Illustrated fabric wedding welcome sign on a stand at an outdoor ceremony with wooden chairs

Wedding Welcome Sign Guide: Sizes, Wording and When to Order

September 23, 2026

Your welcome sign is the first thing guests see when they arrive, and it sets the tone before the ceremony starts. A fabric sign also has a life after the wedding: it folds away, travels easily and can come out again for an anniversary. This guide covers the three decisions that matter most: size, wording and timing.

1. Choose the size for your space

Most of our fabric welcome signs come in four sizes. The exact sizes and packages available depend on the design, so always check the product page, but these are the common ones:

Size	Dimensions	Where it tends to work
Medium	19 × 39 in	Smaller indoor venues, a doorway, the end of a welcome table
Large	22 × 77 in	Most ceremony entrances, hung from a stand or an arch
XLarge	30 × 78 in	Larger venues and outdoor ceremonies, where guests see the sign from farther away
XXLarge	40 × 118 in	Backdrop scale: a long drop from a beam, a pergola or a high wall

A simple way to decide: stand where your guests will first see the sign and imagine the names at that distance. The farther away they are, and the larger the space around the sign, the larger the size you need. When you are between two sizes, the larger one usually reads better outdoors. Our welcome sign size guide goes further, with a letter-height rule for reading distance and advice for four common venues.

Sign only, with ribbon or with a stand

Depending on the design and size, you can order the sign on its own or as a package with ribbons or a stand. Both the wooden-stand and metal-stand packages include ribbons in the price, and metal stands come in a gold color only. Accessories are included only with the matching package, so if you already have an arch or an easel at the venue, the sign on its own may be all you need.

Fabric color

Many designs are offered in white, off-white, cream and black fabric; some have two or three of these. Our welcome signs are made from duck fabric with a linen-like texture. The design is printed with full-color DTF (direct-to-film) transfers, and you choose the print colors separately from the fabric color. One thing to know: printed gold or silver tones are colors, not metallic foil.

2. Write the wording

The best welcome signs say very little. Three or four lines are enough, and the names should be the largest element. A simple structure:

A greeting line: "Welcome to the wedding of"
Your names: "Anna & Theo"
The date: "June 14, 2027" or "06.14.2027"
Optional: the venue, a short line such as "Please find your seat", or your wedding hashtag

A few other openings couples use:

"Welcome to our forever"
"Together with their families, Anna & Theo welcome you"
"Welcome, friends and family. Today we celebrate Anna & Theo"

For more options, from formal to playful, faith-based and bilingual, see our wedding welcome sign wording examples.

Before you order, check the spelling of every name and the date format with each other and with anyone else whose name appears. When you order, you enter your names, the event date and any custom wording on the product page, together with your design choice and preferred print color. We then send a digital proof for you to approve. Read it slowly: if the finished sign matches what you approved but a detail you gave us was wrong, it is not eligible for a free remake, though we are happy to offer a discounted one.

3. Order in time

Every sign is made to order, so timing matters more than it would for something off the shelf. Here is how the process runs:

Digital proof. We email a digital proof of your design for approval, usually within 1–2 business days of your order.
Production. Production starts once you approve the proof and takes 5–7 business days. Reply to the proof promptly to keep your timeline on track.
Delivery. Ceremony pieces are sewn in our İzmir studio and ship from our warehouse in Houston, Texas. They typically arrive 5–9 business days after dispatch.

Because of this, we recommend ordering at least 3–4 weeks before your wedding. If your date is sooner, contact us at hello@sophestia.com before you order. Rush production may be available on most ceremony pieces for an additional fee, and we will tell you honestly whether your date is possible. Delivery estimates for your order are shown at checkout, and our shipping policy explains tracking and delivery in full.

Ordering invitations, runners or place cards too? Our wedding sign ordering timeline works back from your date for every piece.

Where to place the sign on the day

At the entrance to the ceremony, where guests gather before they are seated. This is the classic spot.
At the start of the aisle, if the entrance and the ceremony space are the same.
At the reception entrance, if you want the sign to appear in more photos. Many couples move it after the ceremony.

Ask your venue how the sign can be hung or stood, and whether there is wind or uneven ground outdoors. A stand package makes the sign independent of the venue.

Planning more than a welcome sign? Our wedding sign ideas go through the rest of the day, place by place, with wording for each. If you are still choosing a material, see fabric, acrylic or wood.

Not just for weddings

The same fabric signs work for the events around the wedding. See our bridal shower & bachelorette banners and baby shower welcome signs, which follow the same sizing and ordering steps.