I’ve been working in the wedding industry for 10+ years, and with that experience comes a lot of repetition including countless place cards. Besides paper, I’ve lettered on leaves (see this blog post for how-to), stones, shells, tiles, wood, etc… While you can’t letter on everything, I had been challenged to almost every material. So, last summer when we created our Summer Entertaining Guide, I wanted to create a place card I hadn’t created before. I had been on an acrylic spree at the time (and honestly still am), so when I saw these acrylic cubes I knew that not only would the lettering would work on them, but I could also dress them up by adding something fun inside.

We ended up making a trip to Moorten’s Botanical Gardens that day to do a little sourcing. My original idea had been cactus focused, but when we got back to the house we were shooting at and started to incorporate some of the flowers we brought, magic happened.

Supplies

• acrylic cube

• cactus

• small piece of muslin

• thread

• flowers

• paint pen (I love this one)

Steps

1. Letter name on the tope of the cube with your paint marker

2. Slide the top off and place the flowers on bottom of cube (you must be able to slide top on and off). Most of the stems were trimmed off, but you can leave a few longer so they stand up higher towards the top of the box

3. Wrap bottom of mini cactus in muslin and tie with string

4. Add cactus to the cube and nestle in between flowers

5. Slide the top back on halfway and as you begin to close it, you can add more flowers around the sides where the top of the box comes down to close. This is the trickiest part!

6. I shared this video tutorial on IGTV if you want to see one come together.

   * remember to choose sturdy flowers that will be ok without water for a few hours!*

They do take a bit of time as well as some patience and you get everything into place but I can 100% say that they are worth it. If you do them ahead of time, leave the cube cracked a bit and place in your refrigerator to keep the flowers from wilting. Leave the cube cracked as well as you let them come back to room temperature, moisture can collect inside if not.

You know how I love something that guests get to take home… like, not something you will throw in the trash after your event is over. I think this hits that mark while still being beautiful and a great conversation starter. Guests can take the entire thing home, dry the flowers, pot their cactus, and store keepsakes in their personalized box.

Did you have place cards at your wedding? Or do you make them for dinner parties? What have been your favorite unique ideas for interesting place cards?