15 wedding place cards that do WAY more than just show guests to their seats

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Let's break it down here: Do you need place cards and table settings? Only if you're doing assigned seating. Are they a pain in the ass to deal with? Yes — and they're super time-consuming. So, if you're going to be spending that much time on a wedding project… why not make them as awesome as possible!? Here are some amazing place cards and seating options brought to us by some crafty offbeat brides:

table envolopes
Katie and Clinton used table envelopes instead of cards. On the outside were the names and table numbers, inside were stickers, temporary tattoos, and a card with information on where guests could upload and share their wedding photos with the couple.

Geeky Place Cards
There's always ye olde tent-fold place cards, but Celeste put her own geeky spin on the idea. Each table was named after a different fictional location from TV, movies, books, and video games (Let's see, I can identify the Buffy, Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, Doctor Who, Battlestar and Harry Potter references). She designed them all in Photoshop (four to a page) and printed them on Avery 5820 folding business cards.

Aaron's place settingTribe member Wildwoolf used Scrabble trays and tiles that spelled out each guests' name as her place settings. They only seemed fitting with her Scrabble-themed placemats!

Photo by Darla Photography
Photo by Darla Photography

Amanda used place cards made out of matchbooks from the rock club where she and her husband met. The matchbooks from the 930 Club had the name of the guest on them as well as the corresponding name of their table (the name of a band that she and her husband once saw together).

DIY:  cool place card project
Offbeat sponsor Katie Fischer used hand-written place cards on pieces of paper that resembled antique wall paper. Then she hung them from branches with twine and guests used antique scissors to cut their names free.

little umbrella place settings alternative wedding ideas from Offbeat Wed (formerly Offbeat Bride)
Well aren't these little cocktail umbrella place settings from Tribe member CBelle just the cutest things EVAR for a beach wedding? Answer: hell yes!

loadsofcoasters
I abso-frigging-lutely H.E.A.R.T. these place card coasters that double as wedding favors made by Tribe member Caleigh. And she did them all herself: painting the artwork, adjusting them in Illustrator, printing the artwork with individual names, and then heat pressing them onto the coasters. These will be all set up on a table for their guests to collect with a sticker on the back with their corresponding table numbers.

place setting - cow
Andy and Brandee had some pretty intense and sweetly personalized place settings. They scoured second-hand stores for almost a year to find mugs, choosing each mug specifically for each wedding guest. Then they collected high-quality vintage science fiction pulp novels and gave each person a book under their mug, with their name written on the inside cover. Inside their mugs, each person found their eating utensils wrapped in napkins, held together by hand-beaded napkin rings. And tied to their mug handles with brown ribbon, was each guests name tag, hand calligraphed by the bride.

Favour boxes filled with organic teaStacey used favor boxes filled with organic tea as their place cards. These were all lined up in alphabetical order with each guest's name and table assignment.

place cards
How neat are these place card attached to tiny compasses? Way perfect for a destination wedding!

Place SettingsNick and Carie used this cool hanging place setting display, held in place by clothespins! So countryfied and adorable.

Michelle and Michael Final Images (133)
Having a Halloween or Fall wedding? Utilize all those adorable tiny pumpkins as your place settings, like these from Shell and Mike's Halloween wedding.

Mordicai: black monster
These Dungeons and Dragons mini figurines doubled as wedding favors and place cards at Jennifer and Mordicai's wedding.

28Tribe member Lisa used these '80s rock mixed cassettes and labeled them with the CLASSIC old-school ribbon labels with each person's name and table assignment.

Place Cards: LemonheadsHow's this for easy and awesome place cards: Jordan & Marylyle used candy boxes (Lemonheads, Boston Baked Beans, etc) with a sticker showing the guests' names and table numbers.

DUDE YOU GUYS. We have so many more examples.

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