When wondering how to plan your wedding, one of the things that will come to mind would be the wedding programs. Depending on the type of wedding you’re having, you might need a non-religious wedding program or simply a traditional wedding program for your big day.
Either way, you will need the right details, design, and layout to create an outstanding program. Here we have all of the information you need for a perfect wedding program format.
Frequently Asked Questions
When should you order wedding programs?
Usually, you should be ordering programs at least 1–2 months before the wedding day.
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Wedding Program Outline
A wedding program is basically a list of the events at a wedding ceremony, listed in sequential order in the wedding program wording. Below is a simple wedding program example which can provide you with a slew of wedding ceremony script ideas.
- Name of the bride and groom
- Date and location of the ceremony
- Prelude
- Processional
- Opening Prayers
- Readings
- Solo
- Exchange of Vows
- Final Words
- Maid of Honor
- Bridesmaids
- Best Man
- Groomsmen
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What To Include In Wedding Programs
While a wedding program may not always be necessary, it is an important piece of wedding stationery which communicates important information to your guests. The wedding ceremony program keeps everyone informed and able to follow your wedding events from one point to the other. Typical wedding program wording includes the following:
The Cover
The wedding program cover usually includes a design element or picture, along with the names of the couple and the date for the wedding. It could also include the location and the time for the ceremony. Couples who have a theme for their wedding usually incorporate it in their program as well as the wedding invitations.
Order of Events
The next page usually has the order events, each major step that would take place during the wedding ceremony. This usually includes, the processional, greeting, readings, sermon, exchange of vows, exchange of rings, pronouncement, recessional, along with any other rituals or traditions which take place at the wedding ceremony. If the location for the wedding wasn’t listed on the cover page, it can be included here, just before the order of events. Events should be listed in the order they occur, along with time for each event if possible.
Members of the Wedding Party
This is a list of the names and roles of each member of the wedding party. Some couples choose to include this in their program, and some do not. For example:
- Officiant: [name]
- Parents of the bride: [name]
- Parents of the groom: [name]
- Maid of Honor: [name]
- Best Man: [name]
- Bridesmaids: [names]
- Groomsmen: [names]
- Readers: [names]
Other Program Elements
With enough space in the program, it is possible to add a few more elements if needed. For instance, details of the rituals or traditions followed during the ceremony, other aspects like a communion or singing, messages to honor the deceased, or a quote/poem about love. This is also a good section to include directions to the wedding reception.
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Wedding Program Design Ideas And Advice
A visual representation of your ceremony, your wedding program should feature a design that sets a backdrop of what your guests can expect at your wedding. If you’re having an edgy and funky wedding, your wedding program should reflect just that. Keep these in mind when you’re thinking of how to make wedding programs.
- If you’re thinking of designing your wedding program from scratch, consider using wedding program templates. These wedding program template ideas are cheap and it’s easy to find one that fits your tastes.
- You could also ask a design-savvy friend or family member to create your wedding program.
- Make sure that your wedding program fits with the theme of your wedding in color, style and even choice of fonts. Your theme brings everything together and should be included in every aspect of the wedding.
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Program design ideas
Blank space: In creating an easy to read program with the use of negative space, you could leave a blank space on the middle of the cover with some design at the top and couple’s names at the bottom. With this style, all other relevant information is listed in the inner page of the program.
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Price: $5.99
Wedding program bags: In this case the wedding program doubles as favor bags for the guests. The program is simply printed on the body of paper bags which hold lovely wedding favors for each of your guests.
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Price: $1.06
Business on the front and party at the back. This one page design leaves the front of the card void of color and full of information while the back has all of the color and design. It makes for a simple and yet attractive card that says, I can be serious when I want to, and be playful at the same time.
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Price: $7.00
Custom stamp: Couples will have a lot of fun designing a custom stamp with their initials. This can be used on the wedding program, invitation, and any other wedding stationery they would need.
Ribbon bows: A simple, big ribbon in your theme color can completely change the look of your wedding program, and may be all the designing you need.
Latest Wedding Program Trends
There are numerous trends for wedding programs. Below is a few worth mentioning.
Watercolor: For a trendy wedding program, incorporate a watercolor background. A perfect and terrific way to incorporate your feelings of love into your wedding stationery. Watercolor painting in muted hues of your theme, would be a beautiful way to pass your message across to your guests.
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Price: $1.57
Monogrammed Programs: Another trendy design is the monogram. Monogrammed designs make for simple and elegant wedding programs.
Floral Design: Asides from having a floral background, some couples choose wedding programs that incorporate the seeds of the flowers so the program can be planted afterwards and bloom in the homes of their guests.
Simple and Minimalist: Some couples embrace the simple and minimalistic way of printing only the most basic information on the wedding program. This leaves a very simple and concise program for guests to enjoy.
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Price: $1.57
Vintage Style: For couples having a vintage themed wedding, a wedding program with light and muted hues, or traditional elegance, would go well with their chosen theme.
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Price: $1.57
Boho Chic: A Boho chic wedding program is designed to give a rustic vibe with bright colors and sometimes an edgy design. Its flowery theme spells fun for a wedding.
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Price: $1.57
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DIY Wedding Program Ideas
When creating your own wedding programs from scratch, there are a few ideas that could come in handy. Choosing to go DIY is an opportunity to personalize your wedding programs and intimate your guests with fun ideas for your wedding alongside the wedding program information. DIY is also inexpensive and a great way to save costs during the wedding planning. Here are a few options you could try.
Couple photo
One of the best ways of personalizing your wedding program is to use a couple photo for the cover page. This could be a throwback photo of your both or a picture from your engagement. Either way, it makes for a cool background.
