seen items that doubled as wedding favors, edible goodies, and a whole lot more. Even if brides and grooms did go with paper goods, plenty have revamped the standard design by using cool colors, gorgeous calligraphy, and other memorable accents.

To plan your own seating cards or display, look to these examples from real weddings for inspiration. There are ideas fit for every kind of wedding, whether yours is modern, rustic, formal, whimsical, or something else altogether. As you'll see, others have turned to their themes, hobbies and interests, and many other things to dream up how to guide their attendees to their tables. We encourage you to do the same for cards or charts that truly speak to you and your partner, and for a design that'll amaze all of your celebrants, too.

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Calligraphed Cloches

Ashley Sawtelle
Go Inside This Summer Wedding

A Vintage Affair, Park Floral Design, and Taryn Eklund teamed up to create this cloche seating display, which showcased pretty blooms covered by glass that was calligraphed with the guests' names and table assignments.

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Lollipop Wall

Ashley Crawford

This idea by Lovestruck Events was both pretty and tasty. Lollipops were used in lieu of escort cards and arranged on a white wall.

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Romantic Cards

Michael Radford
Go Inside This Beyoncé-Inspired Wedding

Xs and Os were found throughout this celebration, including as wooden escort cards by The Pointed Nib.

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Clear Chart

Sophie Epton Photography

This see-through The Inviting Pear chart displayed a seating directory, as well as the couple's initials, wedding date, and a cactus motif.

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Map Display

Sara Weir Photography
Go Inside This Old Hollywood-Inspired Wedding

This California wedding was inspired by the location, all the way down to the state-themed seating chart.

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Inside Jokes

Corbin Gurkin
See More from This Ranch Reception

This bride and groom matched their tables with illustrations related to some of their inside jokes. The drawings were put on escort cards that were clipped to hang on a display.

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Marbled Lucite

Jerry Yoon Photographers
Get More Lucite Ideas for Your Wedding

A lucite board guided guests to their seats at this reception. It was painted in purple with a unique, marbleized design.

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Paper Flowers

Patricia Lyons Photography
Go Inside This Colorful Wedding

For this flower-filled celebration planned by Pineapple Productions, paper zinnias by Cheree Berry Paper were calligraphed by Arney Walker Studio to display attendees' names and their table assignments. They were pinned to a board covered in green fabric—the whole thing resembled a garden bed.

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Beach Balls

KT Merry
See More from This Personalized Wedding

This couple worked with Karson Butler Events to plan something truly unique—they used black-and-white beach balls as escort cards, and stored them in their venue's pool. Synchronized swimmers were on standby to find them and hand them to guests!

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Cards with Seals

Ryan Ray Photography
Check Out the Rest of This Garden-Themed Wedding

Blush paper squares were calligraphed in green ink by Julie Song for this event. White wax seals displayed each guest's table number.

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Hanging Bells

Abby Jiu Photography
See More from This Christmas-Themed Wedding

Talk about wedding bells! At this Christmas-themed celebration, paper "ribbons" were calligraphed by Laura Hooper Calligraphy with names and table numbers. Then, they were attached to vintage ringers. Finally, the escort "cards" were strung from the ceiling; Lauryn Prattes Styling and Events staff helped guests retrieve them.

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Arrows on Target

Amber Gress
See More from This Camp-Themed Wedding

Designs by Ahn created this incredibly-imaginative, camp-inspired display of escort arrows on a target board.

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Chart Surrounded by Greenery

Natalie Probst Photography

This pretty display included text written in a fun font. The board that they were on was framed by thick foliage.  

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Cards on Soap

Elizabeth Messina
Go Inside This Chic Wedding

These on-palette bars of soap served as favors, but they also held escort cards calligraphed by Nicole Miyuki.

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Watercolor Cards

Carrie Patterson
Check Out the Rest of This Airy Wedding

How lovely are these blue, hand-painted escort envelopes with The Left Handed Calligrapher writing? They were displayed on a linen board at this airy wedding.

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Wooden Structure

Katie Grant Photography

Seating cards with botanical designs were attached to standing wooden structures at this event. The displays were also spruced up with greenery, and had lanterns hanging from them.

