Gathering Escort Card Inspiration

Am I the only one who gets fired up for a DIY project?  I love my wedding projects, even the ones that are a little painful to complete.  The next project on the horizon is figuring out how to get our guests to their seats.  I almost put an exclamation point there.  Wow.  

I knew right away that I wanted to use escort cards instead of a seating chart.  I'm sure you've seen these charts, which seem to have been everywhere for the past few years:

Photo & window by Etsy seller Beyond White

The window pane seating plan is very cute, but if we were going in that direction, I think I'd be more tempted to try to this more polished adaption, using a large, leaning mirror:

Photo by Elizabeth Messina

I think an escort card display will be a fun way to use that deep, blue-green color that I love so much.  I also like that there's always a little conversation among guests as they pick up their cards and many use some sort of embellishment on their cards to give servers a heads up about meal selections or allergies. 

We have many vineyard weddings in my area and the "go to" escort card display would be the one that uses wine corks. I struck that from the options because it's kind of expected. I wanted to do something a little more creative.

There are some beautiful escort card displays using frames and ribbon that appeal to me a lot.  Spreading the cards across a few frames would also allow multiple people to pick up their cards at once. 

From Style Me Pretty / Photo by Desi Baytan Photography

I stumbled upon some escort cards using spools, which reminded me of the spools I sent to my bridesmaids to ask them to be part of the bridal party.  Of course, no one else really knows about those spools, but I'd hope they'd think this was a cute idea. 

Photo by Sara & Rocky Photography

If you've been keeping an eye on floral trends, you might have seen carnations come back in a big way a couple years ago.  People are using them in pomanders and garlands and the effect is pretty striking.  I found a Martha Stewart project that used pink carnations put a new spin on the grass card displays that have been around for a few years.  I love the effect!

From Martha Stewart Weddings

Honestly, I love ALL of these ideas and many more that I didn't share for fear of making this post way too long! I know most people would set escort cards out on a table and move on, but I pretty excited to figure out a way to incorporate my color and perhaps the fabric that I've used in other projects in yet another way at our wedding. 

Do you prefer escort cards or  a seating chart?  Have you seen one work better than the other at a wedding?