Planning the aesthetic for the tables at your wedding reception takes time, thought, and team effort. There’s a lot of little things to take into consideration, and you don’t want to miss any of the all-important details. Doubling up on wedding table settings as party favors can help take some of the stress away!
Not only will some customized wedding table settings and accents look absolutely gorgeous, your guests will also be left with a keepsake to carry home – something special to remind them of the love and happiness that surrounded you all on the day.
In fact, beautiful table details can transform your guests’ spots at the table from “a place to sit” into an invitation to truly enjoy your reception. In today’s post, we’re excited to be sharing our best ideas for wedding table settings that can also double as custom party favors. From the trendy and chic to the unique and quirky, we’ll provide ideas suitable for every wedding style. Let’s begin!
Choose Wedding Place Settings That Suit the Formality of Your Wedding
One of the first things to think about is how formal your reception will be. This will determine what’s “required” from an etiquette perspective. Here’s what’s necessary for a formal place setting. Consider it the “master list” of place setting options. Formal place settings include:
- A service plate, also called a charger
- A napkin, which rests on the charger
- A plate for butter and bread
- Flatware and cutlery for each course on the menu, placed outside-in on each side in the order they’ll be used
- Glasses for the beverages to be served, including water, red/white wine glasses, and, if appropriate, glasses for sparkling wine and after-dinner drinks
If you’re not planning to be a stickler for formality, however, you can play with these requirements to create a table setting that suits your style. You might nix unnecessary glasses and flatware, and only set up spots with personalized placemats, chargers, and menu cards.
Pick Wedding Table Ideas That Match the Style of Your Wedding
Once you’ve considered the level of formality for your reception, and you’ve made a list of the dining items you’ll need for your meal, it’s time to think about matching the tables to your wedding’s theme. For instance, if you’re creating a rustic vibe for a barn wedding, you’ll want to reflect that feeling in the place cards guests will use to find their seats. If you’re going for something more bohemian, deck the tables with more colorful layers, and a rich mix of accessories like table cards that fit that mood.
You can also tie the event together by repeating a detail that your guests may have seen already on the table – consider using the same font or color scheme you selected for your invitations on your table cards.
Transform Your Place Settings into Cherished Party Favors
Natural Necessities
Flowers: Give your guests flowers for simple, yet elegant wedding favors and place settings. Flowers can be presented in a number of ways, making them a versatile fit for a range of themes. Think mini orchids in plain, structured pots for a minimalist wedding, mini bouquets in a glass vase for a glamorous look, or a single flower in a vase for the romantic. Tie your place card or favor tag of choice gently around the stems with string, twine, or ribbon.
Succulents: Indoor plants in hand-painted pots make for a unique gift for guests. Family and friends will love these carefully crafted place settings. Paint guests’ names onto their pots and watch them ooh and ahh over your lovely handiwork on the day!
Cacti: Perhaps these prickly plants simply make you think of sun, sand, and delightful desert décor. Perfect for any summer wedding, leave these hardy little guys at each guest’s place, with a wooden stick featuring their name.
Small Pumpkins or Gourds: If you’re having a fall wedding, why not bring some stunning elements of the harvest and Halloween to your place settings? Add guest’s names to the pumpkins using stickers or markers. Your guests can take home their pumpkins afterwards and carve them for some seasonal fun!
Thoughtful Treats
Stylish Sweets: Sweet nibbles make a great addition to any wedding! Place sweets in paper bags on your guests’ seats for an old-fashioned touch, or opt for delectable custom candy bars for everybody’s place setting. Use stickers to add the guests names to their candy favors, and give some pizzazz to your packaging!
Boxed Cake: Have slices of cake ready and waiting for everyone to take home at the end of the night. Choose customized decorative boxes with guest’s names to present your cake elegantly, and offer an easy way to transport this scrumptious snack.
Cookie & Cutter: Picture this: a large home-baked cookie, with rich chocolate chunks, in a cellophane bag, twisted at the top and secured firmly with a name sticker. Now, add in a heart-shaped cookie cutter to boot!
Flavored Tea: Present guests with old-world tins of loose flavored tea, complete with a tea infuser, to finish off their day of heavy eating. Not only can the tin be reused, but the tea is also ready to be taken home and enjoyed for weeks to come. Simply add their name to the tin using a sticker or favor tag.
