• Entertaining your wedding guests

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    Give your wedding guests something fun to do at your wedding reception and make memories with our fun range of advice cards, wedding activities and fill-in-the-blanks cards.

    Lots of our options can be used for bridal showers, hen’s nights or engagement parties too!

    Advice and Activity Cards

    Simply pick your favourite design or activity, and order however many you need online. All these are in stock and ready to ship, so they are perfect for a last minute addition to your big day.

    With most activity packs, you can opt for:

    • Different sizes – small (A6 105x148mm), medium (A5 148x210mm) or large (A4 210x297mm)
    • Customisation – change the wording, add your names… give us the details and we will design something customised to you and your event
    • Picked your wedding invitation from the Be My Guest wedding collection? Matching advice cards can be designed at no extra charge

    Guestbooks and Thumbprint Trees

    Collect messages and well wishes from your guests and stick photobooth pics in them with our range of guestbooks. We offer:

    With most activity packs, you can opt for:

    • A generous A4 size (210 x 297mm) and spiral bound, with a protective plastic sheet. Inside pages are blank and can be white, black or silver.
    • You get an electronic draft mockup of your guestbook before it goes to print – so you can see how everything looks and request any changes.

  • Adding guest’s names to your wedding invitations

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    One of the most popular perks of working with Be My Guest Design is adding your guest’s names to your invitations – and at no extra cost!

    We’ve put together some guidelines as often the first question we get is “well, how do you want the names then?”. And that’s a great question to hear. Submitting your guest’s names in the correct format means your design can be created faster, and has less chance of typos/errors happening.

    Typed please

    All information submitted for design is to be typed up.  This is because there’s a high chance of error when trying to type up a document and/or trying to decipher someone else’s handwriting.  This typed up file/list does not need any fancy formatting. In fact, I’d prefer it didn’t! Where possible, we copy and paste the exact text we are supplied, straight into the design file.

    Plain Text List Required

    What’s plain text? I’m not talking about a special computer code or special program.  Just simply, a list of your names that we can copy and paste with no fancy formatting. Here’s some examples for different situations

    Submitting your guest list for your wedding invitations

    • Please submit your guest names written exactly how you want them to appear on the wedding invitation. i.e. if you want your guest’s first names listed on the invitation, then only submit their first names (in this case, supply Amanda rather than Amanda Cookson)
    • Group your guests names together – one line is one invitation (Craig and Amanda rather than a separate line for Craig and another line for Amanda)
    • Decide if you want to use “and” or “&” and use this consistently throughout your guest list
    • No special formatting – i.e. no numbering, tabs, multiple spaces, bullet points, columns. They just create more work. Seriously, it doesn’t have to be pretty (that’s what you’ve got us for)
    • You can submit your list in the body of your email, or in a single column within a spreadsheet. If you’re using the Southern Bride Guest List Planner Template we love that too.

    Yes:

    Amanda and Craig

    Mum and Dad

    Scott and Partner

    Wally and Glenys

    No:

    1. Amanda and Craig
    2. Mum & Dad
    3. Scott
    4. Scott’s Partner
    5. Wally Riach and Glenys Riach

    Submitting your guest list for your placecards

    • Please submit your guest names written exactly how you want them to appear on the placecards. i.e. if you want your guest’s first names listed on the placecard, then only submit their first names. (in this case, supply Amanda rather than Amanda Cookson)
    • Each guest goes on an individual line (as each guest needs a placecard)
    • If you order more placecards than you have guests, we will supply the extra ones without a name, so you’ve got spares. You don’t need to label them “Spare” as we will automatically add the extras on.
    • I do not require any special formatting – i.e. no numbering, tabs, multiple spaces, bullet points, columns
    • You can submit your list in the body of your email, or in a single column within a spreadsheet

    Submitting your seating plan diagram for your seating plan

    Many couples find it easiest to create these in spreadsheets, and that’s perfect for us.  Seating diagrams created in Word can be a bit harder to copy/paste from, as people tend to add columns, tabs or spaces that don’t copy and paste well. Simple is perfectly fine by me.  You can also share a plain text list. i.e.:

    First line is the table name and subsequent lines are the guests at that table:

    Table One

    Amanda

    Craig

    Glenys

    Wally

    Scott

    Table Two

    Mum

    Dad

    Danielle

    James

  • Free ‘Change the Date’ Editable Template

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    Well guys, what a crazy few weeks we’ve had, huh? I know I’ve been all over the place bouncing between wallowing in self-pity and heightened motivation to be The Best Version Of Amanda 3.0 (I’m going to finally clean the house! Do I really have to shower again this week? I’m going to do yoga daily! Oh my god how are we going to pay the bills? Let’s write an extensive checklist of tasks to complete!)

