Reception table names instead of numbers...??

racheladine

My fiance and I are playing around with the idea of naming our reception tables instead of numbering them. I originally wanted to name the tables after late family members to honor them, but my fiance pointed out that that might be too sorrowful for some of our relatives. I'm actually quite disappointed about it, but I see his point. Naming tables after our grandfathers would be hard on our widowed grandmothers.

Now we have to find another way to name them. We've tossed the idea of colors around, but we want something a little more personal. I like the idea of naming them after places we've traveled to, but neither of us have traveled much, so that's out. Any suggestions?

01022010

Where did you meet each other?

laurening

You can do it after years - e.g., name the table 1992 and put a frame on the table with that year's school pictures for both you and your FI. Name another table after the year you met and use the first pic you took together. You don't have to use consecutive years, but place the tables in numerical order to help guests find their seat.

Whatever you decide, one suggestion is to still put a number somewhere on the table card to prevent guest confusion. A "Chicago" table could still have a small number 1 on the side of the card. Numbers help orient guests when they are looking for their seat. Otherwise, it's a pain to figure what where the Montreal table is relation to the Chicago table. It's a bit easier to figure out where table 3 is in relation to table 5.

Mrs.B6302007

We were married outside in a garden gazebo so our "theme" (and I use the word loosely) of our reception was summer garden.  We named our tables after flowers that have to do with love and friendship.

skippylouwho

My dd and her FI are being married in a chapel at the college they both graduated from. An option they are considering is naming the tables after buildings on campus.  Part of their OOT bags will be a custom map of campus with prominent buildings and buildings/locations important to the couple marked on it.

SuMmErKuTiE

We are also doing table names instead of numbers. We thought it was a cute idea to put a unique spin on things. The one thing that I've been warned of, is "how will guests find their tables then if they're not in order by number?" So when I met with our wedding coordinator at the venue recently we drew up a basic map of the ballroom with where everything will be set up and how many tables and where they will go. So one of my projects will be to create a large map that'll be displayed next to the escort cards on the guests way into the ballroom. Plus our wedding coordinator will be around to help guide guests in the right direction if need be.

We decided to do the travel theme for our table names, so we've been collecting post cards from everywhere we've traveled to, to use as the escort cards. So if a guest picks up a postcard with their name on it that is a post card from Aruba, they will go look for table "Aruba". And the sign at the table will say Aruba and will have a picture of me and FI while we were in Aruba. Going on a cruise recently really helped us rack up extra locations to make this possible. But, I noticed you said neither you or FI have traveled much yet, but there are tons of other options you could use for table names. You could do sports teams if you're really into sports, baseball stadiums, precious gem stones, names of favorite restaurants or locations you've taken day trips or long weekends to, if you like to go hiking you could have different mountain names, names of different love songs, and I really like pp's example of how they used different summer flowers. The options are endless, and it's a neat personal touch most of your guests will always remember since a lot of people just use plain table numbers for their reception. HTH and GL!

Mrs.B6302007

Yep, the downside to names is the whole where are the tables part.  We only had 10 tables so it wasn't a big deal.  For a larger group, you could actually do both the name and a # under that and still put them in numerical order.  Either that or alphabetical.

racheladine

We only have 16 tables, so that's not too overwhelming I think. But I really like the map idea, I'll use that for sure. I like the idea of putting pictures up of us over the years, but that gets a little sticky because we haven't been together long at all.

I've actually been friends with my fiance's brother for seven years, that's how we initially met. We never showed much interest in each other though. We went out for the first time almost a year ago, and we just knew. It's funny too, his mother knew all along that I'd end up being her daughter, she just didn't know which one of her four sons I'd marry, lol.

But back to the point: I like the idea of naming the tables after flowers since we're having a garden wedding. Another idea I came across was naming them after the last names in our family tree. We'd put the last names in a picture frame, along with a short blurb saying who's name it was and how they're related to the bride or groom.

Pirata13

I'd definitely go with something related to your theme or where you are getting married, like the garden/flower idea. So many floral options to choose from, and if you do pics, it'd be really pretty. Our theme is Old Hollywood, so we are naming tables after actors/actresses and using black & white photo postcards as table markers.

aerinpegadrak

We were having a vintage Hollywood theme, so the tables were going to be named after great romantic films of the '30s and '40s, complete with posters in the centerpieces and movie ticket escort cards.

(Now we're doing a cocktail reception with a lounge setup.  No tables, no table names or numbers.)

One of my friends did a reception with a Disneyland theme, and each of the tables was themed after an attraction, complete with an elaborate sculpture centerpiece.  Since the centerpieces were so large and distinctive, it was pretty easy for people to find their table.

beatlesgirl25

I think 16 tables is manageable from a serving standpoint, especially since the servers will probably number them in the back in the same order they normally would and serve accordingly. That was my concern at our wedding, but we only had 10 tables so it was fine. And I think it's kind of cute for guests to see other table names as they find theirs.

Since H is a pretty big gamer, and I like me some Wii and xbox stuff, we named our tables after our favorite classic and new video games. We used framed pictures of a graphic from the game with the name in very visible writing. There are pics in my bio under "details." We also tried to match up the guests who would be sitting at the table with the game they enjoy, which was fun and people seemed to like the personal touch.

Santorini2011

Since we love to travel, we are thinking about naming the tables after places that we visited and incorporate subtle souvenir-like items into the centerpieces. 

Since we are engaged in Santorini, I wanted that to be the bridal party table or the parents.

HRF2679

I saw an idea recently to name the tables using significant numbers from your relationship. You put the number and then a quick note underneath about that number. The numbers do not have to be consecutive either.

For example:

2006- The year we met.

4- The number of times I blushed on our first date.

702- Our flight number to the Bahamas tomorrow!