Place cards and escort cards make beautiful, personalized presentations at parties, rehearsal dinners and wedding receptions. They are used to make the guests feel welcome and comfortable (and also to make sure certain guests are or are not seated in proximity to each other).

When preparing your escort card list, example formats include:

• Mr. and Mrs. John Smith (one line)
   
• Mr. and Mrs.
  John Smith (two lines)
   
• Mary and John Smith (one line)
  
  (the wife's first name goes first in this format so that the husband's first name is not separated from his last name)

When preparing your place card list, example formats include:

• Mr. John Smith (with title ) or John Smith (no title)
   
• Mrs. John Smith (with title) or Mary Smith (no title)

Note: You wouldn't use "Mrs. Mary Smith" for a married woman because this format of address is used for divorcées.

I would not recommend using your guests' middle names on escort or place cards because the calligraphy would have to be small to accommodate their full names. It's nice to make the names as large as possible (sans middle names) so that guests don't have to bend over the table to read their cards!

To write the names as large as possible on the cards, I usually write the titles of married couples on one line and the husband's name on the second line, as you can see in some of the samples.

For unmarried couples whose names both appear on the same escort card envelope, I will write each name on a single line. If a married couple has different last names, I'll write their names on two lines and include "and" in front of the second name to acknowledge that they are married.

If you prefer to have the married couples' titles and names appear on one line, please let me know.

How to order place card  and/or escort card addressing

1. Call us or submit a Request for Quote to ensure availability to address your cards. We'll need the following information:

• Date of the event
• The date you need the cards returned
• The date you can provide us with the cards and your complete list of attendees
• Calligraphy style desired
• Number of cards you need
• If the place cards are tent-style, or presented in an envelope (escort cards)
• Whether you want married couples' names on one line or two
• Color of ink desired

1. Prepare your list in Word or Excel, then email us the list.
2. Plan to provide a minimum of 10% more cards than names, with no fewer than 10 additional cards.
3. If you have additional names or changes to your existing list, please email us just the changes, not the entire list again.
4. We'll call or email you when the cards are ready to deliver, along with the balance due. We usually keep 3-5 blank cards in case of last minute changes after delivery of the cards.

Note to clients outside Houston, Texas:

We must have the cards and complete list in hand no later than 7-10 business days before the event. Earlier would be better. We will mail the completed cards back to arrive at least 5 business days before the event (you pay shipping).

If you see any errors that we've made you must let us know immediately so that we can mail you the corrected cards via priority mail. Otherwise, you can opt to pay additional charges to upgrade the shipping. PenDance only pays shipping up to Priority Mail cost when there's an error on our part, otherwise the client is responsible for shipping charges. If you have any questions about this policy, please contact us.

Deposit and Due Date

• A 50% deposit is required to reserve time on our work schedule for hand calligraphy. The balance is due when the completed items are shipped or delivered to you.
• All shipping and delivery costs are the client's responsibility. If you should decide to cancel your order, then the deposit will act as a cancellation fee.

Tent Card - Copperplate with Flourished "M"

Tent Card - Pointed Pen Variation

Escort Card - Spencerian

Escort Card - Italic