Simple Steps to Set Up Your Souvenir Gift Table for Your Wedding
Guests love to give beautifully wrapped gifts and cards full of love and congratulations for your wedding, and although some guests will send wedding gifts from a registry directly to your home, many still bring cards or physical presents to the actual event. So, I would always recommend designating an area of your event space for this purpose.
By having a special area just for your souvenirs and gifts, it helps to keep everything organized but it also can make that space look amazing. It is often combined with a welcome table, the gift table is the perfect opportunity for some creativity and design, as well as being useful to your guests.
Here are some simple steps to set up and style your souvenir gift table, making sure that it ties in with your wedding decor.
Gift Table Placement
The gift table should be in a visible and easily accessible location at the reception venue, usually, it will be somewhere that guests are guaranteed to walk past it. It should be somewhere within the main event space, where it's easily within your eyesight. The number of guests you are inviting will help to determine the amount of space needed for the gift table. It could be nice to have it near the guest book, or near the entrance to the venue so people will see it straight away when they arrive with their gifts.
Table Styling
A gift table doesn't really need much decoration, because when everyone starts arriving it will be full of cards and presents. There are a few simple ways you can accessorize the table to tie in with your wedding theme, without getting in the way of the space for the gifts.
One idea is to use a luxe tablecloth or linen in the same colorway of your color palette. You can also use a decorative box or basket for guests to fill with their cards and presents. The actual table itself could be part of the decor, for example using a rustic bench, an antique surface, an old wagon, or a barrel, depending on what will fit in with your theme and venue.
Remember that you will also need some sort of box or container for everyone to drop their cards into, so you can also use this as an opportunity to incorporate some creativity into the decor.
Styling Inspiration
Here are a few of my favourite table styling ideas for setting up your wedding table. These will all be different depending on the theme of your wedding, the venue and the overall style of your day - but hopefully you find something that inspires you!
Use Signage
You can easily accessorize your welcome table with beautiful and decorative signs that inform guests where they should place their cards and gifts. The signage will benefit the guests as it makes it clear for them where they should leave their gifts, but it will also look lovely and is an easy way of combining your overall wedding styling into the souvenir table.
Packing Up
Your wedding night is all about enjoying yourself during the reception and, you will most likely be worn out by the end of the evening. So you won’t want to be packing up or organizing all of your gifts at the end of the night! Make sure you’ve arranged for a member of the bridal party or a family member to collect all of your gifts and cards, and store them somewhere safe for you until you’re ready to collect them.
This doesn’t even need to be at the end of the night, because once everyone has arrived they will likely drop off their gifts first. The gifts can be taken to a secure room or stored away somewhere. You can even then repurpose the gift table for dessert, snacks, or a coffee station.
Your wedding souvenir gift table doesn’t need to be fancy or over the top, but it is always good to have one! If you love decorating or just want to go all out on your big day, you can go as crazy with the decorations as you would like - just remember to leave enough room for the presents!