Personalized cocktail napkins were in vogue many years ago and then they went out of favor. Now they are back! This is one of the easiest ways to customize your event, whether it’s a corporate event, a non profit event, a wedding or a birthday party. Unlike the limited colors and design of the past, you can now order them in many colors to match your event design and practically any design can be printed on it. From attending many events in the Washington, DC area, I’ve seen some pretty clever uses of custom cocktail napkins!
How many cocktail napkins? There are various calculations on how many cocktail napkins to order for an event. If you plan on using custom cocktail napkins at the bars only, I order 2 napkins per person. You will need more if you want the servers to use them for passed hors d’oeuvres as well. If you run out of your custom cocktail napkins towards the end of your event, your caterer can bring plain white ones to supplement.
When planning your party, take a look at these ideas that our clients have used.
- Fun Facts. For a corporate event, the napkins can share fun facts about the company’s employees, their accomplishments, their projects, or their company culture. For a wedding, the couple can share fun facts about their relationship.
Photo: Gray Kammera Photography
2. Hobbies. For a birthday party or anniversary, perhaps the guest of honor loves to play golf or enjoys fishing like these examples below.
Photo: Vicky Choy
For a guy who loves beer and fishing. Photo: Stephen Gosling
3. Quotes or Hashtags. You can print several different inspiration quotes or sayings consistent with the design scheme of your event. If you have a hashtag, a custom cocktail napkin is one way to brand your event with the hashtag or event logo.
Photo: Vicky Choy
4. Design Motifs and Branding. This could be a company logo, an event logo, or a design motif like these leaves for a fall wedding.
Photo: Rodney Bailey
5. Sharing Information. You may need to share information with your guests or attendees. Why not use your cocktail napkin? Remember that a cocktail napkin is limited in size so kept the fonts legible and don’t put too many words on it.
Our client wanted their guests to know exactly when activities were going to happen so we used a cocktail napkin to convey the event schedule. Photo: Deb Lindsey
Consistent with the theme for the event of sharing and learning, we printed the recipe for a corporate event’s signature cocktail onto a napkin. Photo: Vicky Choy.
Details are what make an event special and custom cocktail napkins is a fun and simple way to achieve that. Check out our blog for other ways to customize your event.