Escort cards vs place cards vs a seating chart: which your wedding needs
Three things can tell your guests where to sit, and couples often mix them up. They answer different questions, take different amounts of work, and you rarely need all three.
What each one is
- Escort card. A small card with a guest's name and table number, set out at the entrance to the reception. Each guest picks up their card and carries it to the table. It answers "which table am I at?".
- Place card. A card with a guest's name at the exact seat they will take. It answers "which chair is mine?". It is on the table, not at the door.
- Seating chart. One board at the entrance listing every table and who sits there, or every guest alphabetically with their table. It answers the same question as escort cards, for everyone at once.
Escort cards and a seating chart do the same job in two forms. Place cards do a different job and combine with either.
Which one you need
Assigned tables, free seating within them. Most weddings work this way. You need escort cards or a seating chart at the door, not both.
Assigned seats. If you want to choose who sits next to whom (common at formal dinners, and handy for keeping a few people apart), add place cards on top of the chart or the escort cards.
Guest count. Escort cards take space: 150 cards make a long table, and guests have to search it. Above about 120 guests, a seating chart, or a chart plus a QR code, moves people faster. Escort cards suit small and medium weddings.
Budget and time. A seating chart is one print. Escort cards and place cards are one card per guest, each printed, cut, folded and laid out: for 120 guests, an afternoon of work, twice if you do both. Short on time? Use a chart at the door and skip place cards unless seats really matter.
Meal marks for a plated dinner
At a plated dinner where guests chose their meal in advance, servers need to know who ordered what without asking everyone. The usual answer is a discreet mark on the place card: a small symbol or word per meal in a corner, such as a tiny leaf for vegetarian, with a key for the catering team. Keep it subtle: it is for the servers, not a label for the guest. With one menu for everyone, you only need marks for special diets like vegan, gluten-free or kosher.
Sizes
- Place cards are usually a folded tent of about 3.5 x 2 in (9 x 5 cm) once folded, or a flat card of the same size in a holder.
- Escort cards are often the same size, so one design prints both. Some couples use larger flat cards, about 3.5 x 5 in, or tags tied to a favor.
- A seating chart is usually 18 x 24 in for up to about 100 guests. Our seating chart sign guide covers sizes and materials.
Printing at home
Use cardstock of about 65 to 110 lb cover (176 to 300 gsm): thinner bends, thicker can jam a home printer. Cut with a paper trimmer, not scissors, and prefer matte stock: it reads better under venue lights.
How many to print
One per guest, plus five to ten blank cards in the same design for late plus-ones and the card someone spills wine on. Bring a fine-tip pen that matches the printed ink.
Laying them out
Escort cards go on a table at the entrance, alphabetically by surname, in rows, with a small sign at the start of each letter so nobody scans the whole table. A couple or family can share one card ("The Lees, Table 4"), which shortens the table.
Place cards go on the tables before guests arrive. Sort them by table, so whoever sets up can do one table at a time.
Last-minute changes
Someone always cancels or brings a guest. Print two or three days before, when the list is close to final. With cards a change is one card; with a chart it is a correction, so keep blank labels ready.
How Wedtide does it
Wedtide seats your guests at tables and prints what you need for the day. On the free plan you get the list by table, for the venue and the caterer, and a QR sign that also prints every guest alphabetically with their table, so it works without signal.
Wedtide Plus (19 USD, once per wedding) adds the print kit. Place cards come ten to a sheet, with each guest's name and table, sorted by table and then by name. Guests with a special diet (vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, kosher, halal or other) get a small word in the corner for the servers; a standard meal leaves the card clean. Print on cardstock and cut along the dotted lines. Table numbers come two to a sheet, with the name of your wedding and its date. Every piece comes in four designs (Classic, Modern, Garden, Deco). You can preview it free with your own guests: the first place cards and the first table number show, so you see exactly what you would print.