Table Names

[Class n Sass]

I would like to give the tables at our reception names as opposed to just using numbers. What names and themes did you select? I''m looking for some suggestions/ideas..Thanks!!

 

[onedrop]

This is a very timely thread! My husband and I are having a post-wedding reception next week and we are naming our tables as well. In this case we are using two of the languages spoken in my husband''s country of birth one of which is French. I wanted to do something besides numbeing, plus it will be a kind of icebreaker as well we hope. A friend of mine used this idea some years back and gave each table a name identifying the characteristics they thought were necessary for a good marriage. Come back and let us know what you decide!!

 

[Mandarine]

Hi there!

I love these questions

Our wedding will have the "Spanish" theme so we will most likely go with places in Spain that we love. I''m not sure if we are doing cities. We might do cities and write a little note on why that city is important mom was born there, dad proposed to mom, went on a trip there, etc).

I''ve heard other ideas I like:

- For wine drinkers, favorite wines and use a bottle to put the names.
- For movie fans, Famous movie couples
- For people that love art, their favorite artist or paintings (with a picture of the painting instead of writing out the names).

There are other more common ones:

- Vacation places with pictures from that place.
- Words (like Faith, Love, etc).

That''s all I can think of right now

M~

 

[Jas12]

My wedding was on Canada day, at a very canada-esque location so our tables were named after meaningful canadain things--our fave camp groud, the ski team we both raced on, the name of our family business, some heritage sites etc. i also added a little blur under the name to ''explain'' the significance...guests loved it.

(i''ll try to find an example pic)

 

[E B]

We''re having a bird theme, so our tables have bird names, like Dove, Hummingbird, etc.

 

[monarch64]

One wedding we went to got their table names from the places/times of life they knew their friends/family from. Ours was titled "The Cordial Gang", as the bar we all used to hang out at was "The Cordial Inn," and there were a ton of others that were just really personal to the couple and everyone seated at each table felt like they were especially thought of when the bride and groom were planning the seating arrangement.

You could also do your favorite movie theme...for ex. we thought of doing tables themed around our favorite movie, The Wizard of Oz, where we would have done "Emerald City," "Ruby Slippers," "Yellow Brick Road," etc.

 

[Jaders731]

My hubby and I did a twist to the whole traditional table number/naming...

In Seaside, where we got married.. the great thing about that town is all the beautiful houses... so.. we took photos of house numbers of some of the most amazing houses in the town, and used that as our table numbers...

We didnt use 1, 2, 3.. but numbers like 177, or 535. For the table with the kids, we used 5-1/2 (it was the a picture of the depth tile at the pool in town)..

So you dont necessarily have to do Names.. you can use pictures or symbols.. or numbers that arent your usual run-of-the-mill 1,2,3...

I''ll attach some of our pictures...

 

[Jaders731]

here is another one... We used 4x6 frames on the tables... and one of our guests snagged this at the table and gave it to us when we got home... LOL.. so now we have this as a cute little random keepsake...

 

[Jaders731]

last one... This was the house number of the house called "Colors"

 

[diamondfan]

You can do quotes, and name the table after the author of the quote (think love quotes or sonnets etc)

You can also do the wonders of the world, either the natural or man made, since your love is a thing of wonder and beauty!

I love famous movie couples or your favorite movie love stories as well...or nature things if you are getting married in a setting that allows that...(different waterfalls or mountain ranges or rivers etc)

I have also, in Nappa, seen each one being a type of grape or wine...

you could also name each table after a romantic spot you have been to or would like to go to in the future...

It just depends on your overall theme and how many tables you have, if you can come with enough things!!!

 

[princesss]

I saw a suggestion in a magazine (Cosmo, actually, I think) to use names of places you and your fiance have been together. I loved it and have been keeping it stored in my file of cute ideas to be used later since I''m a big travel dork.

 

[Independent Gal]

Wow! I never thought of doing that. What a neat idea. I especially like Jaders random numbers idea.

