Wedding Placecard Ideas

Wedding placecards are used to indicate which place setting at a particular table has been reserved for a guest. You can use placecards at any style wedding but they are best for very formal or very intimate weddings, or for weddings that feature long tables where seating might be confusing to your guests.

Although they are a wonderful and thoughtful detail, using placecards requires a lot more effort on the part of the bride and groom who must organize seating tables carefully and far enough in advance to write or print a card for each guest.

Place cards are also referred to as escort cards sometimes. These cards are printed with the guests' names and table numbers on them, telling (or escorting) them to which table they have been assigned. Escort cards can be classic flat cards in envelopes or folded tent cards, usually displayed at the cocktail hour or at the entrance to the wedding reception on a special table.

Whether you call it an escort card when it's sitting on a table waiting to be picked up or a place card, since it's already on the table, there are several unique and interesting things you can do to enhance this little token of your wedding.

One way is to attach a wedding favor to the escort or placecard. This little wedding favor can be a chocolate bar covered in a special personalized wedding wrapper, or a small bag of potpourri. Make sure it blends with your colors and style so you can tie everything together.

Another nice touch is to print the menu on the inside of the placecard. Instead of using the regular-sized place card, use a modified wedding program in its place. On the outside fold of the place card, have the guest's name and table number. On the inside, paste a printed menu along with the wedding couple's names and wedding date. Put this "placecard" on each plate as it corresponds to the escort card's assignment number. It will become a nice keepsake from the wedding.

If your seating configuration is complex or more than likely to change at the last moment, consider using the card in envelope format to double as an escort or place card. This way you can print the envelopes well in advance (go ahead and print one for anyone you think may come - it will make life easier.)

Keep a little stack of numbered cards for each table number and just stuff the envelopes with the cards once your seating is firm. Then if you have last minute changes, you can simply open the envelope, switch the table number (and the place cards on the table) and voila - you are the perfect host anticipating all contingencies.

More Advice for an Informal Wedding

Your informal wedding is nevertheless still a great time of celebration and joy. You want it to reflect who you are, and what you - as a wedding couple - are all about. Whether it's an at-home wedding, or held at a local park, hall, a restaurant or party room, you still want to be sure that what you do at this occasion is what you want to look back on years from now and remember happily.

1. Go with the easiest wedding attire.

Choose a wedding dress that echoes the simplicity of your style. You aren't being extravagant in anything else, so a cathedral trained wedding dress with a nine-foot veil would just seem out of place. Consider the time of day you are having your wedding and dress appropriately. A cocktail length wedding dress reflects the relative informality and is easily worn from afternoon through evening.

You are probably not having a lot of attendants, so let the Maid of Honor and bridesmaids choose their own dress. Give them your color scheme, the length that you'd like them to wear and let them find dresses that are flattering to them and still reflect your informal style. The same goes for the groom, let him choose a suit or something that is indicative of his style so he matches you. No need for a tuxedo unless you really want him to wear one!

2. Don’t try to over-impress.

This is key — if you try to impress people with your fancy wedding and it's not you, you’ll go to a lot of trouble and expense for something that puts on a false front. It’s really not worth it. Everyone has been to fancy weddings, and while they’re nice, they last for one day and they put you deeply in debt.

Unless you want a celebrity-style wedding on a budget, (here is an article that shows you ways to have one) don't try to do too much. If you aren't comfortable with a huge wedding blow-out - don't have one! You want to remember your day your way. Besides, the wedding is a party for you and your guests - you aren't going to have a spread in People magazine!

3. Keep the wedding decorations simple.

Have a few floral arrangements in your wedding colors, some candles with mirrors as centerpieces, some white mini-lights. You can supply aisle runners and flowers. Very minimal, very little trouble, very little expense.

4. Provide simple, elegant wedding favors.

Put some Jordan almonds or custom M & M's in lovely wedding favor boxes that are attached to placecards you've printed with the guests' names.

5. Splurge on the wedding cake!

As long as you serve this as a main part of your dessert, contact your local bakery, or a specialty wedding cake store and get something you will really love. I attended an informal wedding where the cake was a two-tier center cake of traditional wedding cake and two side cakes with carrot cake and chocolate cake, all tied together with the same icing. It was delicious and festive and everyone enjoyed it.

