Christmas place cards, blank (A4)
One A4 sheet with four folded cards, about 100 × 70 mm each, in dark red with a fir tree, with fold line and crop marks.
Blank sheet, A4 (PDF) Blank sheet, US Letter (PDF)Christmas place cards you print yourself
Christmas place cards (also called place names) are small folded cards that tell each guest where to sit. Add your guests to Seating Solver, choose a dark red fir tree design, and print one folded card per person on A4 or US Letter. Or download a free blank sheet and write the names by hand.
Free to use, no account needed. Your guest list stays in your browser.
What are Christmas place cards?
A place card, or place name, is a small card with one guest’s name that stands at their seat. At Christmas it saves the “where do I sit?” shuffle and lets you plan who sits next to whom. They suit three kinds of occasion:
Christmas dinner at home
Eight to fifteen people around one table. Cards avoid the awkward pause and let you seat the grandparents in the middle and the cook near the kitchen.
Family gathering
Three generations, several tables, and a few people who see each other once a year. Cards keep children near their parents and spread out the usual pairings.
Office or club party
Mix teams and put newcomers next to someone they already know. With several tables, the seating plan matters more than the cards themselves.
How to make Christmas place cards
- Open Seating Solver and add your guests, one name per line. The cards use these names.
- Add a table (or several) and seat everyone: press the automatic seating button, or drag people into place. Place cards are only printed for seated guests.
- Open the Print tab and choose Design: Classic (serif type with a fine double border).
- Under Accent color, pick a dark red with the custom colour swatch (the cards on this page use #8c1c24). Gold and navy also look festive.
- Set Motif to Fir tree. Star is a good alternative.
- Choose the paper size, then download the PDF under Place cards. Print on card stock, cut along the crop marks and fold on the dashed line.
A free blank Christmas sheet
For a small table, or if you like writing the names with a gold pen: here is the same design without names. It has a fir tree and a line for the name on the front of each card, and the back half is left empty for a short note.
Printing and folding tips
- Size: each card is 100 mm wide and about 70 mm tall once folded (3.9 × 2.6 in on US Letter), with four cards on one sheet.
- Printer settings: choose “actual size” or 100 %, not “fit to page”, or the crop marks and sizes will be off.
- Paper: use card stock so the cards stand up. As a rule of thumb (not a manufacturer figure), 160 to 200 gsm works if your printer accepts it. Cream card looks especially Christmassy.
- Cutting and folding: cut along the crop marks with a ruler and craft knife for clean edges. Score the fold line first on thick card.
- Test first: print one page, check the fold and the spelling, then print the rest. Add a few spare cards for last-minute guests.
Name only, or with a message?
The simplest cards carry just the name. That is easy to read across a crowded table and never goes wrong. Seating Solver can also print the table number, the meal choice (useful if someone is vegetarian) and the name on the back, so the guest opposite can read it too.
For a personal touch, use the blank sheet and write a line on the back half of each card, such as a thank-you or a small joke. Seating Solver does not print free text or photos on a card.
Fonts
Classic uses a serif face that suits formal dinners. Modern is a clean sans serif, and Romantic is a script. Short names look best in the script; long names read better in Classic or Modern.
Colours
Dark red with a fir tree is the traditional look. Gold with a star feels more formal, navy and sage are quieter. You can also pick any colour you like.
Small touches
Rest each card against a glass or a bauble, or tuck a sprig of fir, a cinnamon stick or a small sweet in front of it.
Who sits where at Christmas?
- Seat the cook or host at the end nearest the kitchen.
- Put the grandparents in the middle of the table, where they hear the most conversation.
- Keep children together but within reach of their parents; with many children, consider a separate children’s table.
- Separate people who always argue, and seat new partners next to someone they already know.
With more than a handful of guests, let Seating Solver suggest the plan from your “sits with” and “keep apart” rules, then adjust by hand. The place cards come from the same plan, so the names always match.
Good to know
- The fir tree is a small motif above the name, not a full illustration. The cards are simple and elegant rather than decorative.
- Place cards are printed for seated guests only, so add a table and seat everyone before you print.
- The cards are free to use right now, without an account. The PDF is built in your browser, so your guest list is not uploaded.
Christmas place card questions
How do I make Christmas place cards?
Add your guests to Seating Solver, seat them at a table, and open the Print tab. Choose the Classic design, a dark red colour and the fir tree motif, then download the place cards as a PDF. Print on card stock, cut and fold.
What is the difference between place cards and place names?
Nothing. Place name is the common British term and place card the common American one. Both are the small card with a guest’s name at their seat.
Are the Christmas place cards free?
Yes, they are free to use right now. The blank Christmas sheet can be downloaded without an account, and Seating Solver also works without one.
What size are Christmas place cards?
The cards are 100 mm wide and about 70 mm tall folded (3.9 × 2.6 in on US Letter), four to a sheet of A4 or US Letter.
Can I write my own message on them?
Not through the planner, which prints the name, and optionally the table, the meal and the name on the back. The blank sheet has an empty back half for a handwritten note.
What paper should I use?
Card stock of roughly 160 to 200 gsm so the cards stand up. Check which weight your printer accepts, or have them printed at a copy shop.