Place Cards: Decorative Dinner Conversation Starters

Whether you’re having a small gathering of friends over for a dinner party or hosting a holiday feast for your extended family, setting the table with a seating plan in mind can keep conversation lively and add an element of distinction that makes more than your meal a huge hit.

Make your guests feel special and recognized by adding their name to their place at the table by using a variety of methods.  A super simple idea is to neatly handwrite with a good pen or slim marker or print out each name on a business card size piece of cut cardstock.  Layer a folder napkin on top of either your placemat or charger at each place and top it off with your silverware neatly in a line.  Use the tines of the dinner fork to hold your simplistic place card as the centerpiece of each place setting.

Incorporating some small prop at each seat that goes along with the season, theme, or table décor can also be the anchor for your place card.  In the summer, use a clamped oyster shell to hold each guest’s place card to go along with a seaside tablescape during a clam bake or fish fry.  In the fall, insert either a small note card or leaf with a name printed on each into the needles of a pinecone or a slit you cut into the top of a small, decorative pumpkin or other ornamental gourd.  For Christmas, write or print each guest’s name on larger sticker “To - From” gift labels and adhere each directly to the napkin or onto a small, wrapped gift (like a mini box of dinner mints if want to go the extra mile) at each place setting.  Use a white cardstock shipping tag that looks like a classic gift tag with strings and tie it onto a festive ornament you place on top of the place setting or even on top of each drinking glass or champagne flute.  For spring, line the inside of a small, glass vase or votive candle holder with the place card and fill with small stones and a single seasonal stem, minus the water, and place above each salad fork.  Cut a slit in the top of pieces of fruit, using lemons, limes, oranges, grapefruit, or other local fare, and slide in each place card.  

With simple items and a little pre-planning, you can give your dinner table that extra nudge toward glam and your guests a stimulating start toward great dinner conversation.