How to Create a Fun and Elegant Wedding Program
Your wedding program will set the stage for your entire wedding ceremony. This article will walk you through a specific style and give you tips for making the content of your program fun and tasteful.
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Instructions
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Decide what colors you'll be using for the wedding program paper and ribbon. Your wedding colors are good choices to consider, but not required.
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Gather the supplies. Go to an office supply or craft store to pick out the paper you will need. Choose a good quality thick, but printer friendly, paper for the Cover Page and Back page. Choose a slightly thinner paper for the body of the program, a shade of white or something that goes well with the Cover and Back pages works also. For the ribbon, go to a craft store and choose a color that goes well with the cover, no wider than 1cm.
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Format your word processing document. 1. Create a new document and set the page orientation to "landscape." Generally, to do this go to the File menu, then Page Setup, and finally under the page size tab should be and option for landscape. 2. Format the page so there are two columns with roughly 1" between the columns. This can typically be done by going to the Format menu and choosing Columns. Make sure the equal column width option is selected. 3. Choose a font that matches your style, but is readable.
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Create the program's Cover Page and Back Page. The Cover page is going to leave the longest lasting impression on your guests. Simply putting the bride and groom's first name and the date of the wedding is a good start.
A black and white picture, or a meaningful and appropriate quote running across the bottom of the page can be a nice touch. Make it meaningful to the two of you. The Cover Page will use one of the two columns on your document. Leave the other column blank for the Back Page of your program. -
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Using additional pages in the same format as the Cover Page and Back Page document, create the body of the program. The first page after the cover page should be the order of events in the wedding ceremony. Put the Bride and grooms full name, date of the wedding, and time of the wedding centered and bold at the top. Add each section of the wedding on the left side of the column with those responsible on the right side of the columns, separated by periods. For example:
Prelude.............................................Violinist Jane Doe
Processional.......................................Cannon in D, Pachabel
You should be able to fit the entire order of events into just one column (a half page). -
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The next column of the wedding program should list the wedding participants. List the participant type (e.g. Bridesmaids) on the left side of the column followed by the specific names of the participants on the right side of the column.
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Add optional sections. One fun optional section is the "About the Wedding Party" section. In this section you list each participant, followed by a short 1-3 sentence paragraph about the person. Witty and fun comments can make for great reading material while your guests wait for the ceremony to start. Another fun section to the program can be a "wedding background" section. In this section you discuss how the couple met, what they've been up to and perhaps the engagement story.
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Finish the body with Dedications, Special Thanks and What's Next for the Bride and Groom. It is traditional to make a dedication to the family members that have passed away such as grandparents or otherwise couldn't be there. The Special Thanks section can include parents, wedding participants, guests, or anyone that helped make the wedding possible. The What's Next section can include where the bride and groom will be living, perhaps they will be living in a new house together or starting new jobs.
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Put the program together. Print 1 copy of each of the pages of the program on regular paper. Using your paper cutter cut each of the pages in half. Inspect thoroughly to see if you need to make any adjustments to the margins or columns to make everything centered. Now try one copy using the paper you picked out for the Cover and Back pages, and the paper chosen for the body of the program. If everything looks the way you want it to look, print out and cut additional copies.
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Stack and tie the programs together. Put the pages in order with the Cover page as the first page and the Back page as the final page. Next use the two hole punch to place two holes into the top center of the page. Poke about 10-12 inches of ribbon through the holes and tie in a ribbon at the front of the Cover Page. You are finished.
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Tips & Warnings
An easy way to create the order of events section is to set a right tab at the right side of the column, and to use a "leader" to create the periods. Go to the Format menu and choose Tabs, select the tab you just created and then choose the Leader option that looks like several periods (.....).
Resist the temptation to put too many different themes into the Cover Page, less is more.
Be sure not to put anything in the "About the Wedding Participants" section that will offend either the participant or the guests.
