California Ranch Company Wedding Styled Shoot

This past May, I was participated in a styled shoot put at the gorgeous California Ranch Company wedding venue in Temecula, CA. California Ranch Company is a wedding venue in the heart of Southern California wine country and is the perfect spot for a spectacular countryside wedding.

I was asked to create table numbers, place cards, and a dessert sign, and was given the style board on the right to work off of. While these may seem like small details, your guests need to know where to sit and what to eat! Calligraphy day-of signage is a fabulous yet functional way to keep your guests informed during every step of your wedding day.

Knowing this would be an outdoor ranch wedding, I wanted to bring in plenty of color into what I was creating. That teal in the color palette was my inspiration and the basis of all my designs!

Now, time to create calligraphy signs fit for an outdoor wedding at California Ranch Company.

FIRST THINGS FIRST

Teal place cards with white ink calligraphy and terracotta wax seals

Wax seal place cards are one of my favorite things to create, so I decided to start my design process there. There was a lot of terracotta and brown tones in the style board, so I knew I wanted teal place cards to serve as a little pop of color on the table. Instead of a traditional 2” x 4” tented place cards, I decided on square 3” x 3” (think post-it note size) place cards instead for a more modern look. I paired these teal beauties with white ink and terracotta wax.

Next, the table number and dessert sign. I struggled to figure out the best material to make these signs on. Framed paper felt too fancy for this rustic ranch vibe, acrylic felt out of place, and I was worried wood would blend in too much. I was honestly just staring at all my calligraphy supplies one day when I noticed a pack of small square canvases I bought on a whim during a recent sale at Michael’s. The canvas felt like the perfect…canvas for both the table number and dessert sign, while also tying to the macrame elements from the style board.

Once I decided on the canvas material, I got really excited about painting them! I went for what I call a boho desert design with the wavy shapes and used a combination of teal, light yellow, and terracotta.

CREATION PROCESS

Boho desert table numbers on canvas

Time to create! Using heavy teal colored cardstock, I hand cut each place card to the right size and wrote all the names in calligraphy with white ink. Next, I melted and poured the terracotta wax directly on the place cards and stamped it with an outdoorsy-Spanish tile style wax stamp. For some reason, the tile design made me think of outdoor tile at a winery!

Once the place cards were done, it was time to make the table number and dessert sign. I didn’t have the exact colors from the color palette I wanted, so I mixed different paints to get the perfect shade of teal and pale yellow – and thankfully found terracotta paint at the art store. Next, I drew some random lines on the canvas in order to make different sections and started painting them in alternating colors.

Calligraphy wedding dessert table sign

For the dessert sign, I used a mixture of block letters and calligraphy. Block letters are as important to calligraphy signs as the calligraphy itself. If the entire sign is written in calligraphy, it can be hard to read and defeat the purpose of providing important information. We calligraphers like to highlight the key words in calligraphy (here it was “love and dessert”) and use block letters for supporting text.

CALIFORNIA RANCH COMPANY WEDDING DAY

While I wasn’t present at California Ranch Company on the day of the shoot, the photos I received are gorgeous and capture the beauty of the venue, the countryside, and the talent of all the vendors involved. I was blown away by the table décor from Kesaia Bush Designs and the bouquets from The Sweetest Blooms was the perfect mixture of desert succulents and colorful blooms. I especially loved the surprise guest – a horse from the ranch itself!

 California Ranch Company is full of natural Southern California beauty, with lush greenery and rolling hillsides. This Temecula wedding venue is large – 53 acres – and is a gem within Temecula’s wine country.

 As always, the best part of any styled shoot is collaborating with incredible wedding vendors that I haven’t met before! Temecula is a short jaunt from San Diego, so it was great to expand my network of amazing wedding vendors.

If you are interested in how AC Letters Calligraphy can help you create the perfect calligraphy signage – or any other calligraphy goods – click the buttons below to learn more about my services or inquire for a quote! 

A surprise visit from one of California Ranch Company’s horses!

Succulent and flower centerpieces with name settings

Simple bridal hair style with flowers

The bride and groom cutting the cake

The bride and groom at the sweetheart table

Outdoor ranch wedding dessert table

The bridal bouquet featuring succulents and flowers

The bride and groom at sunset at California Ranch Company in Temecula, California

Chic and boho desert weding table decor featuring wax seal place cards

Participating Vendors
Planning & Design: Rayanne Rose Weddings
Venue: California Ranch Company Weddings
Photographer: Easton studios
Videographer: My Real Media
Florist: The Sweetest Blooms
Rentals: Rustic Urban Events
Table Decor: Kesaia Bush Designs
Calligraphy: AC Letters Calligraphy
Desserts: Twin Treats
Hair and Make Up Artist: Jodi Snowden & Co
Dress: Raw Golden Rentals
Tux: Friar Tux
Models: Kaley Robinson, Taylor Cordero

Chateau Selah Wedding Styled Shoot

In February I was invited to participate in a styled shoot put at the incredible Chateau Selah wedding venue in Blountville, Tennessee. Chateau Selah is a gorgeous wedding venue perched in the Appalachian Mountains and it is the perfect spot for an outdoor mountain wedding.

