DIY Rustic Wedding Seating Chart

Planning your wedding? Congratulations! Or maybe you’re a wedding planner/decorator looking for ideas? You’re in the right place! We all know weddings can cost a ton of money, so if you can DIY a few big pieces you can save a ton of cash. Can you imagine making a beautiful seating chart like this from a piece of plywood? Well, you can! This project is actually fairly easy and quick and looked amazing at this wedding.

Here are all the details about how you can make one!

Materials:

• Plywood 2’x 3′ (I used birch plywood for a nice finish.)
• Wood stain
• Vinyl gloves
• Staining rag/pad
• Bubble Lights
• Pencil
• Gold thumb tacks
• Gold small clipboard clips
• White vinyl
• White paper
• Black Cricut marker

Tools:

• Drill and drill bit
• Jigsaw and wood blade
• Orbital Sander and sandpaper
• Heavy Duty Stapler and staples
• Cricut Maker (optional)

Step 1: Cutting plywood

Cut your plywood to size. Mine was 36″ tall and 24″ wide.

Step 2: Mark and drill holes for lights

Measure the entire side and divide it depending on how far apart you want the lights. Mine are 2″ apart. Drill holes where each light will be. Be sure your drill bit is just slightly bigger than your lights so it holds them securely.

If the bubble lights you buy have a removable light inside the outer bulb then you should be able to insert them into the holes. If they are like the lights I used and they do not separate, you will need to use a jig saw to cut lines from the side of the plywood for the cord to go through. I use a speed square as a quick and easy way to cut a straight line into the center of the drilled holes.

Step 3: Stain

Stain the entire plywood board using wood stain and a staining rag or pad. Use a small paint brush to stain inside the cut grooves.

Step 4: Add Lights

Place each light into the groove around the entire board. Flip the board over and use your stapler to staple the cords into place. Secure the battery box for the lights on the back corner as well.

Step 5: Make and Attach Seating Chart Cards

Create cards with names however you’d like. You could simply write it out, print it out, or like me, use a Cricut machine to create them. I used my Cricut pens to write the words and cut out the cards from cardstock and to cut out the wording at the top and bottom from white vinyl.

Once you have them all made with the correct seating arrangement, place them into a gold clipboard clip and use a gold thumbtack and press them into the wood. Be sure to measure so it looks perfect even and symmetrical.

Finished!

Set it up outside your wedding venue and display with flowers or greenery and other decorations. It will wow all your guests and is the perfect way to let everyone find where they are seated without any trouble of finding a person to ask!

I hope you enjoyed this project! If you’re planning to get married soon, huge congratulations to you! If you’re a wedding venue owner or other planner, this is such a great project for you to make and can be reused for so many different weddings!

Feel free to post any questions in the comment section and I’ll respond as soon as I can. Please share this on Pinterest, it really helps me out!

Happy creating!