Less paper

For a black tie optional wedding, I'd probably go with paper RSVPs in the mail. For a church wedding, I do think that some kind of program is necessary, especially if not all of your guests are religious or share your religion. For example, I'm Jewish and if I attended a church wedding without a program to follow along to, I would be incredibly lost throughout the ceremony and I'd have no clue what was going on (this has actually happened before at a church wedding that I attended in the past). I think that your other paper-saving ideas are great though: seating chart instead of escort cards, one menu on a sign, etc. I don't think direction cards are necessary, because like you said, everyone uses their phones for directions anyways these days

Are ceremony programs necessary for a Church wedding? Will others sit there, wondering how long this will all take? Not everyone is religious.

Programs are completely unnecessary so you can definitely skip them. Most ceremonies last 30 minutes or less so I doubt anyone will really question how long your ceremony is going to last.

Is having one menu on the tables (standing) tacky looking like a Happy Hour list at a restaurant? Or is it better to have a larger acrylic sign in the reception area or the cocktail area? Are people really annoyed with not knowing what is in their salad? I like the look of individual menus in napkins, just not the paper use.

I've never seen menus at a wedding so I don't think they are necessary either. As for knowing what's in their salad, if they want to know they can ask the person that serves it to them. If menus are important to you, then I would have either one at each table or one per person. I think if you were to have a large sign that people might not actually look at it or could forget what exactly it says as soon as they walk away from it.

Do people really need direction cards for a separate ceremony and reception? We have the option to print on back of invites, but I think we all GPS anyway.

No, I think as long as you include the addresses for both locations you should be fine unless one of them is really remote and difficult to find or if parking is complicated.

Many religious ceremonies don’t need programs. Do your guests need to follow along or respond to the officiant? If so, then keep them.

Menus are really only needed for a buffet/stations to cut down on lines by giving a heads up. Plus labeling individual dishes on the buffet. You can use one per table with table number on the backside. It doesn’t look inappropriate.

From what I know of the NY style cocktail hours, guests will be mostly stuffed before they sit down to dinner.

People don’t ‘need’ anything but written directions are courteous since not everyone uses GPS, but not required. Never print anything on the back of the invite. Have a separate card or skip it. Many people don’t think to turn the card around so if you have important information, it will be missed.

Paper is recycled more often than not so you can have a small labeled box to collect any leftovers.

It’s either Black Tie or it isn’t. But Black Tie requires the top of the top. So that will be multiple invite inserts, paper menus at each seat, not doing things electronically, etc. Ceremony programs are still optional.

I agree with Hannah that for a church wedding, especially if it’s on the longer side with multiple parts, a program would be necessary and extremely helpful. I’m not Catholic or even Christian, and have been to a few Catholic weddings where I would have no idea what’s going on if it wasn’t for the programs.

For plated meals, I think you should have a menu at the table if not at each seat. IMO, although guests let you know which entree they’d like, the servers still ask for their options so a menu at the table lets them know (or remind them of the entree name).

And since you’re going to black tie optional formality, including the RSVP card would be formal, traditional, and appropriate. Directions aren’t necessary unless it’s really confusing (like entrance at back, not front). Instead, a details card with the location addresses will be sufficient.

I would include a directions card honestly. My mom is great with texting but can’t work GPS to save her life. If I wasn’t with her, she’d get lost. But she’s amazing with a map, (she’s 74). So she would look at the map and figure out where to go.

I personally think that any religious ceremony needs a program, or else you have the potential to alienate and confuse guests who don't share your religion. With black tie optional, I'd include the paper RSVPs to match the formality. Everything else sounds good. No need for directions, one menu per table is fine (you don't even need menus to begin with though if you don't want them).