I was asked to create individual menus, and maybe place cards, and was given the style board on the left to work off of. While this may seem like a small detail, it’s these calligraphy day-of details that can show of your unique style will still providing important information to your guests.

Sometimes having both place cards and individual menus at each table setting can feel cluttered. To combat this, I decided to combine the two elements together and create a singular place card menu. Or menu place card? Menu place setting? Whatever you call it, I knew it was the solution!

Now, time to create calligraphy place card menus, fit for a wedding at Chateau Selah.

Decisions, Decisions

4” x 9” is a classic menu size – big enough to fit all your details but not too big to overwhelm the table. The wedding planner told me the dinner plates were white and the table runner was dusty blue, so I decided to go with peach/blush from the style board as the menu color.

Next, the design. To ensure everything would fit, I decided to type up and print the menu items but hand calligraphy the menu headers such as Starters, Main, Dessert. There was going to be a dessert table at the styled shoot, so I made sure to include those specific desserts onto the menu. Otherwise, I used my imagination, and my stomach, to come up with the other food options. Yum!

For the place card component of these menus, I thought translucent vellum paper would be an elegant touch, but I needed a wax to attach the vellum to the menu. Enter my favorite thing ever – wax seals! I decided to pull from the dusty blue from the style board to provide the perfect pop of color against the elegant table décor and outdoor mountain wedding venue.

Creation Process

Time to create! Using heavy peach colored cardstock, I hand cut each menu to the right size and cut the vellum into strips for the names. After printing the food items onto the menu, I wrote the headers in calligraphy, as well as wrote all the names in calligraphy onto vellum.

Side note – want to know how I came up with 8 names for the place cards? Instagram! I posted a story asking my followers for names to use and my followers delivered with tons of options!

Once all the calligraphy ink was dried – a VERY important step – I created the wax seals to attach the vellum place cards to the menu. In this scenario, I melted the wax beads over an open flame and poured it onto the two papers (after measuring everything to ensure proper placement). As it was only 8 menus this method was not too time consuming. However, if I was creating 100 menus for a larger wedding, I’d definitely use a glue gun loaded up with a wax seal stick for efficiency!

Chateau Selah Wedding Day

While I wasn’t present at Chateau Selah on the day of the shoot, the photos I received are absolutely stunning and capture the beauty of the venue and talent of all the vendors involved. The bouquets from Blossom and Bloom Design were stunning, especially mixed with the elegant glass and gold table décor from All Occasions Party Rentals. I loved the partially naked cake from Petite Sweets and the little strawberry shortcake cups looked so yummy. Chateau Selah is clearly a stunning wedding venue, with elegant architecture combined with incredible Tennessee mountain scenery and greenery. These pictures are from February – just imagine all the greenery come spring and summertime!

The bride and groom sneaking a kiss at Chateau Selah

The best part of this styled shoot though? It was collaborating and working with such incredible wedding vendors! As a San Diego calligrapher, I was able to expand my network by working with primarily Tennessee wedding vendors.

If you are interested in how AC Letters Calligraphy can help you create the perfect wedding menus – or any other paper good – click the buttons below to learn more about my services or inquire for a quote!

Naked wedding cake with flowers

The bride and the groom enjoying the architecture at Chateau Selah

Blush and dusty flowers combined with golden table decor, featuring calligraphy place card menus

The flower arch overlooking the mountains was the perfect ceremony spot

Strawberry shortcake cups

Wax seals were used to attach the place card to the menu

Calligraphy place card menu with table setting

Participating Vendors
Planning & Design: Rayanne Rose Weddings
Photography: Callie Lindsey Photography
Venue: Chateau Selah
Custom Arch: Marsh Made Design
Videography: Heartstrings Creative Co
Florist: Blossom and Bloom Design
Rentals: All Occasions Party Rentals
Calligraphy: AC Letters Calligraphy
Desserts: Petite Sweets
Hair & Makeup: Power Pony Studios
Models: Sara Ruth Morris & Tom
Dress: Blue Willow Bridal
Vow books: Love Pioneer Photo

What's the difference between place cards, escort cards, and seating charts?

Imagine it’s your wedding day. All your loved ones are in one place celebrating you and your partner’s relationship. The beautiful ceremony is over, cocktail hour is winding down, and now it’s time to move to the reception…and get 100 people into their seats so you can serve dinner. How in the world do you do that?!

With place cards, escort cards, and seating charts! But do you need all three? What is the purpose of each one? Read on to learn more.

Note: As of 2024, I no longer offer seating charts, but still would love to create place cards or escort cards for you!

