Sweetheart and Head Tables: 2021 Weddings
At our 18 wedding receptions in 2021, five couples sat at a guest table, five couples had head tables, and eight couples sat at a sweetheart table. I’ve included as many photos here as I could!
Tented Home Wedding Reception Head Table
This head table was set for 23 guests to include the whole wedding party and their dates. It had a completely different look from the rest of the dinner tables. We used a Louis chair, off-white linen, and blue accents with the china and the napkins. We also used wood-handled flatware. While each of the other dinner tables had a certain fruit, vegetable, or herb as their themed centerpiece (and table name) the head table decor included all of the fruits, vegetables, and herbs.
Red Fox Inn Wedding Head Table
This single-sided head table was set for 8 and included the couple and their parents. The pale blue linen was the perfect canvas for the bright white china, the colorful flowers, and the regal blonde-wood chairs.
Shadow Creek Barn Sweetheart Table
This couple technically sat at a sweetheart table, but they flanked that table on either side with farm tables for their immediate families to sit at. You can see how the bride’s bouquet is the centerpiece ofr the sweetheart table here.
The Line Hotel Sweetheart Table
We already had a rental order coming from a furniture company, so we might as well add a comfy settee for the couple to enjoy at their sweetheart table! I like to use asymmetrical decor on a sweetheart table to help blend in the bride’s bouquet as a part of the design. Also, this mantel piece is just killer.
National Museum for Women in the Arts Wedding Head Table
This is what the floral proposal said the couple was getting: Elegant elevated arrangement suspended above the head table with a profusion of cascading greenery as well an en masse design of white roses and spray roses. The design will be supported by 6 gold Harlow stands.
But in reality, I had a dream. A dream to create the most massive head table design ever seen at NMWA. Because, you see, almost every wedding at this DC museum does a long head table in this spot. And the flowers, while they may vary in color or kind, and are always beautiful, they often look the same as the last wedding. I wanted something different. Very different. So I conspired with Petals & Promises to create this structure to allow for a free-standing arch over the 26-foot-long table. And we kept it under wraps until the couple walked in from their church ceremony. All of us were thrilled with how it turned out!
District Winery DC Wedding Sweetheart Table
In this, and all of the following photos, we repurposed ceremony flowers for the table decor at the wedding reception. I always do this when possible. You want your ceremony decor to be beautiful, but it is also the place where you and your guests spend the least amount of time, so I always work for it to be reusable. I also hope that this can be done without your guests seeing it happen too.
The Alexandria Hotel Sweetheart Table
Hotel Monaco DC Sweetheart Table
Riverside on the Potomac Head Table
This was a head table that included just the couple’s two brothers and two sisters-in-law. It was supposed to be 8 feet long. I think somehow it ended up bigger, so the scale looks off. But you get the idea!
Park Hyatt DC NYE Wedding Reception Head Table
Looking for more wedding table inspiration? Check out our 2019 tablescape round up. Want to see more from these 2021 weddings? Look at our 2021 wedding reception recap.