6. Simple entertainment.

If you are going for informality, don't hire a nine piece orchestra! Ask a friend to be a DJ or hire a professional. If you are lucky to have friends who play instruments, have them play at the ceremony and perhaps during your cocktail hour.

7. Simple photography

With today's digital cameras and outstanding places to get your wedding photos put into a wedding photo book, you are freed from the expense of a photographer. Ask someone you know well to be in charge of the photographs and even do the "formal shots." Better yet, place a disposable camera on each table and ask your guests to take pictures. You will get some great candids to add to your photo book.

8. Appoint a wedding coordinator for the day.

You don't have to hire a wedding planner (although that is an option) but do have someone who will ensure that all the details of your wedding are going smoothly. You, your parents, and your immediate family won't have time so having someone assigned to cover all the details just makes good sense. You should have all your details recorded in a wedding planning book that you can hand off to your assigned person to follow. This will enable you to relax and enjoy the wedding, confident that everything is in good hands!

Just because your wedding is informal, doesn't mean that you don't have to pay attention to all the details. They are just less cumbersome than a more formal extravagant wedding. The primary rules are to keep your wedding simple and your guests happy, and you will enjoy your day as much as they do.

Tips for an Informal Wedding

Extravagant ceremonies, huge numbers of people, food you don't recognize - these things are not for your wedding. You want it to be simple, informal and yet welcoming to all your guests. Don't skimp - it's your wedding after all, but there are many ways you can save and still have an informal, simple and stunning wedding when all is said and done.

1. Keep the guest list small.

If you can pull this one step off, the cost for just about everything else will go down and everything will be fairly simple in comparison. Invite only those relatives and friends who mean the most to you.

I realize that it’s customary to invite everyone your parents ever met and with whom you had a passing acquaintance, but when my cousin got married she limited her guest list to close relatives (the furthest out was first cousins of both parents) and close friends. She could have invited dozens and dozens more and ended up with a list of 150 when it could easily have emulated another cousin's list of 600. She was able to eat, spend time with all her guests and enjoy her day.

2. Use printable wedding invitations.

Traditional wedding invitations have a couple different envelopes, tissue paper, some other paper, and that’s all before you even get to the invitation itself. So printable invitations, from your printer, on stock stationary from an office supply store will save you lots of money and will enable you to personalize each invitation. Just because you are informal doesn't mean you can't be elegant.

3. Keep the wedding reception menu simple - and catered.

The biggest cost is usually food. Keep it to a reasonable level by not having an extravagant, fancy dinner. Remember the rule of three - three courses, three choices, three colors, etc. Keep your desserts simple as well. You are spending a fortune on the wedding cake, so serve it! Ask friends and family members to make some other desserts for the dessert buffet.

Except for dessert, however, make sure you have your wedding catered. Don't expect your family to cook food for 150 or so people and still want any part of you. And face it - you aren't going to have the time either. Hire folks to cook the food, serve it and clean up afterwards. If you are at a hall or another venue - restaurant, bed and breakfast or other locale that caters to weddings - it will be part of your expense.

4. Beat the wedding bell blues - delegate.

Just because your family is off the hook for cooking, recruit them to help you. This will save a fortune on wedding planners. There are many little details that need to be taken care of, and if you try to do everything yourself, you’ll be running around like crazy. Instead, allow others to help out, delegate certain tasks, and when they do them, check them off your list. It makes life a lot easier and less stressful.

Tomorrow, I'll talk about more ways to have an informal wedding that won't break the bank.

Some Unique Wedding Ceremony Ideas

Regardless of your religious affiliation there are numerous creative wedding touches to give your ceremony that special sparkle. Just make certain that if you are having a religious ceremony at a church, temple or mosque, that you discuss each concept with your officiant to make sure you aren't going against any rules.

A couple of places where you are often given free reign are in the wedding program and the processional/recessional. Here are a few ideas to get those creative juices flowing as to how to make your wedding ceremony extraordinary.

• The wedding program can list more than just the names of the participants. For instance, in a Greek Orthodox wedding there are a number of traditions and ceremonies within the wedding service itself that need explanation. (It takes 45 minutes and has multiple parts, so it's rather complex.) This is where you can explain what is going on to guests who are not part of the faith so that they can fully participate and understand the entire ceremony - even those parts not in English! Additionally the wedding program can indicate special memorials, readings, music and so on that will enhance your guests' participation in the wedding.
  

