Table Stationery: finishing touches to make your day complete
When you’re planning your wedding, you’ll tend to see the whole day through your own eyes. And why not? It’s your special day after all! A little forethought though, can help your guests to enjoy the day much more. A major way to improve your guests’ pleasure is to make your table stationery and reception arrangements work together with your theme and invitations to provide a seamlessly elegant experience.
Invitations should go out at least six weeks before the wedding, to give guests plenty of time to make travel and accommodation arrangements if necessary. If you're getting married during the summer holidays or over Easter or Christmas, or if you're getting married abroad, let people know the date as soon as it's fixed, even if it's six months ahead. You could always send informal save-the-date cards, with formal invitations later.
If you are inviting guests from overseas, let them know well ahead of time so they can arrange flights and accommodation. You could send their invitations about a month before inviting your local guests.
Building a theme
Once you’ve chosen your invitations, think about what will carry that theme through to the rest of your décor: if you’ve chosen burgundy roses on the invitations, plan to have burgundy order of service cards, burgundy ribbon at the reception, appropriately coloured balloons and confetti and thank you cards in the same style.
Menu cards for the reception can be ordered when details of the food and drink have been arranged. They are really a courtesy to your guests: everyone feels happier if they know exactly what they are eating! Ideally suited to a sit-down meal, with one card for each place setting, they can also be used for a buffet where they can be set out at random on the tables. Make sure they match or complement your invitation style.
Unless your reception is really informal, and no one minds who takes which seat, you'll need place cards to show your guests where to sit. Seating arrangements will depend on number of guests, the number of tables and the style of wedding you’ve chosen. A formal sit-down reception traditionally has a top table at which the bride and groom, their parents, the best man and the chief bridesmaid sit. You could add to this list and include one or two extra-special guests. There is an increasing trend to have a top table just for bride and groom, with flanking tables for the other ‘special’ people. When it comes to seating the other guests, remember that most people will feel happy and relaxed if they can talk to someone they know or have things in common with. Your place cards can help create the right atmosphere by settling your guests into just the right location for them to enjoy the day.
Confetti and seals
There must be a hundred ways to use confetti and stickers and seals to personalise your special day. Here are just a few:
- Before the wedding day Put a sprinkle of appropriately coloured confetti in your invitation envelopes and use seal to add a finishing touch to envelopes. Take some to your hen night to sprinkle on hair and clothes.
- During the wedding Seals can be stuck to ribbons that decorate pew ends, or added to maps that show the route to the reception. Confetti is traditionally thrown at the newlyweds as they leave, if the venue allows this.
- At the reception Add confetti to your wedding favours, sprinkle it on the tablecloth, add it to bowls placed throughout the reception area and glue it to ribbons that are part of the swags. Place it inside the wrapping paper so that when your bridesmaids, best man and ushers open their gifts, a little shower of pretty confetti falls out.
- Afterwards Use confetti and seals in, and on, thank you notes Make a scrapbook of your wedding and glue in the confetti and seals to add interest to the pages.
Candles
Personalised candles make a lovely addition to your day and little candles for your guests to take home can be matched to your theme. Candles are gorgeous for an evening reception, but make sure they are securely skewered onto heavyweight bases or placed in suitable containers and ensure a member of the catering team is detailed to keep an eye on candles that are burning low to avoid wax spills or even worse ... fires.
Commemorating the day
Traditional guest books remain popular; however, a new trend is to display the couple's engagement photograph at the reception, framed without glass and with a generously sized mount: guests sign the mount and the picture is framed to make a lasting memento for the couple.
Other innovative ways of creating a permanent record of the reception are:
- Buying a large umbrella and a package of fine tipped permanent markers in various colours. Invite the guests to sign the umbrella at the reception.
- Setting up a small, spare table at the reception and inviting your guests to sign a tablecloth with permanent markers. You can use it for your anniversary dinner every year!
As you leave
Small bottles of bubbles in various shapes, or designer wedding rice, or rose petals are popular items for guests to use as the couple leaves the reception. These can also be tied into your main theme to give harmony to your whole day.
