World Map Wedding Seating Plans

The idea behind a world map wedding seating plan is as straightforward as it sounds – choose a large print of the world map, assign each table to a country and place labels with guests’ names on each country.

Place it in a frame, on a table, pinned to the wall or on a large easel, and you have a fantastic seating plan idea. Here are a few ideas about how you can take this idea and make it your own.

Also see our world map themed Pinterest board for a world of ideas and inspiration for your very own designs!

DIY World Map Table Plan

It’s really very easy to create a great looking world map table plan!

The one pictured below uses a simple world map with guest names printed on luggage labels that are pinned in place. The map and 12 luggage labels can be bought for around just £15 from notonthehighstreet.com.

Decorating Your World Map

Photos
If you are choosing this theme because you love travelling, base your table names on the countries you have visited. Trawl through your photo collection and choose your favourite photo of you both in each country. Place these photos around your world map, with a list of guests at each table underneath each photo.

Vintage travel

There are some beautiful old style world map prints available, which would be perfect to annotate guests’ names in calligraphy. Also think along the lines of vintage suitcases, luggage tags, brown paper and twine, vintage travel posters, passports, hats and black and white photos to create a themed area or to decorate your entire reception venue on a vintage world map theme.

Escort cards
Escort cards are a fashionable alternative to a wedding seating plan and lend themselves perfectly to a world map theme. Here are some suggestions:

• Use a world map as a table covering, with vintage luggage labels as cards
• Create numbered escort cards and name each table after a country. Each numbered escort card corresponds to a number on a country in a framed world map which, in turn, shows guests which table they will be sitting at
• Create your escort cards by using rectangles of map stuck to card, with guests’ names written on each card. Either place on a table or pin to a pin board for guests to find their table

World Map Accessories and Décor

Why stop at the seating plan? Continue the theme throughout your wedding reception. Here are a few ideas to get you started:

Table numbers and place names
Add to your world map theme by creating table numbers cut from maps, and place name cards made from maps folded into paper aeroplanes and labelled with guests’ names, or named luggage labels tied with twine to chairs.

Garlands and bunting
If you love being crafty, you can create some beautiful paper heart garlands from map paper. Note that this will work best if there is a map pattern on both sides of the paper, for example using pages from a cheap or unwanted Atlas. Follow these simple instructions for a heart or ‘onion’ pattern. Alternatively, create yards of fantastic bunting using map paper interspersed with coordinating coloured paper.

Favours, menus and centrepieces
Use map paper to wrap your favours, twine to decorate them and luggage labels to name them. Use map paper as a backing for your menus. Create paper flowers from map paper as a unique DIY map centrepiece, or use light up globes as a stunning glowing evening table centrepiece.

Guest book
Find some bright, bold marker pens and a hard backed Atlas, and ask your guests to choose a country to write their best wishes. Alternatively, collect as many postcards from around the world as you can find, and invite guests to write a message on a postcard of their choice.

Credits

Images from theweddingofmydreams.co.uk used with the kind permission of Gemma Morgan.