Expert Tips for Crafting Eye-Catching Escort Cards

Get ideas for your escort cards and seating chart.

Deciding where everyone should sit at your wedding can be one of the most stressful parts of planning. However, showcasing where your guests can find their seats is another opportunity to add another design element to the big day.

real wedding photo by tessa lyn events at bel air bay club escort cards on shiplap wall white calligraphy navy blue stationery
Photo: Laurie Bailey Photography

Deciding where everyone should sit at your wedding can be one of the most stressful parts of planning. However, showcasing where your guests can find their seats is another opportunity to add another design element to the big day. Whether you decide to go with a displayed seating chart or individual escort cards, don’t be afraid to think outside the box. Be sure to remember to include place cards as well, if you want to determine the exact seating order, rather than just the tables. As long king’s tables become more popular, place cards may feel more necessary than in the past, when a group of eight or 10 can easily arrange themselves into optimal pairings. 

As with wedding planning in general, there are so many different options for escort cards and seating charts that it can become overwhelming. Celebrity event planner Tessa Brand of Tessa Lyn Events has five tips on the subject to help make sure this seemingly small detail goes off without a hitch. After all, escort cards and seating charts aren’t just about aesthetic, but also about the organization of your reception meal.

See her tips, as well as examples from her past real weddings, below!

Five Tips for Eye-Catching Wedding Escort Cards

- Your escort card display is an opportunity to get creative. There are so many fun ideas of which to take advantage.
- Oftentimes your escort card can double as a favor – like a macaron box, olive oil, or a mini bottle of bubbly.
- If you have over 100 guests and are doing a chart instead of individual cards, I recommend alphabetizing by last name rather than organizing by table, which leaves guests searching for their name.
- Always place your escort-card display at cocktail hour where guests have a full hour to stop by and find their name.
- If your escort card also shares your meal choice from the RSVP, always have a sign instructing the guest to display it at their seat for the catering staff.

Escort place card on baguette wedding reception ideas

Photo by Katie Shuler Photography

Message in a bottle escort cards wedding reception ideas

Photo courtesy of Tessa Lyn Events

Escort cards on top of little taxi figurines

Photo courtesy of Tessa Lyn Events

Anna Camp wedding reception vase with individual roses

Photo courtesy of Tessa Lyn Events

Mini champagne bottle escort cards

Photo by Hugh Forte

Starfish escort cards for beach wedding reception ideas

Photo by Jodee Debes Photography

Escort cards attached to sunglasses wedding reception ideas

Photo by Jodee Debes Photography

Limoncello wedding reception escort card

Photo by Lane Dittoe Photography

Fabric escort cards unique place card ideas

Photo by Elizabeth Messina

Chicken wire clothespin wedding reception escort cards

Photo courtesy of Tessa Lyn Events

Hedge wall with mirror seating chart escort card ideas

Photo by Brian Leahy Photography

Tall rustic window seating chart with calligraphy on glass

Photo by Wild Whim Design + Photography

Seating chart with flowers and greenery on top

Photo by 
Jillian Rose Photography

See more escort card examples here, and get ideas on how to incorporate calligraphy into the big day.