On The Table
January 23rd, 2008 @ 2:17 pm by Mrs. Jasmine
Of all the fun little touches I’ve seen at the weddings I’ve attended, one of my favorites is personalized table names. I don’t know why I get such a kick out of it, but it’s a sweet, fun opportunity for the bride and groom to get creative and showcase their personality.
Mr. Jasmine and I have gone back and forth on so many ideas for our table names. One idea was to name our tables after years. I saw this executed so beautifully on a knottie’s bio– I wish I could remember which one. Each table name, 1985 for example, would showcase a picture of each of us during that year. However, with 18-20 anticipated tables, we decided that idea was too complicated for us.
Other fun ideas we pondered: famous couples, our favorite restaurants (we have so many!), titles of our favorite books (we have so many of these too), etc. The challenge was finding table names that were short and pleasant (”The Heart is A Lonely Hunter” seems too long — and too depressing — for a table name), but still reflected us a couple.
Then we thought of an idea: table names of cities in India, where my family is from and cities in Pakistan, where Mr. Jasmine’s family is from. We love this idea because it pays homage to both of our backgrounds, plus the table names all sound very pretty and exotic. We tried to choose cities that were (relatively) easy to spell and pronounce. Here is our preliminary list of table names:
1. Bangalore
2. Karachi
3. Calcutta
4. Lucknow
5. Quetta
6. Okara
7. Mumbai
8. Agra
9. Darjeeling
10. Madras
11. Multan
12. Peshawar
14. Pondicherry
15. Madras
16. Gujrat
17. Hyderabad
18. Mysore
19. Kasur
20. Jaipur
21. Lahore
We’re not married to this idea (please excuse the pun!), so we’re open to other suggestions. Question for those of you who used table names as opposed to numbers: was it difficult for guests to find their tables? I’m just wondering if I’d be annoyed as a guest if I had to wander among twenty tables searching for “Darjeeling”.
If you’re using fun table names, please share your ideas in the comments section!
images (from top to bottom): tables named after shades of brown: images from Love and Splendor blog, tables named after marital virtues: images from knottie bio mrsreemavenue, tables named after types of wine: images from calligraphy lady.
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33 Responses to “On The Table”
We used types of wine. On the table we had the descriptions and pronunciations so our guests could understand why that wine was so special. Our guests got a kick out of it and helped defuse any “why was I placed on table 19 then they were placed table 4″ arguments (yes…i’ve heard those petty comments at past weddings)!
As for people searching for it, we had someone staffed to help escort people to their table so they could find it.
(you have Madras on there twice, 10 and 15)
if you color code the cards then they’ll be easier to find. Maybe just a colored image or stamp matching the name of the table and the place cards together visually
oooh, or gems! and have pictures of them, like aquamarine, garnet, pearl, etc.
We did this at our wedding in October, naming our tables after different types of apples.
To make things simpler to find, we created a chart that we posted by our name cards that showed where in the room each table was. It was easy to do and helped a lot!
I love the cities idea, I think it’s perfect. It’s going to sound beautiful and exotic.
I think that’s a great idea! Here are my suggestions for making it work:
1) Make sure you’re consistent with the city names. For example, you have Mumbai and Madras - either go with Mumbai and Chennai or with Bombay and Madras. Know what I mean?
2) It might be hard for people to find tables. This is my solution: have a map of India and Pakistan at the area where guests pick up their seating assignments. Have the table names arranged in geographical order to match up with the map so it’s easier for people to find their tables rather than aimlessly wandering. Sure, it’s not as easy as numbers, but it’s easier than without a map!
I’m also trying to figure out fun table names because numbers are boring…I’m thinking of using our favorite bands, but I don’t know if having a table named Wu-Tang Clan would really fly… 
Super cute idea! We were going to do cities we love… but we figured with so many of my guests who don’t speak English… it’d be kind of silly. I love the exotic sounds of all the cities you chose!
I’ve been to a wedding where they used country names, and they made sure that the tables were in alphabetical order as you walked through the room. That was incredibly helpful.
I think the city names is a great idea!
Since some of your guests may not be as familiar with these places, what about putting a little blurb about the city on one side and a pic on the other? The blurb could be a nice conversation starter.
OR you could put a different city factoid at each place setting (or on the escort cards themselves). Again, I’m all about the ice-breakers at sit-down dinners.
