When hosting a large dinner party, especially a formal one, organization is everything. Invitations get sent with RSVP cards so the planner will know exactly who is going to be there. The meal courses have been selected and planned with care. Entertainment has been selected to compliment the party. And when it comes to details, every single one is attended to. This includes the seating arrangement for the evening. Instead of allowing for Hobson’s choice when it comes time to be seated, every single person is placed and can find where they’re supposed to sit with a unique place card.
Place cards can be as simple as a small white card with the person’s name on it, but those add nothing to the party. However, having fancy place cards made can be expensive and a hassle. Not only do you have to go pick the card style off of a standard list, but you have to give the printer a list of names. This in and of itself can be a troublesome thing because it’s a slight invasion of privacy to let anyone know what your guest list is going to be. After that, the names have to be laid out and proofed for accuracy and then the place cards can be printed.
One way to reduce expenses, to control the guest list information and to have the place cards reflects the theme of the evening is to print your own. Getting blank or pre-designed place card stock is as simple as going online and looking around a little. Templates can be downloaded for them that work great with your favorite word processor or design program so setup is a snap. Simply put the names into the template and any other design cues you want, whether it’s a logo or a shape or even balloons for a birthday party, and hit the print button. In just a very few minutes, you’ll have generated all the place cards for the party. And printing your own means if there are any last minute additions, you can print those pretty much on the fly, even right up to the moment when everyone sits down.
Using place cards during the planning process means groupings can be planned as carefully as the menu. Sometimes groups need to be together because of commonalities, sometimes the planner is supposed to play “matchmaker” and sometimes politics and networking is involved. By having the place cards as an integral part of the party means that quite a few of them will go home with the guest instead of becoming part of the cleanup process. And if the “matchmaker” is lucky, some of those place cards may have a phone number on them at the end of the evening.