More Etiquette for Place Card Usage

These informal place cards were created from store bought invitations for a young girl’s “Teddy Bear Tea” birthday party. The fronts of the invitations were removed from the back and folded in half, so that each child knew where their place was at the table and the children sitting across from one another, faced a row of tumbling teddy bears. – 

“Place cards are used for seating arrangements and should never be tampered with if you want to be invited back. Hosts/Hostesses go to a lot of trouble and time to make sure the seating arrangements are proper and that everyone's tastes and feelings are accommodated. Sit where a place card has been set for you (the one with your name on it) and mingle with others you didn't sit with afterward.”– From The RSVP Institute of Etiquette’s, “Social Graces Handbook,” 1992

Writing Place Cards

At informal meals, place cards are a practical convenience only, and need follow no special set of rules. First names or nicknames can be used if all the guests are friends. But strangers, squinting anxiously to make sure of their dinner partners' names, should be given more help than "Kitty" or "Sister": "Mrs. Herrick" and "Miss Paton" would be more practical. There is no set custom concerning the handwriting or anything else.

At a semiformal meal, place cards are still a matter of common sense and convenience, rather than form. As explained in "Three Degrees of Formality," the difference between semiformal and informal entertaining is often nothing more than a technicality of service. With common sense as the guide, therefore, at a small semiformal dinner there would probably be no place cards at all; at a big dinner of friends, the place cards would be written informally as shown here; at a big elaborate dinner, they might be written according to the formal pattern described

On the Table

Place cards are laid on top of the napkin, which is folded on the place plate. If the napkin has been folded so as to stand up, the place card is put in front of the napkin, leaning against it. Or else the place card may be laid flat on the table, above each place plate. Folded place cards stand on the table, directly above the place plate. – From Vogue’s Book of Etiquette, 1948

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

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