Recently I was traveling with a client and was putting on a 30-person dinner in a town I’d never been to.

For someone as crazy about events as I am, this was a challenge. I had to put a lot of faith into recommendations and talking with people about the venue, the food, prices, transportation.

The dinner was on a Tuesday night, and I arrived late Sunday night. Monday afternoon I met with the restaurant, checked everything out, signed the contract (nothing like last minute, eh?), made a deal with a taxi company to transport everyone, and we were off.

Except one little detail…

… place cards. You never let 30 people just scramble and sit where they want at one long table, with multiple clients involved. So I started on a mission: find place cards in a strange city.

The restaurant was so fun and hip, too, that I didn’t want a plan gold foil-lined little place card. So finally I found a paper store with a great selection of note cards.

First, find a note card with significant white space to write the guests name. Check.

Second, put the note-cards-turned-place-cards on the settings (I’ve recreated a place setting here since I forgot to take pictures at the restaurant!).

Voila!