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Price: $9.99
Fans
To turn your program into a fan, take a popsicle stick and glue to the mid-back of each program. These wedding program fans would be great for an outdoor wedding where guests won’t mind having fans to cool themselves from the warm weather.
Quote design
Use your favorite quote or poem to add a personal touch to your wedding pamphlet, on the front or back. This will create a meaningful and yet simple wedding program.
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Price: $50.00
Confetti toss
Adding a confetti pocket to your wedding program is a fun idea, and creates a great exit toss for the couple as everyone participates as they leave the event.
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Price: $2.50
Unique Wedding Programs
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There are many ways to create something unique and different when you’re thinking wedding programs.
- Instead of the traditional binding, you could use a single ribbon to link the pages of the program together.
- You could also create an infographic wedding program with pictures to detail each event in the ceremony.
- Try also to employ 3d printing to produce your program in unique shapes and colors.
- You could have a colorful program with each page being in a different color.
- Or have oversized acrylic boards stand at different spots of the wedding venue, so instead of holding them, guests can just read from their seats.
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Wedding Program Structure For Traditional Chuch Ceremony
Here are the hard and fast rules along with the areas where you can get creative:
- Front Cover
- A Celebration of Marriage – You can personalize this message.
- Bride’s name and Groom’s name – You can use initials or the entire name.
- Date and Name of Church or Chapel – be precise and clear.
Inside Page 1
Parents of the Bride – First and last name, father listed first.
Parents of the Groom – First and last name, father listed first.
Matron of Honor – First and last name
Best Man – First and last name
Ushers – First and last name
Ring Bearer – First and last name
Flower Girl – First and last name
Organist – First and last name
Soloist – First and last name
Musicians – First and last names
Inside Page 2
Prelude – Processional song and composer
Bride’s Processional – Song and composer
Liturgy of the Word
Opening Prayer
First Reading—Book of the Bible Chapter: Verse, reader’s name
Responsorial Psalm: Name of Psalm, reader’s name
Second Reading—Book of the Bible Chapter: Verse, reader’s name
Gospel Acclamation—Book of the Bible Chapter: Verse, reader’s name
Homily
Inside Page 3
Sacrament of Marriage – Exchange of Vows and Blessing and Exchange of Rings
Unity Candle – Name of Song and Singer’s name
Prayer of the Faithful – Reader’s name
Response: Lord Hear Our Prayer
Presentation of the Gifts
Liturgy of the Eucharist
Eucharistic Prayer
Lord’s Prayer
Nuptial Blessing
Sign of Peace
Communion – Name of song and singer’s name
Presentation of flowers to the Blessed Mother – Name of Song and Composer
Final Blessing
Recessional – Name of Song and Composer
Back Cover
This is your best chance at putting your personal touch to a traditional Catholic wedding program. It’s common to place your words of thanks but there’s no expected format or particular people to say Thank You to. Therefore, we recommend thanking the Chapel for all of their hard work and participation, but feel free to shout out to the person that fills in this blank. “And a special thank you to _. All of this wouldn’t be possible without you”.
Thank You Message Ideas For Wedding Guests
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If you’re having trouble finding the right words or coming up blank when you think of the words with which to thank your guests, here are a few samples. These can be used as thank you messages in your wedding program thank you wording.
- “Thank you for being a part of our happily ever after! Your presence means so much to us. Warmest regards.”
- “From the bottom of our hearts, we would like to thank you for sharing in the celebration of the most memorable day of our lives.”
- “We are grateful for your presence and warm wishes. We look forward to sharing many more memories with you.”
- “Thank you so much for choosing to celebrate with us at our wedding. It would not have been the same without you! We are truly grateful for your generosity & presence on our special day.”
- “Thank you for being a part of our lives and for supporting us through this journey. We are so blessed to have you celebrate with us and be a part of our Wedding day. We appreciate your love and support.”
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Useful Software To Make A Perfect Wedding Program
Now that end result is starting to form in your mind, it’s time to start laying it out. There’s tons of software out there that will help you put this all together. Call your printer first to see what file formats they are going to need the best quality results.
The most common apps to use are the entire Adobe Suite, Pages for Mac users, or Google Drive. These are all common in most workplaces and schools so you should be familiar by now. Even if you’re fairly proficient, we still recommend that you browse through a few YouTube tutorials on how to get the most brilliant colors and crisp lettering back from the printers.
You should visit a beautiful online apps like Canva and Minted – there are featured amazing free designs.
We also highly recommend flipping through a few Pinterest boards. There’s no shortage of traditional, trending, and funny wedding programs on full display. We find this helps to inspire your jumping off point or to refine some of your own ideas when you’re getting close to the end.
Main Questions To Ask When Ordering Your Wedding Program
When creating your wedding programs, especially if you’re not creating them yourself, there are a lot of details you would need to learn. The type of materials used, sizes, and other components that might interest you in making your wedding programs truly unique. In choosing the right professional for your particular tastes and desires, there are certain questions you might need to ask. These include questions like:
- How long have you been in business and which styles do you specialize in?
- Can you recommend calligraphers or do you have any of your own?
- Are there any discounts to purchasing other types of wedding paper?
- Which printing process do you recommend for my budget and style?
- Can I also order other wedding stationery from you, for instance, my table numbers, place cards, escort cards, Can I also order my table numbers, place cards, escort cards, ceremony programs, menus, etc. from you? ceremony programs, menus and so on?
Creating wedding programs for your wedding might not be as difficult as imagined, whether you’re going DIY or employing the help of a professional. Armed with your wedding theme in mind and the general style for your wedding program, including the right wording, creating it should be a walk in the park with help from these tips on wedding program etiquette and more. While the wedding program is only one aspect of wedding planning and wedding stationery, the creation of the perfect wedding program should set the pace for all the others.
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