A menucard is like a perfect bow on a little gift. If a hostess has gone to the effort of creating a menucard, you know you’re in for a special meal. A menucard provokes a sense of anticipation, and they are useful things. They can pull together the décor for a dinner, tell guests what they’ll be eating and drinking, and provide a conversation starter for dinner partners who have just met.

It’s also a place for a hostess to be wildly creative. Menucards can be made of virtually anything that can be written on, or that a piece of paper can be attached to.  You can write menus on leaves, birch bark, chocolate bars, paper fans, the frontispiece of a book… The only limit is your imagination. They can be penned in the hostess’ own hand for an informal look, printed inexpensively at the local printers, or hand-written by calligraphers, as was done at the White House. There are a few pieces of information that need to be on a menucard: the date, a listing of the courses and wines – the description of which can be as simple or elaborate as you like – and the name of the occasion or person who is being celebrated.

It’s fun to coordinate menucards with the color scheme, flowers and general theme of a dinner, and it gives the guests a little keepsake to take home with them at the end of the evening.

Here are some menucards that illustrate the range of possibilities: