Wedding Menus
Menus are seen at the table under warm, low light, which changes what works: fine grey type disappears, foil comes alive, and a tall narrow format reads better against a plate than a landscape one. They are also the piece most likely to get wet, so an uncoated sheet will spot — a heavier or dyed-through stock forgives a spill better than a pale coated one.
What people actually ask
- What size is a wedding menu card?
- Tall and narrow is the norm — around 4×9 or 5×7 — so it stands or lies on a plate without crowding the place setting.
- Does foil work on menus?
- Better than anywhere else in the suite. Reception lighting is dim and warm, and foil is the one treatment that gains rather than loses in low light.
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A menu is read at arm's length, in candlelight, next to a water glass that will eventually tip. That's the whole design brief. Everything we recommend for this piece — the ink weight, the shape, the stock — comes from those three facts about where it lives. Print it like a business card and it disappears into the tablecloth. Print it for the room and it does its job: tells people what's coming, and looks like the rest of the night.
Warm, low light eats fine grey type
Set your courses in 8pt light grey and they will vanish at the table. Reception lighting is dim and warm, and it drains contrast out of anything pale or hairline-thin. We push menu type up in weight and size, keep body copy in a real black or a saturated ink, and reserve the delicate strokes for a headline that has some scale behind it.
Foil goes the other way. Under candles and warm bulbs it catches and moves — the shine is a light source, not a color. A foil monogram or course rule earns its keep here in a way it never quite does on a piece read in daylight.
Tall and narrow reads better against a plate
Set a landscape menu on a charger and it fights the plate for the same rectangle of space. A tall, narrow format sits cleanly to the left of the setting, tucks into a napkin fold, or leans against a glass without covering the flatware.
The proportion helps the typography too. A narrow column forces one course per line, which is exactly how a guest scans it — top to bottom, in order, no hunting. Wide formats tempt you into two columns, and two columns at candlelight distance means people read the wrong line and ask their neighbor what's for dinner.
This is the piece most likely to get wet
Wine, condensation off a water glass, a sweating champagne flute set down on the corner. An uncoated sheet drinks that in and spots, and a pale uncoated sheet shows the ring for the rest of the evening.
So we steer heavier. A thick sheet has more mass to absorb a drop before it reaches the surface, and a dyed-through stock — color all the way to the core, not printed on top — hides a mark instead of framing it. Deep tones forgive the most. If your palette is pale, weight becomes the thing that saves you.
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Common questions
Should the menu match the invitation exactly?
Match the typography and the ink, not necessarily the stock. The invitation is handled once in daylight; the menu sits in a wet, dim room all night. It's normal for the menu to move to a heavier or darker sheet while keeping the same typeface, the same foil color, and the same margins.
Is foil worth it on a menu?
More than on almost any other piece in the suite. Foil has no pigment — it reflects whatever light is in the room, so warm candlelight makes it glow while flat ink goes muddy. A small foil element, a monogram or the couple's names at the top, does more work here than a large printed one.
Can we print a different menu for each guest?
Personalizing menus with guest names is a common request and changes how the file is built — names come from a spreadsheet rather than the layout, and every entry needs proofreading before press. How we handle variable names on this piece, and which printing methods it works with, is worth confirming with us for your specific design.
How many should we order beyond the guest count?
Always more than seats. Menus get spilled on, taken home as keepsakes, and requested by the photographer for flat-lay shots. Planners typically build in a cushion over the confirmed headcount, plus a handful for your own album. Order quantities and how they affect your setup are worth confirming with us directly.
What size should a wedding menu be?
Tall and narrow is the shape that works against a plate — enough height for six or seven lines with air between them, narrow enough to sit beside a charger without crowding the flatware. The exact dimensions we offer for this format are worth confirming with us before you build the file.
Need the entire invitation suite drawn?
Invitation, RSVP, details and envelope composed for this stock and finish, with press-ready files for each piece.