Table Names Instead of Table Numbers: 30 Ideas for Your Wedding
Table 7 is practical. Table "Lisbon," because that is where you got engaged, is a story. Table names are a small thing that guests like to talk about. And nobody feels shoved off to table 12.
Six themes with five ideas each
Places from your story
The city where you met, your first vacation together, the place of the proposal, your first apartment, your families' hometowns.
Plants and flowers
Eucalyptus, olive, lavender, peony, rosemary. Fits wonderfully with green, natural decor.
Songs
Your wedding song, the song from your first date, the earworm from vacation, the song you always dance to, a song from your parents.
Mountains or lakes
For couples who like to hike: Zugspitze, Watzmann, Lake Constance, Königssee, Chiemsee.
Favorite foods
Pasta, sushi, cheese spaetzle, pizza, tapas. With a little wink.
Books or movies
The titles you both love. Good for couples with a shared series or reading night.
Write two sentences on the back of the table sign about why the table has this name. That is a great conversation starter, especially at tables where the guests don't know each other.
Finding your own themes
The loveliest table names don't come from a list but from your life. Sit down together for an evening and write down what connects you: places, songs, dishes, insider jokes from your first vacation, the names of your pets. Usually after half an hour you have enough for all the tables. Then choose one theme, so the hall doesn't look arbitrary.
What to watch out for
Table names must be easy to read, even from a few meters away. On the seating display, every name should be unambiguous. And the names should not create a hierarchy, so no "Champagne" for the family and "Tap water" for the colleagues.
The service staff work with numbers. Give the venue a list of which name matches which number, so meals and allergies arrive correctly.
Which table gets which name?
It is loveliest when the name suits the people at the table. The university friends sit at the table named after your university city, the colleagues at the table with the favorite cafeteria dish. That is more work, because you first have to settle the seating chart and then the names. But it is exactly such small things that guests notice.
If you don't want that, simply assign the names in order around the room. The theme should then be neutral, though, so nobody wonders why they sit at the table "cheese spaetzle" and the other family at the table "Paris".
How guests still find their table quickly
The downside of names: you don't know where "Lavender" is in the room. With numbers you just scan the sequence. Three things help:
- On the seating display, sort the guests alphabetically, with the table name next to them. Whoever finds their name knows the table.
- Hang a small floor plan with the table names beside it, especially with more than ten tables.
- Set the table signs high enough, for example on a stand of 30 to 40 centimeters, so they stick out above the flowers.
More on formats and sorting is in the article on seating chart displays.
Design
Small wooden stands, cards in frames, names on mirrors or on wine bottles. Choose a font that stays readable from five meters. Ornate script fonts look lovely on screen and are hardly decipherable in candlelight. More on printing in the article Printing place cards yourself.
Assign table names
Give each table a name, and it appears automatically on place cards and the display.