If you’re looking for a unique, eye catching and budget-friendly way to create your own DIY wedding seating plan, look no further! For this feature, we're showing you how you can make your own beautiful wedding table plan with a rustic, fun and floral theme - using the escort cards from our Country Textiles wedding stationery collection.

Hip Hip Hooray Stationary & The Little Wedding Helper for Love My Dress - Image ©Nikki Kirk Photography 2014

Hip Hip Hooray Stationary & The Little Wedding Helper for Love M

Hip Hip Hooray Stationary & The Little Wedding Helper for Love M

Hip Hip Hooray Stationary & The Little Wedding Helper for Love M

Hip Hip Hooray Stationary & The Little Wedding Helper for Love M

Hip Hip Hooray Stationary & The Little Wedding Helper for Love M

Hip Hip Hooray Stationary & The Little Wedding Helper for Love M

Hip Hip Hooray Stationary & The Little Wedding Helper for Love M

Hip Hip Hooray Stationary & The Little Wedding Helper for Love M

If you haven't heard of ‘Escort Cards’ or you've seen some on Pinterest and wondered what they’re all about, they are little cards that are printed or written with guests' names and their assigned table. These are usually creatively arranged at the reception entrance for guests to find their seats.

Here’s the low down on what you need to create a rustic style wedding table plan:

- You'll need a vintage style prop to use as a backdrop. This could be a wooden ladder as we’ve shown here, or alternatively, wooden palettes, vintage picture frames with their glass removed, even a reclaimed wooden door would work perfectly. The more creative the better! It’s always worth asking if your venue has anything you could put to good use at no extra cost. Alternatively, it’s time for a trip to the reclamation yard where you should find something perfectly rustic that's within your budget...

- You'll need some escort cards - ours are all available as instant printables, or let us take care of the printing for you - it couldn’t be easier! Just customise them online and you can even see live previews as you type. The hardest part is choosing your favourite design! If you're going for our printable option, once printed, simply cut out the cards using scissors, a guillotine or craft knife and ruler.

- You'll need some twine or ribbon, depending on the style you’re going for. Twine works brilliantly with rustic and vintage style escort cards, or use ribbon to complement the more classic or glitzy style designs.

- You'll need tiny wooden pegs – these can be picked up at any good craft store or via eBay.

- For an extra touch of 'wow factor' you can embellish your DIY wedding seating plan display with handpicked flowers, vintage trinkets and books or even framed family photos for a personal gesture.

Hip Hip Hooray Stationary & The Little Wedding Helper for Love M

We'd like to say a big thank you to Kirsten, aka The Little Wedding Helper who styled the seating plan for us. Kirsten is a stylist for beautiful weddings in Bristol and nationwide. We're also very grateful to Nikki Kirk Photography for these beautiful images. Nikki offers elegant documentary style wedding and portrait photography in Cheltenham and the South of England

Hip Hip Hooray Stationary & The Little Wedding Helper for Love M

Hip Hip Hooray Stationary & The Little Wedding Helper for Love M

 

k Photography 2014

We made this fun 'bums on seats' sign to add a little context to your table plan. You can customise our multi-purpose wedding signs/posters for this.

Hip Hip Hooray Stationary & The Little Wedding Helper for Love M

Our five top tips for using escort cards:

  1. Display your customised escort cards alphabetically to help guests find their name quickly.
  2. Pick a design style that complements your setting.
  3. Don’t print them too early. This is one of the final ‘wedmin’ tasks, ideally to be done in the few weeks before the big day to account for any last minute changes.
  4. Consider the weather - if you’re creating an outdoor display, wind will not be your friend here!
  5. Don’t forget to print a few extra Bride & Groom ones, which you can keep back for wedding your memory box.
Don't forget to browse our collection of gorgeous vintage, rustic, modern, bright and floral wedding seating plan cards before you go!

Happy planning!

Jenny & the team at HIP HIP HOORAY wedding stationery. 

Styling: The Little Wedding Helper

Images: Nikki Kirk Photography

Flowers: The Bespoke Flower Company