Fresh Take on Wedding Menus: Mini Sandwich Board Centerpieces

For our wedding, I made these centerpieces for our tables. We served the meals family style and decided instead of paper menus, we would make one of these per table. Since we had an outdoor wedding, we wanted to be mindful of what we put on the tables in case there was wind at the reception.

These were fun to make and very straightforward. In the end, maybe even cheaper than paper and many people asked to keep theirs and take them home.

To make these, you'll need:
- 1/8" plywood
- Small hinges
- 5-minute Epoxy
- Laser cutter

Each board included:
1) Table names
We used things that pair well together - butter&popcorn, wine&cheese, pizza&beer.

2) Schedule of events
This was a suggestion by our caterer as most wedding events are pretty standard, but she thought some people would like to know what to expect.

3) Menu/food guide
This was the main reason for having the sandwich board. We put out the menu as well as calling out which dishes included meat/dairy/nuts with a little legend at the bottom.

4) Bar menu on the back
All the drinks at the bar plus our signature drink were included on the back.


Like everything else for our wedding, I made these at Techshop.

Each board was identical except for the name of the table at the top. I set up a template and just copied the name across the top of the boards. While the laser cutter can cut through wood this thick, it takes multiple passes as leaves a scorched edge so I recommend cutting the straight edges on a table saw.

The laser cutter I used can be fickle, so parts of the text needed to be etched twice.

Assembling the hinges on the boards just requires 5-minute epoxy and a straight edge.

Apply epoxy to one side of the hinge and one board. After that is set, line the boards up against a straight edge and apply the epoxy to the other side of the hinge and partner board.

We had linens on the table so there was no need to make sure the boards wouldn't slide with just a hinge, but you could add a base or connect the boards with a ribbon to make sure it doesn't slide open wider than you'd like.

We paired the sandwich boards with simple etched glass centerpieces that also included the table names. Simple and easy!