It occurs to me that I saw this done at a bar mitzvah once. They had tables name for countries with the centerpieces matching the theme. But I think that was the only time.

Cool. Now I have to think of something original for ours...

 

[Pandora II]

My venue is the site of the Battle of Hastings in 1066, and there is a huge painting of the battle behind what would be an altar if it was a church

.

I''m using characters from the Battle for table names, so William the Conqueror, Harold Hardrada, Tostig Goodwinson, Edward the Confessor etc

Each table will have separate menu cards with the history of each character on the back.

All very bloodthirsty but there we are!

 

[Independent Gal]

Oooh, I have an idea. Our venue has these lush velvet curtains in cream and black that cordon off the wine area (which we''ll use for the head table... don''t worry! it will be much brightened up.) What about using symbols like these for the tables... (next post)

 

[Independent Gal]

like these... to pick up on the curtains. We'd have to pick symbols that were really different from each other, so there was no confusion. But just as an example... like a paisly, an ampersand, swirls of some kind... What do you think? (honestly).

ETA: sorry for the sloppy cut and paste job.

 

[chellebelle]

All these ideas are so cute! We had a vintage glamour/old hollywood theme so our guest tables were named after stars such as Audrey Hepburn, Marilyn Monroe, Frank Sinatra, Billie Holiday, etc. The head table was "Old Hollywood".....

 

[qtiekiki]

All these ideas are so cute. I thought about naming tables when we got married. But it was too much for me to think of 25 names, and it would''ve been too confusing for our older Chinese guests.

 

[jas]

We used famous locations in Chicago, as many of our guests were either in Chicago for the first time (!!!) and had gone sight-seeing before the wedding, and/or our guests were big ol'' Chicago-philes.

We had famous streets (i.e. Michigan Ave), locales (Wrigley field), etc.

It was a lot of fun.

 

[ephemery1]

We had a literary theme (yes, I'm a nerd like that

), so for table names we did letters instead of numbers (A, B, C, etc) and made each letter a word (Adoring, Beautiful, Caring, etc) and then put a quote on each table with that word in it.

So, the placecard would say:

Mr. and Mrs. John Smith
Table: Heart

And then the sign on the table would say:

H
"The best and most beautiful
things in the world cannot
be seen, nor touched...
but are felt in the heart."
Helen Keller


It took people a minute to catch on, but everyone seemed to like it!

 

[april diamonds]

My FI and I are thinking about naming the tables after places that are significant to us. (i.e. State College, PA - we met at Penn State, New York, NY - we work in NY now, Hong Kong - i used to live there, Taiwan - he used to live there, New Orleans, LA - our first vacation together...) and then we''d have a little written card that told the talbe why it was significant to us. I figured it would be way to tell pepole about our relationship and give them someone to talk about at the table too.

Also thought it might encourage people to mingle to other tables to read about the other locations!

 

[MMM]

I random thought, but if you are having a lot of tables, you may want to number and name the tables. I know sometimes with large receptions I have a hard time finding my numbered table even when they are in order. If there were a ton of tables without number and only names I would be wandering around forever! : )

 

[april diamonds]

I thought about that too. but I was thinking of something standing out on the table. Like a photo of the locaton so you can match it to your table card. Or I was thinking of bascially putting up a seating map of where all the tables are.

 

[Class n Sass]

I''ve decided to go with the names of African-American couples to celebrate Black love....some are real and some are not. We will use Cliff and Clair(Cosby Show), Martin and Coretta Scott King

 

[ringplease]

I also like ideas from your history as a couple. One table could be restaurant of your first date, another could be a place you vacationed, another could be your honemoon destination. Something like a past, present, and future theme. Romantic but still good conversation topics!

 

[broadway]

We are doing antique wedding photos from both of our families and naming the table after the couple pictured. The photo will not be huge, but a definite focal point. We hopefully will also have the story of their wedding on cards on the table. We''ll start with our grandparents, we have 5 of those and then expand when we finalize tables.