How to Order or Request a Quote
Contact us to fill out a short form to tell us about yourself and the due date for your place cards and/or escort cards. We will get back to you ASAP (almost always same day if it’s Monday – Friday) to confirm our availability and get more details about your project.
Ready to work with us? Then you can Schedule an Appointment on our online appointment calendar!

Place cards and Escort Cards – Hand Calligraphy
Welcome your guests to your dining festivities with personalized place cards and escort cards!
They will enjoy your event even more knowing that there is no hurry or worry to find their seats near friends, dates, or their families.
(…and place cards can also help ensure that certain guests are not seated in close proximity to each other).
Place Cards vs. Escort Cards
Place cards are arranged at each individual table setting, whereas escort cards (also called table assignment cards) are usually displayed near the reception hall entrance for guests to pick up to find their tables.
TIP: If you are having individual menus printed for each place setting, leave room at the top or bottom of the menu for your guests’ names to be printed or written. The menus will act as their place cards!
And don’t forget to order buffet cards to identify all the yummy goodies awaiting your guests!

Modern Calligraphy – Buffet Cards
PenDance Tent Cards
PenDance offers custom tent-style cards for your convenience in our online store, to purchase as blank cards only or to use with our hand calligraphy and digital printing services.
Place Card & Escort Card Addressing
To order tent cards to be addressed by computer, please visit our online store. Free Priority Mail shipping is available for orders of $75 or more.
To order place cards or escort cards for hand calligraphy, please submit a Request for Quote to ensure Maureen’s availability. You are welcome to use your own stock for hand calligraphy, but be sure to provide at least 10% extra cards than names, with a minimum of 10 extra cards. If you order PenDance stock you won’t have to worry about providing any extra cards!
Can I drop-ship my cards to you? Yes, whether you are local or long distance!
TIP: You may also want to order matching table signs to coordinate with your cards!
Place Card Etiquette
We recommend using only a guest’s first and last name on each place card, rather than using titles like Mr. or Mrs. The exception would be for doctors or elected officials who might be offended if their titles were left off.
If you do prefer using titles, remember that married women should be addressed with their husband’s first names, not their own first name. Using “Mrs.” with a woman’s first name connotes that she is a divorcee.
Example: Mrs. John Smith NOT Mrs. Jane Smith
Escort Card Etiquette
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)
NOTE: the wife’s first name goes first in this format so that the husband’s first name is not separated from his last name.
We recommend leaving off your guests’ middle names on escort or place cards because the calligraphy or printing would have to be smaller to accommodate their full names. It’s nice to make the names as large as possible so that guests don’t have to bend over the tables to read their cards!
To have the names appear as large as possible, we usually put the titles of married couples on one line and the husband’s first and name on the second line, as in #2 above.
For unmarried couples whose names both appear on the same escort card envelope, each name goes on a separate line.
If a married couple has different last names, their names will go on separate lines and include “and” in between their names to acknowledge that they are married.
If you prefer to have the married couples’ titles and names appear on one line, please let us know.
How to Order
To order tent cards for computer printing, please visit our online store.
To order place card and/or escort cards for hand addressing:
- Submit a Request for Quote to ensure Maureen’s availability to address your cards.
- Prepare your list in Word or Excel, then email us the list.
- Plan to provide a minimum of 10% more cards than names, with no fewer than 10 additional cards. (If you are ordering PenDance card stock, you don’t need to worry about providing extra cards.)
- If you have additional names or changes to your existing list, please email us just the changes, not the entire list again.
- 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