    So I can’t imagine having planned a wedding, just in time for the whole world to (metaphorically) catch on fire and implode on oneself. Can’t say I’ve ever had “Check for imminent global pandemic” on any of our wedding planning resources.

    What does one do in this situation? There’s not really a guidebook for that (although She Said Yes would be a good port of call) but if you’re on Level 4 lockdown and your wedding is only weeks away, then you’ll be looking at postponing.

    Or perhaps your wedding is further out, but with the COVID-19 travel restrictions likely to last months, you want to change your wedding date, so your important international guests will be able to travel to celebrate with you.

    Maybe you’ve decided you don’t want to wait at all, and rather than risk a large gathering and endangering your favourite Grandma, you’re massively downsizing your guest list, or eloping with very few (if any) guests.


    The complicating factor in all these situations can be letting your guests know there has been a change in your wedding plans – particularly if you’d already sent out Save the Dates or wedding invitations (or poured some of that hard-earned budget into beautiful wedding stationery that is now printed with the incorrect date).

    However – it is at this point that we can help!

    Sitting in my home office amongst my checklists that won’t get checked, the yoga mat that is better off a dog bed, and a house that looks like it’ll cause the next pandemic, I’ve come up with a free, editable ‘Change the Date’ electronic template:

    If you want colours changed, or a physical copy printed, or want us to design something else for you – we can totally do that too. We are busy setting up some designs that match our existing wedding stationery (so your Change of Plans card can still match your existing stationery, because #matchymatchy doesn’t take pandemics off). You can check out the latest additions to our range here. If there’s a design that’s missing that you’re hanging out for, let us know and we’ll bump it up the list for you.

    For couples who got their Save the Dates and Wedding Invitations through Be My Guest, we are also offering free electronic ‘Change of Plans’ cards to match your stationery – just email them out to guests or take advantage of discounted reprints. Just email and we will make it happen.

    In the meantime – stay safe, stay sane and don’t stress – we are all in this together.

    x Amanda

     

  • COVID-19 Lockdown Update

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    As you are probably aware, the NZ Govt has ordered a lockdown of all non-essential businesses.

    We are unable to print or dispatch items until the lockdown lifts. The Be My Guest team are working remotely from their homes, and are checking emails regularly. So any orders placed that require design work will still progress, up until the printing stage.

    This is an unprecedented time filled with uncertainty for everyone. Please continue to support small businesses, be patient with each other, and look after yourself.

    x Amanda

  • The Epic NZ Wedding Seating Planning Guide

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    Getting organised for your wedding reception? One of the trickiest tasks is trying to figure out where everyone will sit for the speeches and meal.

    Family politics, friend drama and ex girlfriends all have to be kept in mind – sure, it’s your day, but if you can do something to minimise the chance of drama taking away from the shine of your big day, you would, right?

    With this in mind, allocated seating for your wedding guests is a smart move. In this article I’m sharing my tips and tricks to creating the perfect wedding reception seating plan with Be My Guest Design.

    How many seats and tables do you need for your wedding guests at your reception venue?

    To create a seating plan for your wedding, you’ll first need to figure out how many people can sit per table, and how many tables you’re having. This might be an easy exercise if you are getting married at a venue experienced at hosting weddings. They’ll know how many people can fit at the tables they have, and how many tables can fit in their space (or how many tables you’ll need for the number of guests you’re expecting).

    If you are getting married in a marquee or setting up your own furniture in a hall, it can be a bit more complicated. This is the point where a wedding coordinator, planner or stylist becomes invaluable, and is typically a core part of their offerings (see for example, Encore Events)

    If you’re determined to DIY, it’s doable – just a little bit more planning, number crunching and fiddling round. Depending on the space, furniture and budget available, you might like to mix up your seating arrangements too (check out some ideas here). Different table shapes have their pros and cons – long rectangular tables can fit a greater seated capacity into a space and it’s easier for guests to talk. Round tables are a more traditional option and afford your guests more leg room.

    How to map out your wedding reception’s space

    Mapping out your wedding reception’s space will help you ensure all your guests have enough room to eat their meals and are comfortable. On the other hand, too much space can make things a bit awkward as well. A bit of preparation now will make setting up the day before a whole heap easier!

    How can you do this? I recommend creating a floor plan to map out your reception. Go old school and sketch out a floor plan to scale with measuring tape, paper and pen – or there are some software programs dedicated to the task.  Look into Social Tables, Perfect Table Plan or All Seated. 