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Cards on Fruit

Paige Jones Photography
See More from This Spring Wedding

For this wedding, escort cards were calligraphed by Joya Rose and then stuck into citrus fruits, which matched the display's floral arrangement.

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Flower Vases

Merari Photography

Pretty vases of assorted Cress Floral Decorators flowers were tagged with seating assignments for this couple's event.

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Luggage Tags

Amy Fanton Photography
Go Inside This Elegant Wedding

Guests traveled to their seats with the help of these leather luggage tags, which doubled as useful favors for this reception.

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Dog Cards

Betsi Ewing
Get More Ideas for Honoring Your Pet at Your Wedding

Incorporate your love of your pet into your seating display. This couple chose to have cards with pop-up dog cutouts.

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Apple Barrel

Aaron Delesie
See More from This Mediterranean-Themed Wedding

Attendees picked their Deborah Delaney Design cards from a bin of over 500 apples at this wedding.

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Hanging Mirrors

Steve Steinhardt

Beth Helmstetter planned this tropical wedding, where table assignments were scribbled onto suspended, ornate mirrors.

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Pressed Flowers

Corbin Gurkin
See More From This St. Louis Wedding

This wall, titled "Our Favorite Wallflowers," held pressed-flower seating assignments. Guests' names were written in pretty calligraphy.

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Hanging Plants

Studio A + Q
Get More Ideas for Hanging Wedding Décor

At this destination wedding, flower-filled vessels hung from seafoam-green ribbon, on which simple white escort cards were placed.

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Boxwood Wall

Julie Livingston Photography
Check Out the Rest of This Charming Wedding

The Left Handed Calligrapher wrote these guests' names, which were displayed on Color Box Design & Letterpress cards. The paper flowers were placed on a boxwood wall, where real blooms also laid. 

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Illustrated Chart

Stephanie Hunter Photography

Storybook-worthy animal illustrations adorned this sweet seating display. 

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Tasseled Cards

onelove photography

LVL Events organized this spring wedding, using yellow tassels to spruce up the seating cards. 

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Cards and Photos

Michelle Lange Photography

This decorative clothesline held escort cards interspersed between photographs of guests. 

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Paper Leaves

Brandon Kidd Photography
Go Inside This Palm Springs Wedding

Paper leaves in vibrant greens served as seating cards at this wedding. Betty Ling calligraphed the names.

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Pilot Wings

Jose Villa

When two pilots get married, there has to be a nod to their cool jobs. Each guest was assigned a pair of Amber Moon Design wings on this career-themed display.

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Paper Golf Balls

Kristen Kilpatrick
Go Inside This Fall Wedding

This groom loved golfing so much that the sport was incorporated into the reception décor. White Houston Invitation Services escort cards mimicked—you guessed it—golf balls. 

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Embroidery Hoops

Jeff Loves Jessica

Blush & Whim made this display happen, using homey needlework escort "cards." 

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Bugs on Cards

Thayer Allyson Gowdy
See More from This Shelter Island Wedding

When one of our editors married an "insect obsessive," she drew inspiration from nature. This escort-card table hosted 54 different species, all held in place with pins. Guests could find their names on the paper, plus the bugs' taxonomic name, common name, and place of origin.  

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Charmed Display

Ether and Smith

Quirky golden charms brought a touch of whimsy to these elegant, unique table assignments. 

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Tropical Wall

Mirelle Carmichael Photography
Go Inside This Boho Wedding

This wall hosted table assignments and a fun banana-leaf print. The assignments themselves were penned on slabs of hexagonal acrylic, then attached to the wall in brass standoffs. The bride cut out the gold-foil names herself, making a modern, glam display. 

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Wooden Blocks

Greg Finck
See More from This Fairytale Wedding

This backyard wedding boasted the coolest display, dreamt up by Amorology Weddings. Laura Made It, Back Up Backdrops, and Betlem Calligraphy also had a hand in the design. Guests' names were penned on wooden blocks and strung from a structure for attendees to find.

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Oars with Tags