DIY - Do It Yourself Table Placecards and Names

Get creative with your event! Do somethings yourself to add a personal touch. If you have always wanted to do this but don't feel creative or are having a brain fart, I recommend going to Micheal's and wandering around. Micheal's has ton's of supplies for arts, crafts, bridal invitations, shower invitations, scrapbooks, candles, vases and centerpeices, as well as artificial flowers. If you head there with an idea in mind for colors or even no idea in mind, but want to visualize some colors, I promise you won't come out emptyhanded.
When I am selecting colors for an event of my own, or to help someone else, I either go to Micheals, or I go to the paint section in Home Depot and look at the swatches and how they look together. You can even take these home with you to check with your family or fiance.
Other than color selection, you can find fun ways to make unique invitations, table place cards, table numbers, favors and just add a personal touch to almost anything.
Since the last wedding I planned was only 110 people, we had 11 tables and a sweetheart table for the bride and groom. I prompted all my friends for ideas for creative table names, instead of the typical numbered tables. Here are some suggestions I got:

1. Places the bride and groom have been together in the world (i.e. Hawaii, India, London)
2. Names of Drinks
3. Words meaning "Love" in all different languages
4. Words of endearment in different languages
5. Star Signs
6. Theme for each table
7. Names of songs or artists

Needless to say there are many ideas I got back and the one I liked the best was number 4. I chose to use words in different Indian languages that mean something sweet. Here are the names of the tables I had: Dulhan(Bride), Saajan (Groom), Pyar (Love), Mohobbat (Love), Ishq (Love), Dil (Heart), Pranaya (Love) , Piya (Lover), Jaanum (Life) , Mithri (Love)

At Micheals, I went to the section where there are all different colors and prints of paper and found ones that matched my colors (Purple and Gold) and I downloaded an Indian looking font (it is called Samarkan if you want to search for it). Here is what they looked like:
For the actual placecard table, I bought placecards from Micheals (Brand called "Brides") and instead of folding them in half, I kept them straight, I bought thin purple and gold ribbon and a tape pen. I cut ribbon and taped it along the line in the center of the placecard (to split the top and bottom and add some color), then I played around with the bindi's that we have all over the house and ended up with little tear dropped shaped ones which I used to accent the placecard. Then still using the Samarkan font in the plum color you see in the pix, I put a person's name (Alphabetical order) and below the ribbon line, I printed their table name on clear labels and stuck them on, here is how they looked:
I then attached them to the little pouches that held wedding favors. This way, when you pick up your placecard you also pick up your favor! Inside the pouch (ordered from India), I put a pretty jeweled and mirrored pill box and a packet of Supari (minty breath freshener). I know it all seems like a lot of work, but even getting friends or family together to work on these things is part of the fun. Plus, you don't have to have an idea up front, let it come to you organically and figure it out as you go!!