After our posts a few weeks ago about wedding table decor, we wanted to bring it one step further and talk today about your wedding guests’ place settings (known more formally in the industry as “tablescapes”). As you start to design your tablescape, keep in mind that your guest’s reception table seat is where they will spend the most time out of your entire wedding day.

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Create Menu Cards to Get Their Mouths Watering

Not only do we gush over luxury stationery – seriously, does anyone else just obsess over thick paper? – menu cards are a great way for guests to anticipate what’s to come. Even if you choose to have a buffet or family-style catering, you can still offer a menu card so that guests know what to expect when they stand in line for the buffet, or they look at what is being passed around. Especially those with food allergies!

Consider Favors your Guests can Eat

Oftentimes, guests arrive at a wedding a little bit peckish and having a favor that your guests can eat can not only take the edge off – they are a great way to share your favorite sweet (and some local love, if you choose a local company!). On top of that, we have had couples come up with all sorts of elaborate favors, but oftentimes favors get left behind and are forgotten about after a night of drinking, dancing and celebrating away. It always breaks our hearts a little! Trust us, when you choose an edible wedding favor, your guests will always eat (and appreciate) it.

Incorporate Vintage Glassware

If you’re looking for a way to pretty up your tablescape in a three-dimensional way – where your guests will actually touch and appreciate something – using vintage glassware is a great way to add some fun and visual interest. Whether you just choose a unique pattern or color, vintage glassware (or more unique glassware in general) always adds an unexpected touch.

Make sure the Flowers are Functional

We talked about this in the last wedding table decor post but I want to reiterate it here: if you’re going to choose tall centerpieces, make sure they are skinny enough in the middle that your guests’ can see who’s across from them and communicate comfortably. On the other side, if you choose runners of greenery and low floral arrangements, make sure that the flowers aren’t going to go too wide over onto their plates, where your guests’ are going to be pushing them out of the way for the entire dinner.

Consider the 5 Senses

We’ve talked a little bit about this already, but as you start to create your guest’s place settings, consider the 5 senses. Imagine your guests sitting down at their table and think about what they’re going to touch, what they’re going to see, what they’re going to smell, what they’re going to hear and taste. As just one example – the options are truly endless – we love to add a spring of rosemary for an unexpected fresh smell and feel.

Planning your Georgia Wedding

If this seems like a lot, remember that you absolutely deserve to have some help planning your one incredible day. As wedding planners, we couldn’t be more passionate about guiding our clients throughout the process. You still get to handle all the fun stuff – don’t worry, you won’t miss any of that – and we will not make decisions without you. If you choose to work with Borrowed and Blue, we will guide you through every step of the journey, educate you on what to expect, and completely prepare you so that you and your guests can spend your entire wedding day in awe about how everything came together. If that sounds like what you are looking for, get in touch with us here.