Place sets

Printing placemats made easy

Knife on the right, fork on the left, but haven’t we forgotten something? That´s right, placemats! Since early childhood they have been an integral part of the daily table setting routine. And why wouldn’t they be? Placemats are nice and tidy. They protect the surface of the table from small mishaps during meals and also look extremely decorative at the same time. Provided they are printed with appealing designs and cleverly placed promotional information. Here you can find out more about how to print impactful placemats as a caterer or hotelier.

Where do you use placemats?

Placemats can be seen everywhere where delicious aromas are in the air and delicious dishes, tasty drinks and stylish aperitifs are served. And not just in the commercial sector. In fact, printed placemats are also often favoured over the classic tablecloths in modern households. Why? They are inexpensive, can easily be wiped down and depending on taste they come in numerous materials and models.

In the commercial sector printed placemats and small placemats are equally popular. Because the snow white tablecloths no longer have to be the only option. The table decoration in the catering and hotel industry keeps up with the times and print creative placemats, which not only look pretty, but also provide a clear added value.  Customise your placemats individually to suit your target group and enjoy the positive feedback from your guests.  Whether you run an upscale restaurant or hotel, a cosy bar or boarding house, a popular pub or a trendy coffee shop – with placemats you will ensure honest popularity.

What information should be found on placemats?

First and foremost, your placemat needs an appetising appearance.  This can be achieved by a delicious photo of your food and drinks as well as an appealing image or a elegant lettering in your corporate design. However you design your placemats, you should never forget to add the logo of your restaurant or hotel. Place it subtly in a corner or on the edge of the placemat. Alternatively, you can also print the logo visibly on the front. That way, it will surely not be missed. If you would like to add additional use to your placemats, then continue reading!

Placemats as food and drinks menus

Your offers stand out because of the curated selection of the best meals and drinks? You don’t like incredibly long menu cards that risk overwhelming the customers? Or are you offering changing seasonal menus? Perfect. In all of these cases you can kill two birds with one stone and use the placemats as replacements for menu cards. Print your offer directly onto the placemats. This way you can save money, walking distances and time and make the placemat as effective as a menu card. Because every guest has the placemats already in front from the get-go. Now, isn’t that practical?

Placemats for special set meals and offers

The placemats provide additional advertising space right in front of your guests. Make use of this! Draw attention to special menus or permanent offers by printing them on the placemats. This could be your daily breakfast buffet, the changing lunch menu, the cocktail or ice cream menu, a summer drinks special or the lovingly presented kids menu. Your possibilities are nearly endless.

Enthuse children with placemats

You would like to playfully entertain children and young guests with the help of your placemats? No problem! You could, for example, add a colouring picture of a tasty ice-cream cup and beautifully decorated cakes in the print of your placemats or make your hotel mascot go on an adventure in a fantasy land. Just hand out some colouring pens to every young guest and let the colouring fun begin. A tricky riddle or picture puzzle is also possible to shorten the waiting time for the rumbling tummies of the children.  Something even simpler: Design your placemats like an empty picture frame and provide the future Picassos with their own creative playground.

What are possible materials for placemats?

Classic placemats often used to be made from washable textiles and were therefore nothing other than small table cloths. But now there is a wide range of considerably more practical materials, that are much more reasonable for catering.  We will explain some examples and their advantages in the following.

Paper placemats are intended for single-use in fast-food restaurants, on terraces, pub gardens, cafés and more. They are hygienic, cheap to purchase and can be colourfully printed in large quantities. Different paper types like white offset or silk paper, brown kraft board or off-white natural paper make them look attractive in various ways and can be used depending on your company style, taste or season.

Felt placemats are often used indoors.  Here they can show their many advantages at once. Because you can simply wipe them down with a wet wipe after use, they can be used for a long time. Small mishaps like splashes of sauces or spilled drinks are fully absorbed by the material. Printed felt placemats give your tables a sophisticated look and feel pleasantly warm when placing your arms on it. Lastly, felt significantly softens unpleasant noises at the table (e.g. when putting down glasses and cutlery).

Plastic placemats can be reused over a long period of time and can be colour printed in a particularly impressive way. Depending on the model, you can achieve different effects with the plastic placemats. If you for example print a translucent placemat, the table surface will fashionably shine through. A real eye-catcher is the full-coverage printed plastic placemat, which can have the look of additional table decorations thanks to a flower design.

Mesh fabric placemats are unique eye-catchers in the guest area. The material is made of a honeycomb-like surface texture with pleasant feel and exceptional print properties. Besides that, mesh fabric is very durable, flexible and long-lasting. Because it equally stands out with a high-quality look while being UV resistant and can be repeatedly wiped with a damp cloth, it is very practical indoors and outdoors. What more could you wish for?

Table set yourself!

The printed placemats are ready for use. Now it´s time to set the table. Doesn’t matter if you need napkins, coasters made from various materials or custom printed cutlery pouches. At FLYERALARM there are no limits when it comes to designing impressive guest areas. Take a look at the big catering range and convince yourself!