Escort cards vs place cards: which do you need?

Escort cards and place cards get mixed up all the time, partly because some couples use one word for both. They do different jobs. An escort card tells a guest which table to go to. A place card tells them which chair at that table is theirs. You can have either, both or neither, and this guide helps you pick, then shows what goes on each and how to print them at home.

1. The short answer

• Escort cards sit together on one table near the entrance to the reception, in alphabetical order. A guest finds their name and reads their table. One card per household is the norm: "The Okafor family, Table 7".
• Place cards sit on the tables themselves, one at each setting. A guest finds their table, then finds their name. One card per person.

If you're assigning tables but not seats, you need escort cards (or a seating chart on an easel, which does the same job). If you're assigning exact seats, you need place cards as well, because the escort card only gets people as far as the table.

2. Do you need both?

Ask two questions.

Are you assigning seats, or just tables? Most receptions assign tables and let guests choose their own chair. That's friendlier, it's less work, and it avoids the tense ten minutes of someone hunting for their name around a table of ten. Assign exact seats when:

• The meal is plated with guests' choices ordered in advance, and the servers need to know who ordered the fish.
• It's a small, formal dinner where who sits next to whom matters.
• You have a long head table or a family table with a set order.

How will guests find their table? Escort cards, a large printed seating chart, or both. A chart on an easel is quicker to make and easy to read from a distance. Escort cards double as a small favour or a keepsake, and they let a guest pick up their own card and carry it to the table.

So the usual combinations are:

Your plan	What you need
Tables assigned, seats free	Escort cards or a seating chart
Tables and seats assigned	Escort cards (or a chart) and place cards
Head table only has set seats	A chart or escort cards, plus place cards on the head table
Open seating	Neither. A small sign saying "Sit anywhere" is enough

3. What goes on an escort card

Keep it short. The guest reads it standing up, often holding a drink.

• The name, the way you'd address the envelope. One card for a household: "Mr. and Mrs. Tanaka", "Jordan Reyes and guest", "The Lindqvist family". Children are usually on their parents' card.
• The table. "Table 7", or the table's name if you've named them after places or flowers. If the tables have names, make sure the same name is on a card at the table itself.
• Optionally, a meal mark. If guests chose their meals in advance, a small symbol or a word (a fish, a leaf, "V") tells the server what to bring. Add one only if the caterer asked for it.

Sort the cards alphabetically by last name, not by table. Guests look for their own name; nobody knows their table number yet. Sort a household under the surname people know them by ("The Okafor family" under O, "Jordan Reyes and guest" under R).

4. What goes on a place card

• One name per card, the way the guest would introduce themselves: "Priya Ramaswamy", or just "Priya" at a relaxed dinner. Be consistent across the room.
• Plus-ones by name if you know them. If you don't, "Guest of Jordan Reyes" is clear and polite, and much better than a blank card.
• A meal or dietary mark if seats are assigned for that reason, on that person's card only. A household where one person is vegetarian and the other isn't needs two different cards.

Children's place cards are worth doing even if the rest of the room is open seating. It keeps the kids' table a kids' table.

5. Sizes, and printing at home

The two common shapes are tent cards, which fold in half and stand up, and flat cards, which lie on a plate or in a card holder.

• Tent card: about 3.5 × 5 inches flat, folding to 3.5 × 2.5. Four fit on a US Letter sheet. On A4, 90 × 125 mm works.
• Flat card: about 3.5 × 2 inches, the size of a business card. Ten fit on a sheet. On A4, 85 × 55 mm.

To print at home:

1. Use cardstock of about 80 to 110 lb cover (216 to 300 gsm). Check your printer's limit first; many home printers jam above 110 lb. Print a test sheet on plain paper and hold it against a card to check the placement.
2. Print the name on both faces of a tent card, one upside down, so it reads from both sides of the table.
3. Cut on the crop marks with a paper trimmer, not scissors. A trimmer cuts a stack of four sheets straight in one go.
4. Score before folding. Run a butter knife or a bone folder along the fold line against a ruler, then fold. Unscored cardstock cracks.
5. Print a few spares and a blank sheet, for the late plus-one and the name you spelt wrong.

A script font for names looks lovely and is hard to read in dim light. Keep the name at least 18 pt, and test one card at arm's length in a dark room.

6. When to print, and what to do when RSVPs change

Print escort and place cards after the final headcount goes to the caterer, usually one to two weeks before the wedding. Earlier than that, every late change means a reprint.

Changes will still happen. When someone declines in the final week:

• Escort card: pull it. If the household's still coming but smaller, a card that says "The Okafor family" is still right.
• Place card: pull the card, then decide whether to leave the chair empty or close the gap. The servers can take a chair away on the night if you tell the venue coordinator.

When a guest moves table, reprint just their escort card. Our guide to RSVP changes after the seating chart covers the whole checklist for late changes.

7. Who sets them out on the day

Neither of you should be laying out cards on the morning of the wedding. Hand them over in a labelled box:

• Escort cards in alphabetical order, with an elastic band around each letter, plus a printed list so the coordinator can check nothing's missing.
• Place cards bundled table by table, each bundle labelled with its table, in seat order if seats are numbered.
• The seating chart, so whoever sets them out can check a card against it.

Usually the venue coordinator or the planner sets them out during the cocktail hour. Put the box and the chart in your wedding day binder's handover list.

8. Escort and place cards in Linenfold

Linenfold's free plan includes a seating plan with unlimited tables, households seated together and a waiting list. With Complete, the seating plan has a Cards view beside it (see the final stretch features) that turns the plan you've already made into cards:

• Escort cards, one per seated household, sorted A to Z by last name, each with its table.
• Place cards, one per seat, bundled table by table. Where you've named everyone in a household, each card gets that person's name; where you haven't, the first seat gets the household's name and the others read "Guest of …", and the view lists the missing names so you can fill them in.
• Tent or flat, on Letter or A4, with crop and fold marks, as a PDF to print at home or send to a printer. Tent cards print the name on both faces.
• Dietary marks if you want them: on an escort card, every need in the household; on a place card, only that person's own.
• The heading font from your moodboard, or a plain one.

The cards come from the same plan as your seating chart, so when a guest moves table, you print again and the cards follow. Cards for the rehearsal dinner are included too.

Frequently asked questions

What's the difference between escort cards and place cards? An escort card tells a guest which table they're at and sits on a table near the entrance. A place card marks their exact seat and sits on the dinner table.

Do we need both escort cards and place cards? Only if you're assigning exact seats. If guests choose their own chair at their table, escort cards or a seating chart are enough.

Can a seating chart replace escort cards? Yes. A large printed chart on an easel does the same job and is quicker to make. Sort it alphabetically by name, not by table, so guests find themselves quickly.

What size are place cards? Tent cards are usually 3.5 × 5 inches, folding to 3.5 × 2.5. Flat cards are about 3.5 × 2 inches, the size of a business card.

When should we print escort and place cards? After the final headcount goes to the caterer, about one to two weeks before the wedding, so late RSVP changes don't mean a full reprint.

Start with the free seating chart maker to put your tables together, and read how to make a wedding seating chart for the method. When you'd like the cards printed from your plan, create a free account.