Escort cards vs. Seating Chart

It's all personal preference. I mean you can technically just have simple place cards that are not expensive so recycling them won't be a huge waste.

In the end you seating chart will most likely fall into the same trap unless you somehow want to keep it for some reason.

I personally prefer place cards.

@Jessica - All guests chose their meals when they RSVP'd, so I am quite aware of what each guest is having. The template provided by the venue/caterer just shows which meals are at each table.

@VC - Thanks for your advice.

I'm team escort cards. I'd forget my table assignment once I walk away from the chart, lol!

I'm using a bulletin board to put the escort cards on to tell people where to head. I decided to have place cards to so the venue can find people easier as well.

We did escort cards, and I'm glad we did. I thought about doing something where we just listed the tables and everyone at them. i found this to be problematic for 2 reasons, I thought guests who forget which table they were at and it would be inconvenient for them to go back to the chart, 2) I thought it would may be hard for people to find their names since it would not be listed in alphabetical order. Sure people may not care what they look like but I loved doing ours and loved the way they came out.

In my mind escort cards and seating charts are equally effective. I think the bugger issue is you are giving your guest a choice of meal and the wait staff has to serve them the correct meal. With that you need to have some sort of designation to make life easy for the wait staff. If you don't want to assign seats with place cards- you need to code your escort cards.

We are using a seating chart and assigning seats. Each meal choice is coordinated with a color that will be in the top right corner of the place card.

I agree with the previous post about waiters having to figure out meals without assigned seats. Double check with you venue if that is even an option.

We are doing escort cards that serve a dual purpose so they aren't just tossed aside. FH and I are not doing favors. We are doing a donation in our guests honor to the charity of their choice. We are going to have boxes representing different charities that guests can choose by putting their escort card in their preference. Slightly off topic but a great way to "reuse" those escort cards

Thanks for all of the advice! I checked with the venue and they are fine with us using a seating/table assignment chart rather than escort cards. For previous weddings and events I've attended, waiters were fine with asking who ordered what at the table. We only have two options, and so far most guests are leaning towards one, so it probably won't be too difficult. It actually may be easier for them to ask than trying to peek at the escort cards. I'll check in with the venue to find out what the wait staff prefers - definitely want to make things easier on them that day.

@WishUponAWilson - that's an absolutely lovely idea! The charities will surely appreciate your generosity.

I like escort cards. With a chart, there's crowding while everyone's jockeying to see what table they're at. Reminds me of high school when the musical cast list went up.

I think that if you're having a played meal, escort cards are simplest. It avoids any confusion with people forgetting what they ordered 2 months ago.

If you're doing buffet, I think the seating chart works or the place cards. You could still give a seating chart to the venue/caterer for any special diet meals or kids meals, and it simpler.

In both instances, they will likely go to waste (as in people won't keep them). From a cost perspective, place cards aren't tough to make cheaply yourself. You can probably layout 6 tented place cards on an 8.5x11 sheet of paper, and print/cut them yourself.

Hope that helps!

One advantage of escort cards is that it is easier to make last minute additions or subtractions. A seating chart has to either be sent out to be printed or the bride has to allot precious last minute time to make the seating chart.

Escort cards are displayed alphabetically, so easy to add or subtract.

I think escort cards are much better too .. I agree that I'd forget where I was sitting the minute I left the chart ...

Venues still ask for food choices on your RSVP cards? I feel in the minority .. my venue will ask food choices when the guests are seated

I find that as a guest, a seating chart is more difficult bc it's so darn small and on one easel or something... so the entire crowd of guests is swarming around it, vs a large round or elongated table with table numbers all alphabetized neatly. Just my opinion

I think escort cards provide guests the most efficient way to be seated. A seating chart can get crowded whereas escort cards are more grab and go. They can be collected afterward for recycling if need be, or attached to a favor that guests will take home

I'm leaning towards seating chart, just because our food is served family style and I like the look of some seating charts I found on Etsy. However my one worry with it is that if there's any last minute issues, there would be no time to send it back and get a new one with a change.