• Even if you are not having a Jewish wedding (where it's tradition), invite your mother to walk you down the aisle with your father. Having both parents (if you are lucky) escort you to your future is a warm and loving gesture. I always feel sorry that the mother of the bride has to sit all alone in the front pew and just witness her daughter's wedding instead of being an integral part of it. I attended a wedding this summer where the bride's parents and her oldest son walked her down the aisle. It was quite moving.
  

• Ask the groom's parents to be part of the processional as well. They can lead the procession with the bride's parents ending it.
  

• See if it is acceptable to the officiant for you to change places with him (or her) so that you face the guests during the ceremony instead of having your backs to them the entire time.
  

• Hand a rose to each of the mothers as you pass them during the recessional. Have them ready at the altar so that you can each pick one up and give it to each of your mothers-in law (your mothers) as you embrace them when you are newly husband and wife. Also publicly thank your parents as a gesture of love and respect.
  

• If you are holding your wedding outdoors, have a special wedding canopy set up to designate the "altar" area where the actual ceremony will take place. At the end of the ceremony, have the guests throw grass seed or flower seeds instead of rice. Still symbolizes fertility but it is better for the birds and the environment.

• Ask a friend or family member to perform a special wedding song during the ceremony. At my friend Cindy's wedding, my then-boyfriend played classical guitar as the guests were seated. It was an elegant touch.

• If it is allowed, have a friend do a reading of a wedding poem or wedding essay at your ceremony. If it is not permitted, consider having them do a short reading at the reception during the toasts. Send them a special invitation - aside from the wedding invitation - to participate.
  

Use these little touches to create unique ceremonial aspects to your wedding and you will remember them fondly throughout the years.

Strewing Flowers and the Flower Girls

Since almost the beginning of weddings, brides have been walking on more than air on their way to the altar. Strewing the bridal path with grains, herbs, flowers or even straw rushes (hay) was an important tradition thought to help bring fertility and prosperity to the married couple. In addition to this, young children were commissioned to cover the bride's path with grains on her way to the ceremony to really increase the luck and fertility aspect of the event.

Brides often added herbs such as lemon-scented balm or mint to the mix so that when they stepped on them their aroma was released to please the Gods. In Elizabethan England it became fashionable to scent the home. Lacking chemical air fresheners like Febreeze, the Elizabethans turned to nature. Each day the floors were carpeted (or strewn) with rushes. When a wedding was to occur, rose petals, herbs and such lent their aroma to the rushes and began the custom of "walking on a bed of roses" (sans thorns of course!)

Although flowers and children to toss them are a central part of a bride's planning, some brides choose not to have flower girls. Many feel that children in a wedding will distract from the main event (the bride) while others feel that having children strew flowers is a wonderful addition to their special day. You have to decide for yourself if you want flowers along your path and children to spread them or to just go down the aisle on your own.

Some simple rules of thumb are applicable if you do invite children to be in the wedding party. Remember, even though they are young, they still are an integral part of the events. Let them know from the start that they are as important as anyone else!

Although you may be tempted to consider the youngest members of your families for these positions because it would be so cute, be sure they can handle the responsibilities. Ages 4 to 10 seem to be a good guideline: any younger, it's a wild card; any older, they would be more comfortable in the role of junior attendant.

I must point out though, that I turned two the day before a wedding where I was a flower girl. I did perfectly while an older girl of six broke down halfway down the aisle letting me to strew my flowers all by myself. Age limits depend on the child and her ability to get over shyness in front of a large crowd.

As with anything, children need more practice than adults. Plenty of wedding rehearsal time will relieve any anxiety on the part of the child (and yours, too) and answer any and all questions concerning their roles.

If you do decide to include children in the wedding party, you must remember that even with the best behaved, most reliable child, things can go wrong. Keep your sense of humor and use it to make the day go with laughter.

Muslim Weddings - Customs and Traditions

A wedding is always a happy time for families to celebrate. In the Muslim world, wedding traditions maintain some similarities based on faith. However, there are also colorful, cultural variations from place to place. The various wedding traditions reflect the diversity of the Muslim world. Where I live there is a large Muslim community and several Mosques throughout the city so these ceremonies and celebrations are part of the community.

