Are programs necessary?

I say if you don’t want to do programs have a sign for how things are to go. If your reception and ceremony are in the same space, do people need to leave for the room turnover for cocktail hour? Will you have a receiving line? Having a program let’s guests know where they need to go and do.

Totally not necessary.

I did make a sign with the names of our wedding party & parents as a little way to honor them, but didn’t do anything beyond that. Unless you have something crazy out of the ordinary happening, I think most weddings are fairly self explanatory.

Honestly, as a guest I’ve never felt like it was necessary.

I don’t think it’s necessary. We aren’t going to have them at our wedding. You could always make a sign of the timeline.

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Hi Kiley! Amanda gives some great advice here. Programs are totally not required and if you want to still show the timeline for the day, doing a sign is a great option!

Amanda, this sign is super cute! Love the sign inspo.

Nope. I am doing a sign instead. They are wasteful and not very environmentally friendly. People just throw them away. Everyone knows what happens at a wedding.

To us, we thought they were completely optional and not necessary so we didn't have them plus I have never been to a wedding that had programs...

Definitely not necessary.

Not necessary! Signs usually can do the trick.
We did get programs for our wedding, though. We have lots of options of things for our guests to do at our venue while the wedding party takes photos, so we wanted to be able to distribute that information well, so we just made a whole program.

It depends on the formality and setting of your wedding. A chalkboard with the order of events would look out of place at a cathedral or a black-tie event, for example.

My venue, a big, historic church in a major city, requires programs for weddings so guests know when to sit and stand, as well as prevent people from having to flip through an unfamiliar hymnal.