Mirror wedding seating chart. Photo by Jon Bilderback Photography

Seating Charts

A wedding seating chart is one sign that lists all of your guests name as well as which table they are assigned to. Typically, the seating chart is grouped by table (so Table 1, Table 2, Table 3), with the guests assigned to that table listed alphabetically. For larger weddings (100+) you will want to simply list all guests’ names alphabetically then note their table number.

With a seating chart, your guests will find their table and head straight there, eliminating the need for escort cards. This also gives your guests a sneak peak of who else is sitting at their table since everyone’s names will be listed in one spot.

Seating charts can be large displays resting on an easel, or perhaps for a smaller wedding or event, simply written on a piece of paper and framed on an entry table. What’s fun about seating charts is you can use so many different materials to write them - wood, glass, mirrors, acrylic, chalkboard, paper, canvas…the list goes on! - and they can be a really gorgeous statement piece that guests see as they enter your wedding or event reception. All of these options lend themselves really well to calligraphy! Imagine a large wood sign sitting on an easel draped in florals, with beautiful white ink modern calligraphy directing your guests where to go. Dreamy, right? You can also combine elements, such as writing each table on a small piece of paper and using a wax seal to attach it to a mirror. Need help designing your seating chart? Read about all the design considerations here.

The one thing event seating charts don’t do is tell your guests exactly which chair to sit in once they get to their table, which may or may not be important to you.

Escort Cards

Similar to a seating chart, escort cards tell your guest which table to sit at. But instead of one large display, each guest will pick up their own escort card with their name and table number listed. Escort cards should be arranged alphabetically on a large table, as as opposed to group by table number like on a seating chart. This will help your guests quickly find their name in a sea of names.

Champagne flute escort cards. Photo by Carly Fuller Photo

Similar to seating charts, escort cards for your event can be written on a variety of surfaces. A small piece of tented paper (think 2” x 4”) is standard for an escort card, but any relatively flat surface can be used, such as leaves, rocks, and shells. Escort cards is another great place to add calligraphy to your wedding day, as you can match the card color or ink to your event theme.

A wedding escort card can also double as or tie together your wedding favor, should you decide to have wedding favors. Imagine a mini-champagne bottle with a tag tied around it, or a box of chocolate with the guests name written in calligraphy on top. You can really get creative with this!

The potential con to escort cards is you need a table (or tables) large enough to fit all escort cards on them. Seating charts, while technically larger, potentially take up less space as you can use vertical space (think a large mirror) to get the same information across compared to 100 escort cards. And similar to seating charts, escort cards don’t tell your guests where at the table they should sit.

Place Cards

Finally, place cards, also known as name cards or place settings. Once your guests find their table either via the seating chart or escort card, you may choose to also have place cards telling them exactly which seat is theirs at the table. These place cards will only list the guests name, and perhaps a meal choice, but won’t list the table number again.

Personalized menu with guest’s name on vellum, attached with wax seal.
Photo by Callie Lindsey Photography.

The decision to use place cards really depends on if you want to assign specific seating at your wedding or event or if simply getting guests to the proper table is enough. If you have tables of 8 - 10, place cards may not be necessary as guests can usually figure out seating just fine. But if you are having longer tables of 20 or more, place cards can be really helpful to ensure no one feels uncomfortable!

Similar to escort cards, wedding place cards can be on a variety of surfaces, such as paper, acrylic, wood, leaves, and more, and are great way to showcase your style into your event. And place cards can also work as your wedding favor. For example, if you’re having a book themed wedding, a calligrapher can create personalized bookmarks for everyone that serves as their place card. My personal favorite is paper place cards with a wax seal on it. It’s simple yet tasteful and memorable!

Place cards can also be combined with your dinner menu for a chic look. Instead of having the printed menu and a place card on top, which can feel cluttered, these two elements can be combined into one. A calligrapher can help you find the perfect marriage (no pun intended) of a place card and menu.

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After reading all this, you might think it’s easier to just let people sit wherever they want! However, allowing guests to seat themselves can lead to uncomfortable situations, people sitting alone, and empty seats. While it’s more planning upfront, using seating charts, escort cards, and/or place cards will make for a smoother experience for everyone at your wedding.

A calligrapher, like me, can help you think of creative and budget-friendly ways to get everyone in their seat. Plus, working with a calligrapher can help save you a lot of time and frustration. Sure, you can buy place card paper, type everyone’s names in a word document template, print the place cards at home, and hand fold them…but let’s be real, working with at home printers is fickle at best and this is a time consuming process. Your time can be better served planning other aspects of your event or shoot, simply relaxing knowing this is all being taken care of by someone else!

Interested in learning more about place cards, escort cards, and seating charts? Visit my Day-Of Details page and inquire below! I’d love to work with you to bring your event vision to life. While I’m a San Diego wedding calligrapher, I love working with couples and people all over the country!