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Question about seating cards

RJD5RJD5 member
5 Love Its First Anniversary First Comment
in Wedding Etiquette Forum
We're having assigned tables for the reception, and I'm writing out seating cards. For adults, I'm writing "Mrs. ******" or "Mr. *****" (or Miss/Ms). What about for kids? Do I still write a prefix for children? If no, what age do I add a prefix? 18?
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Re: Question about seating cards

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    pinkshorts27pinkshorts27 member
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    I think someone said that boys under 13 are to be addressed as "Master" instead of "Mr." but that was on invites. I would assume the same applies for seating cards.

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    AroundTheBlockAroundTheBlock member
    First Anniversary 5 Love Its First Answer First Comment

    "Master" for boys who are still in primary school; "Miss" for girls. There's another wrinkle, though. The senior family member who carries a given title gets to use the surname; everyone else takes just the title and their given name. Proper social usage does not include the given name and surname together except for some very limited circumstances.

    So, if John and Jane Brown have three sons (Adam, Benjamin and Charles) ages 15, 12 and 6; and two daughters (Dianne and Edna) aged 8 and 4, then:

    • John is properly addressed as "Mr Brown"
    • Jane is properly addessed as "Mrs Brown" 
    • Adam is properly addressed as "Mr Adam"
    • Benjamin is properly addressed as "Master Brown", although many people would use "Master Benjamin" instead out of respect for Adam
    • Charles is properly addressed as "Master Charles"
    • Dianne is properly addressed as "Miss Brown", and
    • Edna is properly addressed as "Miss Edna"
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    erinlin25erinlin25 member
    First Anniversary 5 Love Its First Answer First Comment
    we used Mr. & Miss for children
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    Jen4948Jen4948 member
    First Anniversary First Answer First Comment 5 Love Its
    laurynm84 said:
    AroundTheBlock said:

    "Master" for boys who are still in primary school; "Miss" for girls. There's another wrinkle, though. The senior family member who carries a given title gets to use the surname; everyone else takes just the title and their given name. Proper social usage does not include the given name and surname together except for some very limited circumstances.

    So, if John and Jane Brown have three sons (Adam, Benjamin and Charles) ages 15, 12 and 6; and two daughters (Dianne and Edna) aged 8 and 4, then:

    • John is properly addressed as "Mr Brown"
    • Jane is properly addessed as "Mrs Brown" 
    • Adam is properly addressed as "Mr Adam"
    • Benjamin is properly addressed as "Master Brown", although many people would use "Master Benjamin" instead out of respect for Adam
    • Charles is properly addressed as "Master Charles"
    • Dianne is properly addressed as "Miss Brown", and
    • Edna is properly addressed as "Miss Edna"
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    Truly.  No boy of any age appreciates being addressed as "Master," so don't do it.  Just use Mr. for all males of all ages who do not have other titles.
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    RJD5RJD5 member
    5 Love Its First Anniversary First Comment
    Thanks for the input everyone! I went with Miss/Mr for kids
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    SP29SP29 member
    First Anniversary First Comment First Answer 5 Love Its
    edited February 2014
    We used Master on the invites for the two young boys we invited. Master is correct. The one boys' parents (he is an infant) thought it was pretty awesome :P. Miss for the girls. 

    How do you know no boy would want to be called "Master". I am sure they also find it weird to be called "Mr" ("no, that's my dad!"). 

    But either way, I don't think it *really* matters. 

    For seating cards, we did not use any titles. 
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    LondonLisaLondonLisa member
    First Anniversary First Comment First Answer 5 Love Its
    I agree with SP- Where I am from, it is standard to refer to young boys (under the age of 12) as "Master" unless they are hereditarily titled in another way.

    However, I believe this is a "know your crowd" situation. Just keep in consistent with the invitations
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    tcnobletcnoble member
    First Comment First Anniversary First Answer 5 Love Its
    Related but semi off topic - on escort/seating cards do you write Mr. and Mrs. Smith or Mr. John Smith and Mrs. Jane Smith? Especially in the event of several people with the same last name?
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    LondonLisaLondonLisa member
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    @TCNoble, I would do first names as well since there are several people with the same last name- I feel like it would be really confusing otherwise and people would be sitting in the wrong places.
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    RJD5RJD5 member
    5 Love Its First Anniversary First Comment
    I used first and last names
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