Wedding programs

Added: 01/13/2006

By offering a wedding program to your guests, you are providing an order to the event and a lovely keepsake for your friends and family. Wedding programs can be inexpensively printed at your stationer, a quick print shop or formed on your own computer.

Your wedding program should be printed at the last minute to allow for program and other changes to be included in the text. However, have a rough draft of the wedding program typed up a few weeks prior to the wedding to allow for proofing. You will only need to scrutinize the added text rather than the whole wedding program. Make sure to verify a reasonable time schedule with your printer. Also order some extras for keepsakes, as well as to mail to people who could not attend.

Your wedding program (also called The Order of Worship in some ceremonies) is a little personalized guidebook for your guests. It will serve the same purpose as a program at a theatre play, informing guests of what is happening at any given moment. The style, colors and wording of the wedding program help to set the stage for your ceremony.

If you choose to make your own wedding programs, select a sturdy paper that is compatible with your printer. Some ink jet printers and laser printers require a special grade of paper in order to prevent the dyes from running and the paper from bending. Look for programs that have a pre-printed picture on the front that matches the theme of your wedding. They will be blank on the inside, and are ready for you to get creative with your wording! These papers are usually sold in Church supply stores. Wedding programs can be as elaborate, or as simple as you wish. Some Churches require a certain order to the ceremony, and your program must include whatever your Church deems necessary.

You may want to make a miniature “book” that lists every last detail, from the name of the florist down to every lyric in each piece of music played at your wedding.

The basic program might look something like this:
Wedding Date
Order of Service
Music Performed
"Thank You For Attending"
Names/relationship of Bridal Party
Other Party Members (guestbook attendant, musicians, etc)
Place of Ceremony
If flash pictures are allowed
Special readings
Introduction of Family
Appropriate Poem
Officiant's Name
Couple's New Address
Wedding Missal
Directions to Reception
Note to Guests

Obviously, this is a very brief list, and only a very basic idea of what to include. Personalize the program with your specific musical choice, and on the back of the program list the names of the people in the wedding party, directions to the reception.

Choose a letter font style that is elegant and easy to read. Allow for a few “errors” and have extra program paper available. You may wish to print a “practice run”, using blank paper until you have selected what you want. Experimentation is the key to creating a lovely program.

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