OR since you indicated that games are a big part of the Indian wedding tradition… What about a city-quiz? You could make up a 21 question quiz and the answers would be found either on the table numbers or on the little place cards. This would encourage people to mingle from table to table to get the answers. Put all the completed quizzes in a bowl and draw for a prize.
As far as everyone initially finding their table, I would definitely recommend having a simple “map” showing the location of each table set up next to the escort card table.
We made a list of places we have lived throughout our life and places we have visited together. I have been doing a crazy search for postcards from each of those places. Out of 34 postcards (2 for each place), I only need 10 more. I am also going to print up a small explanation of each place to put on the table along with the double-sided postcard. I love the idea of using names for tables instead of numbers. So much more original and creative.
we fell in love over a series of Sunday mornings, reading the New York Times. . .so we’re seating people in the Metro Section, the Business Section, the Sports Sections, the Styles Section, etc! 
Maybe if you list the cities in alphabetical order or associate a number with the cities, it will be easier to find.
I always think table names are cute though!
You can also pair the city name with a regular table number so guests have an easier time finding the location.
Such a cute idea! I love that you’re sharing the blending of your two cultures with your guests. Although India and Pakistan sit right next to each other, there are sooo many differences between the two and within each country, from north to south, east to west, etc.
Roopa has very good points! Her map idea is so creative too. And what beanchar suggested re: the conversation starters with a famous photo from popular tourist destinations/famous sites is excellent.
We have talked about using the names of lighthouses and types of sailboats since our love for the two is one of the things we bonded over. Plus on our first official date we climbed Barneget Light in NJ. We will probably do this because we can use the names of the ones we have visited and the ones we want to visit. We are going a on aseries of mini moons where we stay at B&Bs and visit lighthouses along the east coast. We will go north one long weekend and south on another and we are talking about a trip to the great lakes for another. (Most people don’t know that many of the US LHs are on the great lakes.
Another thought is the names of trees since it will be fall. We also like that because we love being outdoors.
We were going to do drink names (since DH is a great at-home bartender). However, we figured this might not go over too well with the older crowd and family. (We were afraid we’d look like lushes and the more religious fam members weren’t too keen on the idea.)
Instead, we did the restaurant idea (which I thought unique at the time!). I did a different spin on this in the fact that I found or got each restaurant’s name in their specific font + logo (if applicable). I then scanned or snagged these and created my own table names mounted on 3 different colored card stocks (in our wedding colors). I had a lot of fun doing this and it was a great way to tie in our guests to the wedding. (For example, one of my relatives’ table had a lot of J names (including Jim and John), so we had that table be Jimmy John’s. And, for our Michigan friends, we sat them at a table with one of our favorite MI eateries (Pronto Pup). Our Chicago friends got seated at restaurants that we’ve been to with them at or near where they live.)
If you’d like photos of any of these table names, I’d be happy to share, just let me know!
We did years and we had 25 tables. I just started with the year I was born 1978 and went up. Each table had a picture of me and DH that year and a little story of what important thing happend that year. We skipped a couple of years and ended up at 2007 with a picture of us. It really wasn’t that difficult.
I love the idea but I agree with creating a map. I’ve been to weddings with 20+ tables and have done the whole wandering around the entire room before finding my table. It wasn’t *annoying* per se, but it was kinda a jumble of people all looking at once and the guests that already found their seats always had other guests looking over their shoulders or reaching over the table to read the table names.
What a great idea! I bet both of your families will be touched by it, too.
My husband and I picked cities that we would visit during our honeymoon. On one side of the card (6×12 inch cardstock the same as our invites with a 5.5×11.5 inch ivory cardstock attached to it) had a B&W picture of the city and some fun facts. On the other side, we put a fun quote about love that we thought the group at that table would like (the teens got Velveteen Rabbit, for example)
We had a seating chart that listed the people at each city table and another that showed where each table was located in the dining area.
The city quiz is a great way to get people milling around. I love that idea =)
We named our tables after Paris landmarks that we visited. On one side, it had a picture of the landmark (taken by us) and on the other side it also had a number. Made things less confusing.
And on the escort cards, it said,
“You are seated at the
Eiffel Tower
Table XX”
I *love* hearing all of your ideas! Everyone is so creative!
Roopa: Thanks for bringing that up— that never even occurred to me, but it is important!
violaruiz: I can’t believe I didn’t catch that– thank you!
loverlyp– I love you idea!! That’s such a cute cute idea.
