Aside from the wedding ceremony itself, the reception is probably the most logistically complicated event. Guests invited to the ceremony are generally invited to the reception. A separate reception enclosure may be required if the reception is held at a different venue. With out-of-town guests, it is helpful to include direction cards to both the wedding and reception with the wedding invitation.
Seating cards should be prepared at least a week before the reception, particularly if you intend to use a calligrapher. Your stationer will help with the proper etiquette. The seating card will direct your guest and spouse or friend to a specific table. We encourage bridal couples to be creative by using the names of flowers, birds, schools, restaurants or even rock musicians rather than a number or letter. Place Cards are used when you wish seat your guests next to a particular person. While this is generally not required for all tables, we certainly recommend it for the key tables.
Providing your guests a Menu Card is a very gracious thing to do. If you are planning to do so, we recommend doing so at least three to four weeks before the reception to avoid stress. You may want to consider having the menu written by a calligrapher, scanned and reproduced on high-quality paper stock. Another nice touch for the reception is to have cocktail napkins and guests towels with the monogram or names of the couple. Again, these too should be ordered three to four weeks before the wedding. As a rule-of-thumb we suggest 5 cocktail napkins per guest and 2 guest towels.
In short, your reception invitation, direction card and seating card are designed to elegantly help your guests get to the right place at the right time and to do in style.