It’s no secret that I love escort card boards. And let’s be honest, without a plated dinner, I really didn’t need one. But no one likes that awkward third-grader feeling of wondering if you’re allowed to sit at the cool kids’ table, so I figure I’m doing people a favor.

When I was in Glendale in the fall, I found an easel at a going-out-of-business sale for $30. What a steal! It had a distressed taupe finish, but a little spray paint — and a handsome man — can fix that. (Isn’t that true of most things?) Josh painstakingly put several coats of white glossy spray paint on the easel:

(Complete with empty wine bottle weights that we stole out of our neighbors’ recycling bin. Classy.)

I searched high and low for a large picture frame that a) didn’t cost more than $50, b) was white, and c) had a super-wide or vintage beaded edge. I was about to attempt to sand and spray paint a black frame when I found an almost-white frame for $25. No beaded edges, and not as wide as I hoped, but the price was right and I’d already been to five stores, so I went for it. Once again, glossy white spray paint solves all the world’s problems.

For the magnetic surface, I attached sheet metal to cardboard and then wrapped it in fabric. A helpful tip: Bring a magnet and a piece of fabric with you to the hardware store. Not all sheet metal is magnetic. I was sure to bring a super-weak magnet so that I knew just about any magnet in the world would stick. To attach the sheet metal and then the fabric, I used E6000, which will pretty much adhere anything to anything. Metal, wood, cardboard, fabric, plastic — it does it all.

The finished product!

Now, if you’ll remember, I’m using these Kikkerland bird magnets to hold the escort cards to the magnet board (and to double as favors):

I was hoping to have birds associated with table numbers — so everyone at table 1 has a brown bird, everyone at table 2 has a blue bird, etc. — but I knew it would be hugely dependent on how the seating chart panned out. Well, five painstaking attempts later, it worked! Turns out that it helps if you can count and if you remember that there are eight colors of birds, not seven. It’s little victories like this that make me feel better about the fact that only 50% of our invited guests are attending.

My escort cards just arrived, and I can’t wait to put it all together. Only a few more days now…

I love all of the creative ways people display their escort and seating cards. Like a ribbon board (how cute are all the buttons scattered at the bottom?), via Snippet & Ink.

I’ve seen several hanging from branches, but this one on Style Me Pretty has some really cool, unique little hangers.

These are actually favors, but I really wanted to do this for seating cards — until I realized how many of my guests would be traveling. Via MSW.

This would be perfect for a summer wedding. And that calligraphered mini-scroll? Love that. Via Snippet & Ink.

How fun to do some on black paper and others on white. From Kristina, with calligraphy by the wonderful Jenna Hein.

Another Snippet & Ink find. This would be fun with an ecclectic mix of playing cards from multiple decks too.

Something like this, with the names attached, would be a great way to combine sweet treats and escort cards. Via MSW.

The classic favor seating card never goes out of style. Also via MSW.

I really, really, really adore this. But of course I do, seeing as I have a deep affinity for cards. Found on Oh So Beautiful Paper, and designed by one of my most admired letterpress shops, the Lettered Olive.

One of my all-time favorite ideas: using fabric swatches. The best part about this is that the fabric swatch matched the napkins on that table. From Details Details.

I decided a couple of months ago that I wanted to do a magnet or pin board. A pin board I could make out of cork and cover with fabric (like the one above), or I could make a magnet board with magnetic paint. In either case, I could frame it — either by finding a cool frame or making one out of moulding from the hardware store. Something like the ones in Shabby Vintage Mom’s shop.

I could attach the escort cards with a variety of bird magnets, to tie into our “fly away with us” quasi-theme. Kikkerland makes two sets (I know this because I have some from each set); one is sold at Anthropologie, the other I can get through the Arbor in Salem. These would double as favors, or I could keep them and cover every square inch of my fridge after the wedding.

And then the board itself would go on display on a metal floor easel. I’m sure I could find a place for this in my house after the wedding, no?

We aren’t doing a served dinner, but I think there’s a certain amount of comfort in knowing where you’re going to sit. There’s none of that “cool kids table” awkwardness, and you can seat people together who have never met but would enjoy each other’s company. And I know that I, for one, would love to have a calligraphered escort or seating card for my memories box.