Posted on February 22, 2018 by Denise Potter
These days, New Jersey brides and grooms are stepping up their seating-chart game in a big way. No longer just a plain poster board with names and numbers, the seating chart has taken on a life of its own—and has become one of the premier and anticipated features of today’s receptions. Since the seating chart is completely customizable, inspiration can come from anywhere and anything; the key is just to get creative. To give you some inspo, here’s a glimpse of six unique seating displays New Jersey brides and grooms have come up with recently. Some of them are seriously pin-worthy!
Lacey Bongard and Tommy Kohutich, a laid-back Jersey couple, knew they wanted to incorporate some no-fuss kind of fun into their big day at Shackamaxon Country Club, Scotch Plains. So they opted to turn the traditional seating chart into a golf-themed display, complete with real sand, sod and a DIY wooden base. When guests picked up their golf tee, they were surprised and delighted to find familiar nicknames listed instead of formal titles. The moral to the story here? Keep it real! This creative couple did just that, and we’re all “fore” it!
For Kaitlin Wright and Andrew Leone, who got married at the Inn at Fernbrook Farms, it was important for their wedding to be personal and detail-oriented.
So Kaitlin hand-lettered all of the escort cards attached to heart-shaped wildflower and herb “seed bombs,” which also served as their wedding favors and encouraged their guests to “let love bloom.” The signage for the escort cards was also hand-written by Kaitlin and said “Please Be Seeded.”
Molly Supinski and Nick DePinto, who got married at the Reeds at Shelter Haven in Stone Harbor, didn’t want to fall into the trap of having a “tacky” beach-themed wedding. Though they liked the idea of beach badges as placecards, they feared that the idea was somewhat overused. When seaglass pieces didn’t prove big enough, Molly set her sights on golden oyster shells from Etsy. A close friend worked her calligraphy magic on the shells, and Kristin Rockhill of Details of I Do in Princeton suggested placing them on a mirror instead of the more common sandbox. Guests loved the shells and took them all home.
It was Stacey Eizikowitz and Christopher Guarino’s avid sense of wanderlust that led them to choose luggage tags as their guest cards for their wedding at Westmount Country Club in Woodland Park. With the help of Etsy seller Porter Leather, the custom leather luggage tags, which read “Let the Adventure Begin,” wowed guests and doubled as a useful favor.
Sarah Cunningham and Michael Mastriano were married at Bayonet Farm in Holmdel, and Sarah’s inspiration came when she was sorting through a closet filled with used wedding displays at the farm. While most of it didn’t exactly pique her curiosity, one piece—a potter’s bench—immediately set off lightbulbs. Sarah envisioned an old-fashioned floral shop with different sized zinc planters and lush green moss, with the name cards acting as budding flowers. The fresh garden vibe offset the naturally rustic farm venue to create an awe-inspiring combo.
And for Danielle Cressey and Josh Spada’s wedding at Willow Creek Winery in Cape May, they knew they wanted to incorporate something to do with wine. So a wine cork-inspired seating chart seemed like the perfect and most on-theme choice. With a little help from Pinterest, Danielle and her mother spent hours super-gluing wine corks to a 24-by-36-inch picture frame and praying they would stick! Rebecca Green Designs took care of the seating chart cards (which went perfectly with the evening’s colors: plum, gold, and white), and the result was a wine-lover’s dream come true.
Take a lesson from these clever NJ brides and grooms: When it comes to creative seating charts, let the inspiration come from your passions and hobbies, don’t overthink it too much, and most importantly, have fun!
