{All images from Author’s personal collection*}
So, the table decorations for the reception and some mock-ups for you to see.
I didn’t happen to have a 5’6″ round table to hand so I had to use a slightly smaller one which I usually use for my laptop in the sitting room. It was so small in fact that I used one of the napkins in place of the tablecloth {which will be white} but I think you can get the idea.
The top photos are the centre-pieces, although I think we shall angle the feathers so one is visible from each angle as they shall be in the middle of the tables. They shall be accompanied by a selection of small vases and glasses with candles and tea lights and individual peonies.
The bottom photos are of the vintage crockery and name labels which will be set at every place. We have collected crockery, some of it in sets, which we shall lay in a mismatched fashion with the napkin across the plate to indicate who sits where. I gather from blog reading that at American weddings there is often an escort card system to indicate at which tables people should sit. In England however it is more customary to have a ‘seating plan’ to show people where they should go: we are going to make an A3 drawing with all the tables and names. We are having a ‘top table’ at which the wedding party will sit which is rectangular and then 9 circular tables for the guests. Now we have finally had responses to all but one of our invitations we are in a position to decide the seating plan. We shall try and group people in mixed groups, partners together, so our guests have a chance to get to know each other but not feel uncomfortable. We shall, as far as possible, try to seat people alternately male/female but given the numbers I think that is going to be impossible on every table.
As our food is to be served as a buffet, we shall lay the plates on the tables as part of the decorations. In turn, each table will be called by the Best Man, acting as Master of Ceremonies, to the buffet tables and will take their food back to the table. At the end of the meal, our ushers will clear the stacks of plates. We opted to have no serving staff or waiting staff and instead to have a team of ushers who are friends who offered to help us on the day. The ushers will also be responsible for serving the champagne to guests on arrival, making sure people know where the drinks are during the day, carrying tea pots to each table after the meal, serving champagne once again before the toasts and generally making sure everything is running smoothly.
My task this week is to make a napkin setting for each guest. We bought a punch which makes the tag and the ribbons are from Cam Creations and were custom dyed to match my shoes. {I also ordered ribbon in varying widths for the bouquets and the waistband of my dress}. I will be hand writing all the guests names on the tag and pre-tying all the ribbons. Once the table plan is decided I will bag up the napkins in bags with numbers so that on the day they are very easy to set out. Our other task for the weekend is to print the orders of service which have been finalised this week. Good job it’s a bank holiday here in England on Monday, looks like it’s going to be a long weekend!
*Again, apologies for the rather poor quality snaps. When I get my new job (soon, I hope, for the sake of my sanity) I might just invest in a decent camera and some photography lessons.