Etiquette for Using Place Cards

When using double-sided place cards for dinner parties of 8 or more people, and at which guests may not be familiar with everyone else’s names, it is best to write the name on both sides of the card so that others at the table only have to glance down to see with whom they are speaking while at the table. – Maura J. Graber, Director, The RSVP Institute of Etiquette
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“In a pinch, it is better to use the back of a visiting card than it is to use a would-be funny innovation.” – From Vogue’s Book of Etiquette

On Setting the Table:

Place Cards

Place cards are necessary as a matter of custom on all formal tables and as a matter of convenience when there are more than eight guests. When there are very few guests, it is quite easy for the hostess to direct each one to his place at the table, but this is always an informal and, if there are more than a few guests, necessarily a slow and cumbersome system.

The Cards

Like menu cards, place cards are made of heavy card, about 2 by 234 or 3 inches. They may be either white or cream-white but, if there are menu cards on the table, the place cards should be made of exactly the same pasteboard. If the menu card has a beveled edge, silvered or gilded, the place card should also. And if the family crest or coat of arms is embossed on the menu card, the place card may also be decorated in the same way, although this is a matter of individual choice, and not a rule. Some hostesses approve the use of a coat of arms on the menu, but consider it unnecessary on a card as small as a place card.

Because they are so practical, place cards are often used when there are no menu cards. In this case, the heavy pasteboard cards described above may be used or, since there is no menu card that need be matched, one may use lighter, paper cards, in a dull or glazed finish. These are usually about 2 by 31/4 inches, and they are often made with narrow border of silver or gold instead of a beveled edge. They also may be embossed with the family crest or coat of arms.

Another type is the folded place card, of medium-weight paper about 3 by 31/4 inches, folded in half, with the name written across the lower half. These cards too, are often edged with a narrow silver border, but they are rarely decorated. No fancy or colored place cards should ever be used except for public banquets or special occasions. In a pinch, it is better to use the back of a visiting card than it is to use a would-be funny innovation.– From Vogue’s Book of Etiquette, 1948

🍽Etiquette Enthusiast, Maura J. Graber, is the Site Editor for the Etiquipedia© Etiquette Encyclopedia