As your wedding guests move from the ceremony to the reception, they will likely need some help finding their seats. Escort cards are the perfect way to guide everyone to their pre-determined seats. While the sky’s the limit when it comes to creating clever displays with cards or seating charts, one of our favorite ways to direct loved ones to their tables involves something that may help lift spirits as the wedding continues: alcohol. A hand-written card attached to a straw in a cocktail glass or a custom-printed label on a liquor bottle can provide all the info guests need to keep your reception and the drinks flowing.
Looking for inspiration for your own alcoholic escort cards? Whether you want to create a Champagne wall seating chart or offer guests a mini bottle of your favorite liquor, we rounded up plenty of fun ideas for your celebration ahead.
Break Out the Bourbon Bottles
Let your escort cards nod to your wedding destination by providing guests with a bottle of a local spirit. For example, this small bottle of bourbon with a calligraphed label and seating details would serve as the perfect favor at a Kentucky wedding.
Offer Single-Serve Limoncello Bottles
Limoncello is a popular spirit in Italy, but it can serve as a boozy and beautiful favor for guests at weddings taking place in any locale. At this Italian-inspired celebration in Charleston, the couple nodded to the country where they met by using the spirit as escort cards.
Gift a Local Favorite
If small servings don't quite do it for you, why not go all out with full-size portions? “Playing off of Italy’s famed fruit, we incorporated lemons into the cocktails as well as the escort display, which contained bottles of limoncello and fresh lemons," recalls a bride of her vibrant Tuscan wedding. "The chic bottles acted as both a guest favor and an escort card."
Decorate Tiny Bottles of Tequila
Is tequila your spirit of choice? Get the party started by creating a display table full of miniature bottles of Patrón with escort cards around them.
Create Cocktails in Fresh Coconuts
Fresh coconuts with natural coconut water or filled with a boozy cocktail make for festive escort cards at a tropical destination celebration. Tie the table marker to the straw and have the coconuts branded with your monogram for an extra design touch.
Arrange a Champagne Wall
Champagne is the perfect celebratory sip, so it makes sense to include the drink in your escort card display. We love how this boxwood greenery wall served as a charming natural backdrop to the glassware at this couple's Idaho celebration.
Give Everyone Bottles of Bubbly
You could also gift your guests mini bottles of Champagne so they can enjoy them later in the night. At this garden Newport wedding, the couple had each escort card customized with a label that said "Pop Botellos." Samantha shares, "Kenny’s last name, ‘Botello,’ sounds similar to the Spanish word, ‘botella,’ which means ‘bottle.’ Since we are champagne enthusiasts and both our families speak Spanish, we loved using these play-on words to personalize some elements of our wedding.”
Keep It Cheeky
Have some fun with your escort card display and have a cheeky, welcoming phrase written on the wall. It will invite guests to grab a drink and enjoy as the festivities begin.
Prepare for a Toast
If you want to have a Champagne toast once guests enter the reception, set a table with flutes containing a perfect pour and a simple acrylic stirrer inscribed with everyone's seat details. It was a fun and efficient escort card idea at this charming destination wedding in Positano.
Frame With Florals
Hosting a garden wedding? You definitely should incorporate florals into your display. A greenery wall backdrop and two shelves full of on-palette blooms created a pretty picture around champagne glass escort cards at a Hamptons wedding.
Go for Gold
Champagne is a great escort card option if you have a golden wedding color palette. Need some inspiration? Take a peek at this beautifully gilded seating chart, which was framed by coupe glasses full of bubbly at a modern Joshua Tree celebration.
Arrange a Shelf Display
Consider this the rustic intermediary between a glamorous wall of bubbly and a simple Champagne-glass table display. These fizzy escort cards were positioned atop a trellis-like shelving unit and accented with sweet blooms for a summer wedding in California.
Display Signature Sips
If you're creating a signature cocktail for your day, consider making them your escort cards, too. Print each guest's name and table number on fun piece of paper that you can attach to a straw. Once your bartender whips up a batch of drinks, plop a sign in each glass and place them on a shelf for guests to find. It was the perfect idea at this warehouse wedding in Atlanta. "We pride ourselves on being connoisseurs of a good margarita, so we went with margaritas for our escort cards display and as one of our signature cocktails," shares the bride.
Go for Goblets
If you don't want to assume anyone's drink preference, this is the way to go. The mid-century modern wedding in Pasadena featured escort cards that were outfitted from an eclectic arrangement of goblets. Guests found their glasses by the stirrers and had their cups filled with their drink of choice at the bar.
Serve Margarita Shots
Want to give your guests a small sip to start the party? Have an escort card wall full of cocktail shots. At this Santa Barbara wedding, guests enjoyed mini margaritas before heading into the reception.
Bottle It Up
Take a cue from this outdoor Oregon wedding and bottle up your cocktail escort cards for all your guests. “We had custom bottled margaritas—our favorite cocktail—made by Public Provisions for our escort board,” the bride says. “Keeping with the ‘glamping’ theme, we thought having them put in soda bottles perfectly fit with our upscale but approachable vibe. Guests could pop open a bottle and enjoy it then, or they could choose to take it home and enjoy it later.”
Create a Rosé All Day Installation
If your wedding has a pink color palette, you should consider rosé as an option for your escort card wall drinks. At influencer Mandy Ansari's Cabo celebration, she filled shelves full of pink bubbly with all her guests' table details. A charming sign and floral arrangements made the design complete.