Wedding Signage and Stationery Checklist: Every Sign, and Who Puts It Out

What wedding signage do you actually need?

You need signs that help guests find their seat, their table and the things you want them to use. That's usually a welcome sign, a seating chart, table numbers and a wishing well sign. The rest depends on your venue and your day.

Wedding signage does two jobs. Some signs move people: the seating chart, directional signs, reserved seats. Others explain something: the bar menu, the wishing well, an unplugged ceremony. If a sign doesn't do either job for your wedding, skip it.

When is each sign needed during the day?

Ceremony signs need to be out before the first guest arrives, usually 30 minutes before the ceremony. Reception signs need to be out before guests walk in from canapés. Plan setup in that order.

If the ceremony and reception are in the same space, some signs move during the day. The welcome sign might go from the ceremony entry to the reception door. Put each move on your run sheet with a time and a name next to it.

Who sets up wedding signage and stationery on the day?

Not your venue, in many cases, and often not your stationer either. Ask both in writing. If neither will do it, give the job to your coordinator or a named helper.

Stationery setup came up in every one of my last eight client planning calls. Some venues will not touch anything stationery related. Restaurants that rarely host weddings are often the least willing, because their staff are there to serve food, not lay out cards. Many stationers drop the boxes at the door and leave. So the question isn't who made it. It's whose hands put it out.

When I coordinate a wedding, I set up the welcome sign, seating chart, wishing well, guest book, menus, place cards and drinks menus. Setup support for stationery and signage is part of every Hello Love package. If you're at a DIY or dry-hire venue, plan on doing all of it yourselves or through your coordinator.

How should wedding place cards be prepared for setup?

Sort them by table, then in seat order around each table, and band each table together. Hand them over with the final seating chart so the person setting up can check one against the other.

Place cards are the slowest stationery item to set out. I once received 150 unsorted cards on the day, and laying them out took me 2 hours. Sorted cards take a fraction of that. The wedding seating chart guide covers escort cards versus place cards, table plan layouts and dietary needs by seat.

• Sort by table, with a rubber band or envelope per table, labelled with the table number.
• Order each bundle by seat, starting from a fixed point such as the seat facing the stage.
• Mark dietary cards in a way staff can read, if you're using alternate drop meals.
• Pack a few blanks and a pen for last-minute changes.

What does your coordinator need to set each table?

The exact stack order for each place setting and a photo of how you want it to look. Without both, the person setting up is guessing.

I ask every couple for the order of the stack, from the bottom up. For example: plate, napkin, menu, name card on top. Then I ask for an inspiration photo.

Count menus by how they'll be used. One couple needed 20 drinks menus for 80 guests: 2 at each bar and the rest spread across the tables. Food menus are usually one per guest, or one or two per table if they stand upright.

How do signs get to the venue, and where are they kept?

Either the stationer delivers on the day, or you hand everything to your coordinator beforehand. Don't assume the venue will store it. Many won't take deliveries or hold items overnight.

Most of my couples hand me a little box before the day, or I collect it from the getting-ready location on the morning. Either works, as long as everything is in one place and labelled.

Your floor plan should show where each item goes. I ask for positions for the welcome sign, seating chart, gift table, cake and DJ at minimum. It's one of the things I go through at our detail discussion, about 2 to 3 months out, and again at the run sheet review 6 to 8 weeks before.

What about easels, stands and outdoor weather?

Count every stand you need and confirm who supplies each one. For outdoor signs, plan for wind, sun and rain, and have a spot inside for each sign if the weather turns.

• Easels: a large sign needs a floor easel. Ask if the venue has them, or hire them with your styling.
• Small stands: table numbers and the wishing well sign need table stands or holders. These are easy to forget.
• Wind: a large board on a light easel will blow over. Weigh the legs down or tie the board to the easel.
• Sun: acrylic and mirror signs glare and can be hard to read in direct sun. Angle them away from it.
• Rain: paper and foam board warp in the wet. Know where each outdoor sign goes under cover.

Directional signs matter most at large venues, and at venues where you arrive after hours and the usual entrance is shut. If guests could walk to the wrong door, put a sign there.

How do you keep guests away from the reception until it's ready?

Close it off clearly, with a ribbon or rope across the entry and the doors shut if possible. It keeps the room neat for photos and stops guests moving cards before dinner.

Once the tables are set, the photographer usually wants a few shots of the empty room. Guests wander in looking for their seat, pick up place cards and sit down early. A simple barrier works better than a polite sign. When there's a ribbon across an area where people should be walking, they won't walk through it.

Who packs down the signs and takes them home?

Name one person before the day and put it on the run sheet. Signs, the guest book, the wishing well and cards all need a car to go home in.

Hired signs and easels go back to whoever supplied them, so note pick-up times. Your own pieces, the guest book and the wishing well go home with a family member you trust. The wishing well especially should never be left on a table at the end of the night. I pack items into labelled boxes and hand them to that person before I leave. A printed list of what's going home belongs in your wedding day emergency kit too.

Frequently asked questions

How we researched this

Written by Sara Ward from the way she collects, sets up and packs down signage and stationery as a wedding day coordinator in Sydney. The setup problems described here come from eight recent Hello Love client planning calls, anonymised. Quantities are typical figures from her own weddings, not industry rules. Prices are Hello Love's published packages as of October 2026.