What size tablecloth do I need for a wedding table?

Measure your tabletop, then add twice the drop you want. For an elegant mid-length drop, add about 30 cm on each side; for a dramatic floor-length drop on a 75 cm-high table, add about 75 cm on each side. For example, a 300 × 110 cm banquet table needs roughly a 360 × 170 cm cloth for a mid drop, or 450 × 260 cm to reach the floor.

Should I rent or buy my wedding table linens?

Rent when you need many matching pieces for one event: rental collections in printed cotton sateen offer designer motifs at a fraction of the purchase price, cleaned and pressed for you. Buy (or commission bespoke) when the linen itself is the keepsake: pure linen, linen-cotton or luxe percale pieces, often embroidered or monogrammed, that live on in your home after the wedding.

Can wedding napkins be personalised with a monogram?

Yes. Ateliers such as Appolonia Linen embroider initials, monograms and custom motifs on napkins and tablecloths, either on rented pieces for the day or on purchased linens that become family heirlooms.

How to Choose Your Wedding Table Linens: A Paris Atelier's Guide

From the Appolonia Linen atelier · Paris

The table is where a wedding actually happens: the toasts, the laughter, the photographs everyone keeps. And nothing transforms a table like cloth. Here is the advice we give our own clients, whether they rent from our collections or commission bespoke pieces.

1. Start with the drop, not the motif

Measure your tabletop, then decide how far you want the cloth to fall. A mid-length drop (about 30 cm) feels fresh and modern; a floor-length drop (about 75 cm on a standard table) is unapologetically formal and hides every table leg. Add twice your chosen drop to each tabletop dimension: a 300 × 110 cm banquet table needs roughly 360 × 170 cm for a mid drop, and 450 × 260 cm to sweep the floor.

2. Choose fabric by the life the linen will live

For one perfect evening, printed fine cotton sateen is the connoisseur's rental choice: it drapes beautifully, holds colour with real depth, and photographs like a dream. For linens you will keep, invest in pure linen, linen–cotton or luxe percale: fabrics that soften and gain character with every wash, made to be inherited.

3. Let one piece talk, and the others whisper

A patterned tablecloth wants quiet napkins; maximalist napkins want a calm cloth. The prettiest tables we dress pick one hero and support it: a grand toile cloth from our Tablecloth Collection with plain settings, or crisp white linen crowned with printed Grace napkins, each rolled and tied with a tassel.

4. Mismatched is charming when the palette is not

Mixing motifs across tables is one of our favourite current looks, and it only works when everything shares a palette. Keep two or three colours as your thread: porcelain blues with roses (our Grace Collection), or garden greens with creams (the Sophie botanicals), and let the motifs vary freely inside that harmony.

5. Personalise something small

You do not need sixty monogrammed napkins. One embroidered piece — the sweetheart table's cloth, the napkins of the wedding party, initials on the cake table — makes the whole room feel considered, and becomes the keepsake you take home.

Dressing a wedding table? Browse our rental collections and send us your selection, or tell us about a bespoke commission. We design in Paris, craft in Versailles and deliver worldwide.