5 Creative Place Card Ideas for Wedding Guest Seating

DeJane' Hill
Nov 22, 2021
3 min read

Getting wedding guests from the door of the reception to their seats typically comes with a place card or seating chart. If you’re going the place card route, here are some innovative ideas to get their feet shuffling and their tushies in their seats, so you can get the party started.

#1 Fork It

Cut paper hearts out of construction paper or card stock. Choose colors that match your wedding décor. Write the name of a guest on each heart. Slide the heart into the tines of the fork at each place setting. This works best for smaller and more intimate affairs where it won’t take guests too long to find their name at their place setting.

You can also place the forks with the hearts on the place card table and have each guest take their fork with them to the table. In this case, you want to have the table number on the heart and table numbers on the tables.

#2 Leaf it to Me

For a spring or summer wedding, pick up green leaves. For a fall wedding, use colored leaves. Using a black, gold or silver marker pen, write the name of your guests and their table numbers on the leaves. Place the leaf place card holders at their seats or arrange them in alphabetical order on a place card table at the entrance of the reception area. For an outdoor wedding, use clothes pins to pin the leaves in a row on a line or string (in clothes-line fashion).

#3 Scrabble Anyone?

Use scrabble tiles and racks to create place cards and place card holders. Spell out each guests’ name using the scrabble letters, arranging the letters on the rack. Set each rack at each place setting. This is an especially clever choice for brides and grooms that love to play Scrabble or have a profession or hobby, such as writing.

#4 Shell We Be Seated

For nautical, ocean, or sea-theme weddings, use shells to sail guests to their seats. Use a marker (navy blue, black, or a color to match the wedding) pen to write the name of the guest and their table number on the inside of the shell. Place the shells in alphabetical order, with the inside of the shell facing up so guests can find their names and seats easily.

#5 Pining Away

If you live where there are pine trees, gather small pine cones from the ground or from trees. Use them as is or spray paint them to match your wedding colors. Slide a place card with your guests name into the bottom of the pine cone. Place the pine cone on the table.

You can arrange the pine cones on a place card table or at each table setting.

Forget the ho-hum place cards and seating charts. If you’re looking for an innovative way to seat your gets, use one of these ideas or use one of these ideas as inspiration and put your own creative spin on it.

P.S. Need a little wedding planning boost??? Download my free Wedding Responsibility Checklist to help you ask for help during your planning stages - your wedding party is apart of your special day for a reason! :)