    At this point you’ll want to decide what sort of head table configuration you’ll have, and who from your bridal party will be sitting there with you. Check out this post on Southern Bride for the different types of head table options you could choose from – and give your head table pride of place on the floor plan, and work your guest’s tables around that.

    Once you’ve figured out how many people can sit at each table, hopefully you’ve got enough spots for all the wedding guests you’ve invited! 

    Grouping your wedding guests 

    With any luck your guests have sent their RSVPs in promptly and you can get this done nice and early… realistically you’ll be chasing procrastinating guests.

    Luckily, this step can be done without your guest list finalised. Go through a list of your guests (either handwritten or in a doc on the computer) and group each guest/couple into the following categories:

    • bridal table (i.e. who is sitting at the top table/you and your partner etc)
    • your immediate family
    • your partner’s immediate family
    • your family
    • your partner’s family
    • mutual friends
    • work friends
    • family friends
    • any other categories that might make sense for you (church friends, sports associates etc)

    You can either physically group them into separate lists, or just colour code each category. I also recommend you group couples together at this point, as they’ll be sitting together. This doesn’t apply for members of the bridal party that will be sitting at the top table, as they are (usually) seated separately.

    Depending on how far away you are from getting the finalised guest list lined up, you may be able to start grouping guests into tables, so let’s move onto that now.

    Arranging wedding guests into tables for the wedding reception

    At this point I find using Excel or Google Sheets handy, as you can easily shift guests around between tables. If you are still using pen and paper to compile your list, now the time to transfer it to the computer.

    template for wedding guest list

    Start a spreadsheet and at the top of each column type out your table names. This is not your final seating plan that the guests will read from, so don’t waste time trying to format it all fancy or worrying about order yet. If you want to do this part with pen and paper, there is an alternative approach here.

    Copy and paste your guest list into the worksheet from your guest list, so that you have the list of names handy and you are not switching back and forth between windows. If you have grouped them or colour coded them in the previous step, then copy that formatting over as well.

    Underneath each table name, leave the number of cells empty that the table can fit, and in the next cell below, write down how many people can fit at that table. You’ll have something that looks like this:

    You are going to cut and paste your guests from the guest list to under each table (note, the keyboard shortcut for this is ctrl X + ctrl V). ‘Cutting’ instead of copying means that your list of guests will get smaller as you allocate their seats at a table. Start with the easy one – that’s the top table, aka the head table or bridal table.

    Next, do tables holding your immediate family and your partner’s immediate family – depending on the dynamics, guests might need to be split over a couple of tables. If you still have room to seat people at the family tables, you could seat the bridesmaid/groomsmens partners, close friends of the family that don’t know anyone else, or favourite extended family members.

    Next move onto compiling tables of wider family, then friends, and so forth. In addition to seating guests by how you know them, you can also consider their age, interests, and backgrounds. Try to make every guest feel comfortable with a mix of familiar and new faces at each table.

    If you want to avoid drama and seat certain people away from others then put them at separate tables first and work round them. In the scheme of things, if you get it a bit wrong, it won’t matter – they’ll only be sitting there for the evening!

    There will be lots of shifting round and back and forth – it is a giant Tetris puzzle and a process of elimination. 

    Conveying your seating arrangements to wedding guests at the reception

    Once you have figured out who will be sitting where, your next step is deciding how you will communicate to your guests who is sitting where.

    Your options for this are:

    You can use a seating plan, or placecards, or both.

    Using just a seating plan means your guests find their own seat at their allocated table. Using just placecards means your guests will have to look around each table till they find their name. Using both means your guests can see where they are sitting and then when they find their table, the placecard will direct them to their allocated seat.

    It is your personal preference and/or budget that will determine what option you choose – my recommendation is having a seating plan at minimum, as this acts as a focal point for arriving guests and manages the flow of guests through the room. Imagine trying to find one seat in a large room of tables.

    Designing your wedding seating plan and placecards

    This is the point where Be My Guest Design can come in and take some of the stress off! Designing your seating plan is as simple as browsing our range of predesigned seating plans, then placing your order.

    When you are placing an order for a wedding seating plan from Be My Guest Design, you need to decide what sort of sign type and size. Here’s some guidelines:

    Seating Chart Type

    There are a number of options available for printing your seating chart, but the most popular is to receive your wedding seating plan printed onto canvas and mounted/stretched on a frame.  This makes them suitable to place on an easel or hang on the wall.

