Now that some time has passed since the wedding and I’ve had a chance to catch my breath and enjoy being married and, frankly, NOT thinking about the wedding, I thought it would be a good time to start revisiting some of my favorite special things from that very special day — decorations, memories, etc. Today we’ll start with one of my favorite “projects” from the wedding: the placecards.
I should start by saying that I don’t like placecards, at least not in the traditional sense. For some reason, all those tiny pieces of folded paper, lined up like little alphbetical soldiers on a table has always made me cringe. Probably because they inevitably look disordered once people start taking their cards (I’m anal, okay?). And also because I never know what to DO with the placecard once I’ve found mine. Put in at my place to mark my territory? Take it home like a souvenir? They just seem senseless…but necessary. Oh boy are the necessary. Nothing says mass chaos than a wedding party vying for the best tables at a free-for-all reception.
So, since I knew we needed something, I decided to get creative. I started off by browing the wedding section on Martha Stewart and found some nifty ideas for creating cool looking boards to attach the placecards to. Since our wedding and reception were taking place in a room with huge, white doors, I thought they would be the perfect spot to hang the cards. This way, the boards and the cards themselves would literally welcome our guests as soon as they walked in in the room…all withough taking up an entire table’s worth of space.
I was all set to leave it at that when the real genius came into play. While out with some friends one night (including my amazing friend Amy who created our invitations and placecards), someone pulled out a little card they’d recieved at a bar: a business card-sized sign with a tab designed to stick on the edge of a drink glass. The sign said something to the affect of “Gone to Pee, Leave My Drink Alone.”
Though the terminology would need some wordsmithing, I knew we finally had our double-use for the placecards. So, we had them printed two-sided and my friend Amy took the time to hand cut the little tabs for hanging them. With the end result, one side looked just like a traditional placecard, with the guest’s name and table number (photos above). The other side said: “Dancin’ the Night Away, Please Leave My Drink Here to Stay.”
Instantly, the wait staff had a better idea of which drinks should be cleared or left untouched, and since the person’s name was on the other side of the card it helped to prevent mix-ups much the same way that a wine charm would.
The pic is a bit fuzzy, but you get an idea of the final result.
So there you have it. Definitely one of my favorite little details from the wedding. As it should be I guess, since I spent about 6 hours pinning ribbons to those foam boards the month before the wedding. Not to mention about an hour sticking the cards on the board the night before the wedding. But in the end I was so happy with the result, it was worth it.
Speaking of happy, I couldn’t resist including a shot of the happy couple:
I absolutely loved this idea! Its such a fun, creative way to let those clearing the tables that the drink needs to stay.
I absolutely loved this idea! Its such a fun, creative way to let those clearing the tables that the drink needs to stay.
For our place cards we did paper frames with pictures of us in them. We figured that there was no better gift then us 😉
For our place cards we did paper frames with pictures of us in them. We figured that there was no better gift then us 😉
Great idea!
Great idea!
Rebecca I think that is a fabulous idea! You are so creative, the pics are great and you two look so happy and beautiful.
Rebecca I think that is a fabulous idea! You are so creative, the pics are great and you two look so happy and beautiful.