Tablecloth clashing?

chicky1988

Hey all!!  

I am in love with these specialty petaled table cloths (its my 1 splurge)  and am hoping to purchase them in the next few weeks to spread out wedding purchases  Before I order though I have a couple questions...  We are inviting 130 guests (some of whom are out of town and we know won't make it) so I was going to order 15 tablecloths for guest tables (seating for 120) and then an additional 5 for cocktail tables and 1 additional for the cake table.  My questions are: are 5 cocktail tables enough?  Or will I need more?  Also, can I get by with just plain white linens for additional tables i.e. gift table, appetizers/cocktail foods table, beverage table and memorial/arrangement table?  Or will that look funky?  TIA!

lc07

chicky1988 said:

Hey all!!  

I am in love with these specialty petaled table cloths (its my 1 splurge)  and am hoping to purchase them in the next few weeks to spread out wedding purchases  Before I order though I have a couple questions...  We are inviting 130 guests (some of whom are out of town and we know won't make it) so I was going to order 15 tablecloths for guest tables (seating for 120) and then an additional 5 for cocktail tables and 1 additional for the cake table.  My questions are: are 5 cocktail tables enough?  Or will I need more?  Also, can I get by with just plain white linens for additional tables i.e. gift table, appetizers/cocktail foods table, beverage table and memorial/arrangement table?  Or will that look funky?  TIA!

Plan for enough of the same table cloth for all of your guests if all decide to attend. If you end up with 100% attendance it's no big deal to use another type of table cloth for the misc tables like beverages and appetizers. In fact it would probably set the guests dinner tables apart in a good way.

Your post confused me a little bit. Just want to make sure I understand. Definitely don't set it up so that some guests will only have cocktail tables and some will have seats.

theartistformerlyknownas

If cocktail tables are in a different area than reception tables, the two don't need to match each other. Neither do things like cake/gift tables.

There are differing opinions on whether a seat for every butt is required at cocktail hour, and I don't have the energy to touch that debate right now.

Lauderdale Pink

Get the refund policy of the place where you are buying the tablecloths. If refunding is easy, err on the side of too much, then return what you don't need. Both PPs are correct on the rest.

tammym1001

We did fancy guest tables with lace tablecloths and our extra tables (gifts, cake, etc.) had different table cloths on them. It looked beautiful and it made the guest tables seem extra special. Here's a picture to show how it looked with different tablecloths on different tables.

chicky1988

  Thank you ladies for your posts!! I appreciate it!!

chicky1988

show previous quotes

Plan for enough of the same table cloth for all of your guests if all decide to attend. If you end up with 100% attendance it's no big deal to use another type of table cloth for the misc tables like beverages and appetizers. In fact it would probably set the guests dinner tables apart in a good way.

Your post confused me a little bit. Just want to make sure I understand. Definitely don't set it up so that some guests will only have cocktail tables and some will have seats.

Thanks for the post!  Sorry for the confusion.  Everyone will have a seat no worries  

I just didn't know how many tall/standing only cocktail tables to do for the cocktail hour space.  Would 5 standing tables be enough for 120 ppl?  I know some ppl will go straight to find their seats for dinner but many people will want to walk around, play the lawn games we will have set up, mingle and eat the appetizers etc.  The ceremony, cocktail area, and reception area are all in one large grassy park but will be clearly defined and far enough apart that they will still look like separate spaces (if that makes sense).  

chicky1988

tammym1001 said:

We did fancy guest tables with lace tablecloths and our extra tables (gifts, cake, etc.) had different table cloths on them. It looked beautiful and it made the guest tables seem extra special. Here's a picture to show how it looked with different tablecloths on different tables.

Your reception was beautiful!!!!  Thank you for posting the picture it really helped me visualize the area different tablecloths!!!

tammym1001

chicky1988 said:

show previous quotes

tammym1001 said:

We did fancy guest tables with lace tablecloths and our extra tables (gifts, cake, etc.) had different table cloths on them. It looked beautiful and it made the guest tables seem extra special. Here's a picture to show how it looked with different tablecloths on different tables.

Your reception was beautiful!!!!  Thank you for posting the picture it really helped me visualize the area different tablecloths!!!

STIB:

Thank you for the compliment and you're welcome for the pictures.

MandyMost

I'm purposefully doing different table cloths for different tables! We're having basic white for the dining tables, silver for the "side tables" (guest book, DJ, cake, etc.), and black for the bars and the cocktail tables. 

If I were you I'd get enough for the dining tables for all of your guests, and use a cheaper table cloth for the other tables. If you end up with more dining table cloths than you need because some guests can't attend, perhaps you could cut it up and use it as a runner or something on the side tables. Just a thought!

As for the cocktail tables, I think it depends on what food you're having. 5 tables means room for about 20 people to stand at a table. If you're having food at cocktail hour is anything other than passed hors d'oeurves, then you should have more tables. If it's just passed hors d'oeurves, then you should be fine. People won't have a plate to put down, so won't have any reason to hover around a table.