Uniquely Useful
Scented Candles: Scented candles make amazing gifts for everyone! Add a touch of luxury to your wedding favors by offering your guests a lovely candle to take home and enjoy. To double these up as table settings, tie your place cards around the middle of the candle with twine or ribbon.
Photo Frames: Memories mean the world to us. Give guests the gift of remembering with beautiful photo frames to place their captured moments in. Prior to inserting their pictures, family and friends will only gush when they see their names placed in the frame as their table setting.
Ornaments: Relish in all things seasonal and feature Christmas ornaments at your winter wedding! Choose colors and designs that match your winter wonderland theme, and place a single ornament at each guest’s place setting, with their name card held in place at the top of the bauble.
Love Songs CD: Perhaps a bit cringe-worthy, but also seriously romantic! Treat guests to a CD featuring you and your future partner’s favorite love songs. Slip the CD in a simple, brown, cardboard case, with each person’s name, your wedding date, and a loving quote or message printed on it.
Shot Glasses: Shot glasses are an awesome favor idea for any wedding! Tie a favor tag around each glass, write the guests’ names, and then place them on the table for a clever and exciting table setting idea. Once you’ve tied the knot, it’s definitely an excuse for everybody to take a shot!
Out of the Ordinary
Stainless Steel Straws: Stainless steel straws help save our oceans, and keep guests’ thirst quenched at the same time! Encourage family and friends to embrace this eco-friendly option, or perhaps they’ll simply use it as a wedding keepsake. Either way, they make great wedding favors for guests as well as place setting accessories.
Homemade Potpourri: Handmade gifts can often have the most impact. Create your very own mix of potpourri and place into a paper bag sealed with a sticker featuring each guest’s name. Rest assured, all wedding members’ homes will smell simply divine!
Wildflower Seeds: As a symbolic gift, give family and friends wildflowers to sow. Baby’s breath for everlasting love, daisies for loyalty, or gloxinias for love at first sight! Handwrite names for unique table settings, and add a loving message if you desire.
Drink Mixes: These fun wedding favors are a great way to offer your guests some post-wedding refreshment. Whether you go for a custom drink mix, or make your own DIY-style, you can write your guests name on the packaging for a different take on place settings.
We hope this post has been most helpful in regard to giving you some inspiration for wedding place settings that double as favors. With this clever two-in-one approach, you’ll be able to save time and money, whilst keeping your wedding table set-up special, stylish, and totally memorable. We wish you the best of luck with your upcoming big day!
*This article was originally published by Zazzle Contributor on October 9th, 2019.
Ella is a content specialist from Cork, Ireland. Her passions include spending time with her two energetic dogs, fashion, photography, and trying new vegan food!
I love the idea of shabby chic place settings. Using miss matched thrift store china, dinner plates, tea cups, flat ware etc.! As well as vintage tablecloths and napkins.
One of the brides-to-be on my low budget wedding planning group on Facebook recently saved a lot of money making her own leafy garland table decoration. She gathered some evergreen leaves from her own garden (large) and in groups of 3 attached them ‘like a fan’ and then threaded the ‘3 leaf fans’ together to create a long garland of leaves. At random points along the garland she added the odd flower.
Many years ago I did a flower aranging course and one of the things I learned was how to wire fresh flowers for wedding bouquets and so on. Wiring a single stem so you can then add it to a garland is fairly easy and a youtube video almost certainly exists to show you how. Alternatively you can use silk, artificial flowers.
I recently published an article on my blog about using decorative bottles (glass and ceramic) for table decorations. If you fill the bottles with sand (can add colored sand for transparent glass bottles) it will weight the bottles down so they’re less likely to be knocked over. You can then add candles, single stemmed or bunched flowers, artificial stem style decorations to make them pop. Grouping a few co ordinating bottles together of different sizes, shades makes a larger more interesting table decoration.
Creative types can add decoupage (I have used thin vintage print gift wrap in the past for this) decoration with a simple tear, paste and layer technique. Add PVA to coat and seal when done. It drys with a shiny finish. These are perfect for rustic and shabbychic style weddings.
So many great DIY ideas for table decor…!