Mirrored seating chart - Shinola Hotel wedding | Chelsea and John Henry

To guide your guests to their seats, you have lots of options: a wedding seating chart, escort cards, and place cards. To figure out which option is right for your big day, let’s explain each option. In this blog post, I’ll dive into each one and will give the reasons you’d need one over another.

Wedding Seating Chart

The first option here is a wedding seating chart. This can be a simple foam core board outlining guests’ names and table numbers, a mirror, acrylic, wooden or other surface with the information, or another creative installation conveying the seating arrangements. The key here is that it’s simply visual. Guests find their name and table number and remember the assignment. They don’t take anything to hold and walk around with.

A wedding seating chart could be used on its own, or in tandem with place cards. More on that below… but first, some inspo pictures of seating charts!

When you need to use a wedding seating chart

  • 📏When you don’t have space for a long table to set out individual escort cards
  • 🌪️ When your cocktail hour will be outdoors and you don’t want to weigh down cards / attach them to a favor (individual escort cards are at risk of blowing away)

Escort Cards

Escort cards are individual cards that feature guests’ names and table numbers. They escort them to their assigned seat. These can be done per couple or per individual guest, but this may depend on the catering setup. The cards can be positioned on a table as “tented,” traditional paper cards or  printed on a non-traditional surface. Separately, they can be incorporated into a larger installation setup, which is ideal to pair an escort card with a beverage or favor, in tandem with the seating assignment.

Escort cards display - Taupe wedding at the Westin Book Cadillac | Leah E. Moss Designs

When you need to use escort cards

  • 🎁 When you want to combine your seating assignment with a take-home favor (this can still be one per couple, depending on what your chosen favor is!)
  • 🍴 When your caterer needs a “code” for each guest’s entrée selection and you don’t want to assign individual seats. These will have to be done one per guest, with a varying indicator of each meal option.
  • 💰 When budget priorities don’t include a large format installation.

Place Cards

Place cards are positioned at each guest’s seat and indicate their specific place. Typically, these are used alongside either a wedding seating chart or escort cards, as an added element. The only time you’d only use place cards would be at an intimate event with a very small guest count.

Since the place cards are positioned at specific seats, these cause an added level of planning needed. You aren’t just assigning these eight guests at a table, but which particular chairs those same eight guests will occupy. Fair warning that it’s an extra step! If you don’t want to go this route for your whole guest count, some couples opt to use place cards for their head table.

The place cards can be their own individual card (or other decorative object), or the menu can be personalized with the guest’s name. This is a great way to combine two elements as part of the tablescape.

Menu with embossed florals - Taupe wedding at the Westin Book Cadillac | Leah E. Moss Designs

When you need to use place cards

  • 🍴 When your caterer needs a “code” for each guest’s entrée selection and you’ve opted for a seating chart, or opted for escort cards by couple.
  • 💍 When you want your wedding party and their plus ones to sit in a certain position at the head table.
  • 🎭 When you want to ensure all interpersonal dynamics are kept under control — this is helpful if there are any divorced guests who aren’t on good terms, who need to be seated facing away from one another, or perhaps certain friends who’d get too rowdy during speeches if seated next to one another. That kind of thing!

So there you have it! I hope this roundup of wedding seating charts, escort cards, and place cards has been helpful for you as you plan your big day. I offer all of these options to my clients and talk through all of them to weigh the pros and cons, based on their unique event, as part of their process. I’d be honored to work with you.