…And everyone in their place. Read on for some great ideas to keep place cards in their…um…place, even on a windy day.

But first, an apology for my absence. I did not mean to disappear for so long. Life got completely crazy, and I’m just catching up.

I wrote a lovely “happy holidays” post, but it disappeared. So, Happy Holidays, Happy New Year, Happy President’s Day, Happy Groundhog Day and any other special occasions that I’ve missed in the last month or so. There. I’m caught up now.

Now – about those place cards.

I’ve had several fun weddings recently, and they started me thinking about some of the small details that can become big problems if you aren’t prepared. For instance, outdoor weddings are beautiful, but you need a solid and thoroughly considered rain plan. I love to help my brides come up with something that will still carry out their vision while keeping everyone dry.

However, rain isn’t usually the problem.  A breezy day is lovely and perfect on the beach, but it can more often than not wreak havoc with your place cards. You’ve spent hours figuring out the seating arrangement and setting up the place cards so that everyone can easily find their spot and whoosh…gone with the wind! One small gust, and everyone is chasing the cards.

One idea to prevent the wind-blown look is to skip the place cards altogether and use a seating chart. Any copy shop can enlarge a simple document from your computer to poster size.This bride mounted the poster on foam core and placed it on a pretty easel for her wedding at the Crosley Mansion. It was a striking statement at the entrance and the alphabetical listing made it easy for guests to find their names.

But, if you want to use individual place cards, a little pre-planning and creativity will make the breeze one less thing to worry about. Here are some of the ideas that my brides have used.

The bride covered a cork board to match her linens and hung keys with place card tags on the board which was set up at the Ringling Museum in Bradenton. The idea of the bride and groom saying to each other “you have the key to my heart” filled their wedding day with love.

These pretty place cards had a note from the bride and groom inside and were anchored in a tray filled with sand at Sarasota’s Ritz-Carlton Members Beach Club. It’s hard to see in the picture, but they have a little bird embossed on them.

This talented bride and groom and their families painted small canvases with copies of famous works of art and tied the place cards to them onto a tack pinned on the back of the art. They were perfect for their Ringling Museum of Art setting at the Ca’d'Zan Mansion – and doubled as favors.

The bride found these wine cork place card holders on etsy.com for her wedding at the Postcard Inn in St. Petersburg. They would be equally great for a beach wedding or a wine-themed celebration.

Starfish are a wonderful way to keep the place cards in place and very appropriate for beach weddings. Here are two different ways I’ve used them. In the top photo, a miniature boat was filled with sand, and the tags were tied with starfish and pushed into the sand. In the other one, these fancy starfish had the place cards attached with ribbons for a wedding at the Lido Beach Resort in Sarasota.

Place card weights can be as simple as using a table number stand like this wedding at the Crosley Mansion.

I haven’t used these place cards yet, but I love them!  The calligraphy is beautiful!

That’s right – it’s a cookie! These don’t look like they would blow away in the wind, but I think that someone will have to watch out for guests who are sneaking a nibble. They are from Kathryn Murray Calligraphy.

I hope  that you found some good inspirations here. I’ll be back with another post very soon – I promise! By the way, I would love to hear your ideas for posts. I have the comments section on review to keep out the spammers………but I check them often.

Anna Pohl is the certified and award-winning owner of the wedding and event company, Day Planners, specializing in destination wedding planning on Florida’s Gulf Coast. With an MBA and BFA in Fine Arts, Anna’s unique combination of creativity and solid business smarts allows her to flawlessly assist her clients with their soirees. Currently, Anna teaches event planning at the State College of Florida and is a regular contributor to Nuovo Bride.