Like all weddings, the purpose of a Muslim wedding is to join a man and woman in a new life together. The honoring of the Islamic faith during the ceremony is central to this new union. The associated traditions vary according to where the Islamic wedding takes place.

As with any faith, some Muslim weddings are deeply conservative, where the men and women who are invited to attend are separated during the ceremony, and the wedding reception. Other Muslim weddings are more modern and intermingle genders during the wedding reception, which is reflective of any other wedding.

There are certain elements that are basic to all Muslim weddings, no matter what the ethnic traditions are, that enhance the happy event.

All couples must sign a marriage contract or "nikkah" and the groom presents the bride with a "mahr" or wedding gift at the time of the vows.

At the wedding ceremony, the Imam (officiant) delivers a sermon during the vows. Usually, this sermon is addressed to the bride and groom and concerns their responsibilities toward one another. It also serves as a reminder to those who are already married.

After the wedding ceremony, the bride and groom receive friends and family at a Muslim wedding reception called by some the "walima."

No matter where the Muslim wedding takes place (in the US, Singapore, or the Middle East, for instance) each culture adds it stamp on to these basic traditions.

During the sungkem ceremony in a Sudanese wedding, the bride and groom bend forward to kiss the knees of their parents, promising to continue to serve them and asking for their forgiveness and blessings from them.

Moroccan brides change dresses and matching jewelry several times during their wedding celebration. Sometime during the wedding reception, the groom makes his way in a noisy procession to collect his bride. Once there, he is hoisted onto the shoulders of his friends or onto a horse; his bride is carried on a table or cushion. The procession continues until the couple reaches the nuptial chamber.

For couples of Malay descent, costumed children form a festive procession to hand-deliver gifts from the groom to the bride. Wedding guests might receive beautifully decorated hard-boiled eggs, representing fertility.

Turkish wedding customs include a procession where wedding guests, accompanied by drums and pipes, "fetch" the bride from her parents' home and escort her to the groom's house. There, her mother-in-law greets her with a gift and the groom leads her inside.

No matter what the custom though, the guests, and the families gather together for only one reason - to wish the wedding couple a world of prosperity and happiness in their life to come.

Seating The Guests

While it may seem logical to you, many people - especially the ushers - don't have a clue as to how to seat the guests at your wedding. While many guests show themselves to their seats, especially when the usher is nowhere to be seen, there is a custom to escort special guests to their seats before the wedding ceremony begins.

Even though you may be calling these particular groomsmen "ushers," they may not know how to escort the guests to their seats. I knew one usher who blithely took the groom's great-grandmother up the back stairs of the church to the choir loft because he thought it provided the best view in the house. Then he neglected to tell anyone he had done this. For ten minutes, the bride's father, the groom's father and all the bridesmaids were frantically seeking Nana and there she was, all alone in the choir loft trying to figure out how to get downstairs with her walker.

At the wedding rehearsal, take a few moments to explain to the ushers the protocols of seating the wedding guests. You haven't invited all these people to witness your wedding only to have them miffed before the ceremony even starts!

My suggestion is that you have photo prints of each important guest made and placed in a coordinated seating plan. Go over it with the ushers ahead of time. It doesn't cost a lot to have prints made and for you to sketch the rows where these guests are to sit, but it can save huge fusses later.

Place this chart at the back of the ceremony site near the guest book as a reference so that there is no confusion. It's not that you don't trust the ushers to recall your instructions, but they may not know who everyone is and this will help them make things go smoothly.

There are several permutations of seating that occur for different religious wedding ceremonies.
Most prominently, in Christian weddings, the bride's family sits on the left side of the church while the groom's family is on the right. Reform and Conservative Jewish weddings are just the opposite. Orthodox Jewish weddings segregate the men and women from sitting together at all.

The first row of the ceremony site is reserved for parents, the second for siblings, the third for grandparents and other close relatives. After that, ushers may seat guests as they arrive from front to back. Closest relatives should be seated last and separated from the rest of the guests due to their relationship. Guests who arrive late at the wedding ceremony should quietly sit at the back and don't need to be escorted by ushers.

Plan ahead now and save against seating headaches later!