Formatting Your Guests’ Names
Address individual guests using their full name. Guests who are planning on showing up by themselves need only be identified by their first and last name. Consider including the person’s middle initial if they have a common name that may be shared with other guests. Unless your wedding is going to be an informal celebration, don’t use abbreviations or nicknames—write “Samantha” instead of “Sam” and “William” rather than “Bill.” An escort card for an unaccompanied guest might simply read: “John B. McLemore.”
Use titles consistently. It’s alright to refer to your guests as “Mr.” and “Mrs.” as long as you do it for each and every person in attendance. Similarly, you might choose to list unmarried women either by their first and last names or with the additional descriptor “Miss,” but try to keep it the same on each card. Special titles like “Dr.” and “Father” can be reserved for distinguished guests as a way of showing respect. It’s usually okay to address children under the age of 13 without titles.
List married couples by their last name. Traditionally, married couples are presented as a pair under the husband’s name, as in “Mr. and Mrs. Edward Jennings.” These days, it’s also acceptable to use both the husband and wife’s names, as in “Edward and Silvia Jennings.” You might also be able to get away with using the couple’s last name alone if it’s a smaller wedding and there are no other couples with the same surname in attendance. Married couples should always be listed together on the same card.
Put the woman’s name first on cards for unmarried couples. This goes for guests with dates, engaged couples, and male-female friends coming to the reception together. The same rule can also apply to married couples with different last names. Giving precedence to the woman is considered a polite gesture. If you have a close male friend who is bringing his new girlfriend, you would write “Leslie Schaeffer and Christopher Hudson.” When addressing an escort card to a same-sex couple, you have the option of either listing the names alphabetically or starting with the name of the guest you’re better acquainted with.
Use a single card for families who will be seated together. It’s common for family groups to be addressed collectively. The only exceptions are especially large families and occasions when 1 or more members will be accompanied by their own families, such as a husband and wife arriving independently of 1 spouse’s parents and younger siblings. A card reading “The Gutierrez Family” can account for any number of related guests who have RSVPd to confirm their attendance. Putting whole families down on the same escort card saves you the trouble (and extra materials) of making cards for each person individually.
Note unidentified guests after the name of the person they’re with. It’s usually sufficient to tack on an “and guest” after the invited guest’s name. Making it a point to mention a guest’s plus-1 is a common courtesy, and can be helpful when you don’t know the person’s name or haven’t yet been formally introduced to them. If your teenage niece is coming with her best friend who you’ve never met, instance, writing “Allison Tremont and Guest” will allow you to formalize her escort card without making her friend feel left out. Failing to acknowledge an attendee’s guests could offend both parties unintentionally.
Displaying Your Escort Cards
Seal your escort cards in envelopes. According to custom, escort cards are tucked into miniature envelopes to be opened by the guests as they enter the reception area. If you decide to use envelopes, you’ll write the guest’s name on the face of the envelope and record their table number on the inside of the card itself. Envelopes are not only more formal, they also add an element of fun and surprise to the proceedings, since guests will have to open their cards to find out what table they’ve been assigned to.
Go with tent-style cards for quick and easy seating. These days, many married couples prefer to keep things simple by using single-piece folding cards in lieu of stuffing each card into its own envelope. When using tent-style cards, display the guest’s name on the outside of the card above their assigned table number, or list the table number separately on the card’s interior. The major benefit of tent-style cards is that your guests will be able to pick them out and read them much faster, preventing a traffic jam at the entrance to the reception area. However, it also involves less work for you.
Set out your escort cards in rows alphabetically. To make it easier for your guests to pick out their cards, organize them from A-Z by last name on a large table in your reception area. Arrange them in neat rows, with the front of each card plainly visible. That way, they can simply scan each row until they find their card and be on their way. Someone with the last name “Adams,” for instance, should be able to spot their card closer to the front of the table than a couple by the name of “Watanabe.” If you have more than 1 married couple with the same last name, include the husband’s first name so it’s clear who you’re referring to (“Mr. and Mrs. David Johnson,” as distinct from “Mr. and Mrs. Steven Johnson”).
Use matching table and place cards for assigned seating. If you intend to designate both the table and individual seat of each guest at your wedding reception, you’ll need to create table and place cards as well. Double-check that the names and numbers on your escort cards correspond with those on the place and table cards to avoid confusing or misplacing your guests. Table cards are large placards used to identify each table in the reception area. They’re typically numbered, but you could also assign your guests to tables named after your favorite flowers, songs, authors, or world wonders—get creative! Place cards display the names of the guests at a particular table so that everyone knows who everyone else is. It will be necessary to print a separate place card with a unique seat number for each guest, rather than grouping them together the way you did on the escort cards.
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