Escort Charts: MSPaint to Reality...

For our escort table, I thought that the placecards that I had blogged about earlier would suffice as being both the escort card to show people where they were sitting, and also the place card to denote what meal each person was eating. Guests would just have to pick up their card from the escort table and place it in front of them at the guest table. But, I had been notified three weeks before the wedding that my venue, Veronique, actually requires two sets of these cards to ensure a flawless meal service, just in case the guests lose the cards or put them in their pocket.

So, as I was brainstorming on MSPaint (because it was the only thing available on my husband's laptop!) in the airport waiting to go to Philadelphia for another friend's wedding, I was thinking... how will this work? I didn't want to have two sets of cards, because people might take the escort cards and put them on the table, so there will be two sets of cards at each place settings. So I decided that they had to be escort charts, where people would just look up their name and table number. The pearl white metallic card stock on a crimson red backing seemed appropriate, but how am I supposed to display these charts and make them stand up? The answer: branches of course! I wanted to make a frame out of branches, and have the charts hanging from the branches by fuchia ribbon or embroidery floss.

I kept the MSPaint drawing that I did in the airport, and here is the inspiration. Notice the green spray paint function at the bottom to represent a moss covered table =)



Now, to turn these into reality. I ended up making three charts total with about 50 names and table numbers on each. Another trip to my in-law's house for their trees, a huge pair of clippers, and a ton of brown yarn later, I had my escort chart frames! I decided to attach the charts to the frames at four points instead of just two, so it would display at an angle to the guests, and not just hang straight up and down. I also added a letter range in the upper right hand corner to make it easier for guests to find their names. Below is a picture of the escort charts at my wedding, with a moss covered table, taken by our wonderful photographer, Brittany of BKB Photography.



These came out EXACTLY how I wanted them too! I absolutely love it when ideas just work.

Pink Orchid Weddings is here to help you plan your own wedding, and help you make your own ideas come to fruition. Email us at info@pinkorchidweddings.com!

~Emilie