Creative Place Cards

Add a touch of whimsy to your wedding reception.

By Tara Mandy and Meredith Levy
Editors of BFFBridal.com

It's hard to beat a simple, classic place card with beautiful calligraphy. But if your reception is laced with seasonal flourishes or if you're trying to carry through a particular theme, place cards are a great opportunity to add a touch of whimsy without going overboard.

There are tons of pre-fabricated options on the Internet. Just Google "place card holders" and you'll get pages and pages of mini trinkets to which you could attach the cards: silver frames, hearts, tiny chairs, little fruits and instruments -- you name it.

But for something that feels less overdone, why not take a more arts-and-craftsy approach? For example, celebrate an autumn wedding by attaching leaf-shaped cards to apples and commissioning your calligrapher to write the table numbers on the apples and guests' names on the cards. Use solid-white candy canes (no stripes, please!) at Christmas or seashells in summer. At any time of year, you could hand-wrap mini votive candles in velum printed with your guests' names and table numbers.

For a city wedding, have a calligrapher write on old-fashioned toy taxis with enamel paint. Our favorite idea? Champagne corks. Cut slits in the tops of the corks and insert the cards. They'll look amazing lined up on a white-clothed table at a black-tie affair.

Get more scoop on hot trends and chic wedding day details at BFFBridal.com