Escort Cards vs Place Cards: The Difference
4 min read
The two get mixed up constantly, including by stationery shops. The short version: an escort card walks a guest from the entrance to the right table; a place card sits on that table and claims one specific chair. Which one you need depends on one question — does the exact seat matter?
Escort cards: entrance to table
Escort cards stand in alphabetical order on a table at the reception entrance — one per guest or per couple, name on the front, table number inside or beneath. Guests pick theirs up, head for their table, and choose any free chair there. That's the entire job: get two hundred people through a doorway without a queue forming around one laminated list.
The same job can be done by a seating chart display — one big alphabetized board. Prettier in photos, nothing to topple in a breeze, but unlike escort cards a board can't be re-shuffled the morning of when two guests cancel.
Place cards: table to chair
Place cards live on the table itself, one above each setting. They matter when the specific seat matters: plated dinners where the kitchen needs to find the fish entrée, head tables and family tables where diplomacy decides chairs (we wrote up the rules in our seating etiquette guide), and any table mixing guests who haven't met — a named chair saves the shuffling dance.
Which do you actually need?
- Buffet or family style, relaxed crowd: escort cards or a chart display only. Assign tables, let chairs sort themselves.
- Plated dinner with entrée choices: both — escort cards to the table, place cards (often doubling as the meal marker) at the seat.
- Small wedding, under ~40 guests: skip escort cards; place cards alone work because finding one of five tables needs no map.
- Cocktail reception, no seated dinner: neither. Reserve a few tables for grandparents and call it done.
Print both from the same chart
Whichever combination you pick, the data is identical: name + table. Build your seating chart once and the place card maker prints from it directly — every seated guest, plus-ones under their own names, table names attached. Print with table numbers large for escort cards, or names only for the table setting, on plain A4 or pre-cut Avery sheets (we tested 5011, 5371 and 5820). A guest swap two days out is a drag-and-drop and a one-page reprint, not a new stationery order.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between escort cards and place cards?
An escort card waits at the entrance and tells a guest which table is theirs ("Anna Bennett — Table 5"). A place card sits on the table and marks the exact seat. Escort cards get guests to the right table; place cards seat them at it.
Do I need both escort cards and place cards?
Both is the formal standard and the right call for plated dinners with chosen entrées. For most weddings, one of the two is enough: escort cards (or a seating chart display) for table-only assignments, place cards when the exact seat matters.
Can a seating chart display replace escort cards?
Yes — one large alphabetized board does the same job as a table of escort cards and can't be knocked over by the wind. Past about 120 guests, split it into two boards (A–K, L–Z) to avoid a bottleneck at the entrance.
What size is a standard place card?
Folded (tent) place cards are typically 3.5 × 2 inches when standing. Pre-cut sheets like Avery 5011 print them at exactly that size — our maker formats the PDF for plain A4 and Avery sheets automatically.