What is an Escort Card?
Escort card is not a phrase that most people use in day-to-day conversations. So, what are escort cards?
The Origin of Escort Cards
The origin of the term escort card dates to the Victorian era and refers to the tradition where the household butler would escort guests to their seats when dinner was served.
The butler would be responsible for formally announcing each guest's arrival as a welcome to the dinner or event. At dinner time, the guests would que up, based on rank, and the butler would escort them into the dining room for their meal.
The escort card served a multi-functional purpose. It ensured the butler properly announced each guest’s name and title as well as ensuring the seating arrangement was understood and adhered to.
Escort Cards Today
In today’s world, an escort card still functions to show dinner guests to their table, albeit without the butler and the formal announcement.
These cards are individually labeled with the formal name of the invited guests, and they are often decorative or themed.
The escort cards are then placed on a table, or on display another way, in alphabetical order so that the guests can easily find their card and learn where they are seated.
Escort Cards are Multifunctional
Escort cards are classy, and they are multifunctional, serving more than one purpose at formal and informal gatherings and events.
Because they are individualized, they make each guest feel welcome in a personal way. This helps create the right environment for the guests right from the start.
Escort cards also keep the flow of traffic organized, which makes for a better event for everyone. And, in times that require social distancing, escort cards help make those logistics easier to manage as well.
Escort Cards Vs. Place Cards
Escort cards and place cards are two different pieces of stationary that serve different purposes at an event. You often encounter both at formal events because they are designed to work together hand-in-hand.
The escort card, as described above, shows the guest which table they are assigned to. These cards do not communicate the seat the guest is assigned to. A place card is a piece of stationary that is placed on the table where the guest’s assigned seating is located.
At events where tables are assigned and individual seats are not, the escort tags keep the guest traffic flow organized without the necessity of assigning everyone to a seat. This can help ensure that the family members are seated near the bridal table at a wedding or that the senior staff is seated near the podium at a convention.
How to Address Escort Cards
Your event is yours. That means that you can use escort and place cards any way you see fit.
Here are some loose etiquette guidelines for reference. If you are hosting a formal event such as a wedding or a corporate event you will want to address the cards with the person’s full name.
You also want to be consistent if you are using titles. For example, if you are going to use Mr. and Mrs., use those titles on all the cards. Special titles can also be used, such as Dr. and Father, for distinguished guests. And you can skip titles altogether if the guest is under the age of 13.
If you sent the invitation out to a couple, you would want to address the card to both parties. Married couples are traditionally listed by their last name. However, this is not always the case, and it would be best to address the escort card the way the invitation went out.
If the couple is not married the ladies name is listed first.
Escort Tags Luggage Tags each come with Escort Cards
Escort Tags manufactures 100% premium bonded leather luggage tags. The Porter family is in their fourth generation of leather workers with over 50 years of tag manufacturing under their belts.
Each personalized escort luggage tag comes with a customizable escort card. They are ideal party favors for weddings, bridal showers, baby showers, and all kinds of special and corporate events.
Escort tags come in a rainbow of colors which makes it easy to coordinate with the wedding colors or event theme. The escort card is fully customizable and when the event is over your guest has a beautiful luggage tag to remember their time with you.
Escort Cards Tips
- Plan ahead. The key to a low-stress event is to get all the tasking activity done prior to the event. Try not to wait until the last minute to create your display plan.
- Keep the cards arranged alphabetically so that putting them out when it is time to set-up the event is quick and easy.
- You might want to have a separate folder for each table if you are setting up multiple tables.
- Have a few spare escort cards on hand just in case!
- Arrange the cards alphabetically rather than by table number. This makes it much easier for the guests to find their cards and is also much easier to communicate with signs.
- Have multiple tables. To keep your guests from getting bogged down at one table, have more than one escort tag table.
- Split up the cards by section of the alphabet and communicate that with signs on each table.
- Make sure you have plenty of space between these tables so that you don’t inhibit the flow of traffic.
- Have fun! There is no wrong way to display your escort cards. Get creative with decorations and themes.
- Escort Tags come in a wide variety of beautiful colors which makes it easy to match them to the event themes or to just get creative with colors.
- Google ideas! There are tons of images of amazing and creative ideas that people have come up with to display their escort cards at special events. Checking out what other people did is a great way to spark new and creative ideas for your event.
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