I agree with everyone about having a table map w/ the names so people don’t wander around too much. A wedding I went to recently had NHL team names (he played hockey + owned a hockey store, she played goalie) and it was a little confusing trying to find our table. But it was really funny because she sat his family (from Detroit, HUGE Red Wings fans) at a table with a rival team’s name… it really was a funny icebreaker.
I don’t know if we’re going to go with numbers (because we’re lazy) or names. I was thinking about the names of streets in our hometown (where we both grew up and met) or subjects in school (since we met in high school and I’m going to be a teacher). We’ll see!
I love your idea! We did different trees for the tables, Mr. Kiwi’s dad was a landscaper and taught his boys to plant trees. One of the ones that Mr. K planted with his dad was named Jacaranda. So we placed his mom at that table in memory.
Sadly, the tree was just knocked down in a particularly windy day and removed. 
We’re getting married in Philadelphia (his hometown) and since most of my family has never been there, we’re making it a whole Philly themed wedding. We’re naming our tables after famous sites in Philadelphia, and using pictures of us at each location.
For example, we have a funny picture of us fake-boxing in front of the Rocky statue at the Art Museum, a picture of him in an Eagles jersey hiking a football to me in my Steelers jersey at Lincoln Financial Field, etc.
The bio with the years as table names could be MrsJuliaGoolia: http://community.theknot.com/cs/ks/user/page.aspx?username=mrs.julia.goolia&MsdVisit=1
She used pictures of the two of them that correspond to each year. Such a cute idea! Hope that helps!
Darci: Thank you– that’s the one!!! I love, love, love that idea and she did it so well. I might have to keep it in mind after all, especially since Joy Joy said she did it without too much hassle.
I love fun table names! We named ours after places that were meaningful to us — either together or individually. The names ranged from cities we’d visited (i.e. Kowloon, Lisbon, Las Vegas) to sports stadiums (Fenway Park) to the names of our dormitories in college (Lamont House) to even the name of the street we grew up on (i.e. Oxford Circle) It felt so personal as a result.
We’re doing street names….both of us have moved around so much. One the back of the escort card (which will be in a mini envelope), we’re printing what we were doing during that time when we lived on the street…college…grad school…this job…volunteering for the year, living on this street in this country, etc ….the head table will be our current street name since we are living together
Ours were names of beaches where we had dipped our toes in the water. There is only one that we both have been to, so that was our table.
We had 12 tables, and there was absolutely no issue with people wandering around. Besides, it facilitates more mingling that way
I know this is a little off topic but can anyone tell me where to get table holders like the ones in the photos above?
As for table numbers … not sure if we’re going to do this but we met in college so we’re considering having different buildings on campus serve as the table names.
Thanks!
I would do names of more exotic gems, spinel, tourmaline, chrysophase, and choose the colour of that gem for the paper…Like tourmaline get’s to have many many coulours on it, pink, green, teal, etc etc
But for you, How about Spices, names of spices, they would make strong coloured papers, oranges, pinks etc looks so nice. Like Turmeric, Saffron, Coriander etc etc
I’m a Canadian marrying a Brit. We plan to name the tables after cities that share the same name in both countries (e.g. Stratford, London, Peterborough, Cambridge).
As others have suggested, we may pair the name with a number so that our guests have an easier time finding their table.
Hey Sarah! I’m an American marrying a Brit and that is our idea too! How funny! Bristol, Manchester, Warwick.. hee!
Then we came up with another idea, which we’re going to go with: we’re going to name the tables after our favorite poets, and on each table have the poet’s name and a tiny blurb about them, and also have a love poem by that poet on the table. Not sure how we’re going to configure it, but we love poetry and think the lovely words will add to the romance.
Mrs. Jasmine, Chicago/LA
Age and Occupation: 25, Attorney
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 26, Attorney
Engagement Date: March 24, 2007
Wedding Date: June 7, 2008
Blogging Since: September 20, 2007
Venue: Hotel on the westside of Los Angeles
About Me: I'm a happy-go-lucky, imaginative spirit trapped in the body of a lawyer. I love reading, shopping, dining out, and exploring my beloved adopted city of Chicago with my fiance. We're planning the wedding of our dreams in my hometown of Los Angeles and we're excited to incorporate our cherished Indian/Pakistani customs and traditions.
We are planning to use important dates in our relationship…our first date, our first kiss, engagement date, etc. We will include a short paragragh describing why the date is important to us on the back. People can go from table to table putting together our whole story if they want to…or just enjoy the story at their own table.