    You can also elect to have your seating plan printed onto high quality matt paper and delivered rolled into a cardboard tube.  These seating plans are suitable to frame or pin to a wall.

    As well as the large format signs as described above, we also design and print seating plans with the tables separated out onto smaller pieces of card.

    What size seating plan do I need for my wedding?

    One of the most common questions we receive is “what size seating plan should I use for my wedding?”. The answer is typically: “whatever is going to work in the space that you have”. Think back to the primary purpose of your seating plan.  It is to direct wedding guests to their seats.  So the seating chart needs to be easily readable, and ideally, large enough for several people to read at once while crowding around the plan as they enter your wedding reception.

    When we are designing your seating plan, we adjust and tweak the tables to hold as many or as little guests as possible (and even accommodate guests with reaaaaaaallllly long names, like if you decide to include both first and last names).

    Still want some guidance on size? A1 and A2 sizes are by far the most popular. A2 is perfect when your seating plan is going onto a tabletop easel, and A1 works perfectly if you’re using a floor standing easel. A0 is fine in big spaces… A3 can work in other spaces, but you wouldn’t want to be having a big guest list. (Here’s the dimensions of ‘A’ sizes if you’re curious.)

    I’ve also recorded a simple video showing the different sizes and material options, so check that out too. You can find it here:

    Laying out your wedding seating plan

    The spreadsheet you’ve created in the steps above is perfectly adequate to send through to us. In fact, I prefer it – we can copy and paste the guest names through to our design files. This ensures we avoid any typos (we are human beings after all).

    You can choose to have your seating plan laid out by table (most common) or alphabetically. Alphabetically is good for really large weddings (200+) with lots of tables. You either sort by first name, or by last name. Sorting by last name means that guests can 

    Once we’ve designed your seating plan, we send you an electronic copy for you to check you’re happy, or to advise any changes. When you give us the ok, we’ll send it off to print with our NZ based suppliers and courier it to you directly.

    blue wedding seating plan

    How long will my seating plan take to be printed?

    It’s important to allow as much time as possible. For card and photo paper prints, allow two weeks for design, printing and delivery. For canvas seating plans, allow up to three weeks (the canvas assembly process takes a little longer).

    Allowing plenty of time ensures you receive your seating plan and other stationery pieces well before your set-up day (and you can relax and know you’ve got everything you need for your wedding day).

    Faster turnaround times are possible, and we’re aware that these are important, so all seating plans are given priority. However if it’s a tight turnaround, urgency fees apply. We pay extra to bump your seating plan up the print queue ahead of other clients, pay staff extra time to get your design done sooner, and upgrade shipping, all to ensure you get your stationery in a stress-free timeframe!

    Please note, the above timeframes also exclude weekends and public holidays, so it pays to be organised, especially around Christmas/New Year and Easter times.

    How to get wedding place names designed

    If you are using placecards, you simply send us a list of your guest names. We will send you through a draft set of placecards for you to double check.

    Because you can occasionally have last minute additions, we suggest getting a couple of spare cards with no guest names included, so you can handwrite any late guest’s names on.

    Tips for setting up your stationery for the wedding reception

    When you get your order, open it up straight away and check everything is correct – if there are any issues it pays to know about them in plenty of time! If you have ordered a canvas seating plan, it is supplied ready to go and you can pop it on an easel or up against a wall. You can even attach it directly to a wall – I recommend using these strips – they’re quick, easy and come of cleanly. The canvas prints are shipped wrapped in bubble wrap. After you’ve opened up your print and done a double check, re-wrap it into the bubble wrap so it is kept in mint condition before the wedding day.

    If you have ordered a photo/vinyl print, it will arrive rolled in a cardboard tube. You will need to frame it or pin it to a wall.  You can buy frames affordably from the Warehouse or Kmart that perfectly fit the A1 – A3 size plans that we offer. After your wedding, you can reuse the frame for some of those beautiful wedding photos you’re going to have!

    Doing a pegboard or similar? Your individual guest plans are pretty much ready to go straight out of the packaging. Please do a test run to make sure you have everything you need, that the size fits well and your pegs or clips will hold them.

    little leaves rustic wedding seating plan at Markovina Vineyard Estate

    Finally, I suggest you sort your guest’s place name cards into the tables they’ll be sitting at. Put them in ziplock bags or similar with the table number. Then, during setup, you won’t have to shuffle through the whole stack of place cards. This gives you a chance to check if any are missing in lots of time too.

    I’m sure this guide has given you some tips and tricks for compiling your wedding seating plan, so do go ahead and check out our range of wedding seating plans available.  If you have any other questions then please get in touch, we’d love to help!