Lines in Your Guest Book

Recently a bride provided a guest book that was quite beautiful, and each page was lined. The guests, a nice group of people, did what they thought they should do, what was implied by the lines. They neatly wrote their names right on the lines.

Get a book with blank pages. A page with lines suggests neat and concise. A blank page, on the other hand, suggests creativity. It will invite your guests to express themselves with thoughts that you will treasure much more than just the names.

BTW, the book will probably come with a pretty pen. Bring some extra pens.

How to print escort cards and place cards

First, what's the difference? Escort cards tell people which table they will be at, and are usually placed on a table outside of the dining area, accessible to guests as they arrive. Place cards are at each place setting, telling guests which seat is theirs.

I am not at all opposed to using a laser printer. But be careful with fonts. Here's a test: select a font. Reduce it by a third (for example, if it was 18 points, bring it down to 12. ) Print a test card (don't use an obvious name) and then take it into a fairly dark room. Ask someone to read it. If they can't easily do so, you need to change the font and increase the size. Remember, at the wedding people might not be wearing their glasses, it might be dark, and placecards will be spread across a table. Don't let it be a challenge for guests to find their placecards.

In this picture, the table numbers are clear and easy to read, the the font and dark brown ink match the style of the menu cards (which in turn matched the invitations.) One final note: once the guests have found their tables, the service staff should remove the numbers.