what to include in you wedding programs

Titles for the various parts of the ceremony, possibly a quote or a thank you message, sometimes a remembrance.

^ This

Usually I see a "thank you" as well as an "in memory of" sections.

If you are having any special customs or traditions, its nice to have an explanation of them. If you are having a religious ceremony, consider having the responses or any other information about the service included in the program for people who may not be the same denomination (as a non-Catholic, I have been totally lost at Catholic weddings I've attended that did not have that information in the program).

Also, remember that if you are having live music at the ceremony, it's considered tacky to not include the name(s) of the soloists or musicians' group in the program.

Remember, you don't need to have programs at all. Unless you have something important to say in them, why go through the time and/or expense?

My husbands best man (his brother) made ours. it had the bridal party at the top, underneath my bridesmaids it says "parents of the bride" with their names, under the groomsmen it says "parents of the groom" with their names. under that in the middle it had officiant and wedding coordinator. then of course it has that "here's what to expect" section. under that was a thank you from my husband and i.

on the back of the program it had a cute little quiz about me and my husband. kind of some fun facts and then the answers upside down at the bottom . then it said something like "if you take any pictures please email them to ...." & my e-mail.

At minimum a program should have 1) an order of events, with any needed explanations/responses. And 2) names off all persons included in the ceremony, including the officiant, readers, musicians. Then whatever else you feel is appropriate- a thank you or 'in remembrance', for example. We're having an unplugged ceremony so we'll have a note in the program about that.

Right. I am seeing less and less couples doing programs.

But Ally, I have to say I love your version of the program much better than that, "So you have to sit through a ceremony" thing that was all over pinterest.

Thank you Celia! I just wanted something cute and simple and I didn't like that one that was going around pinterest either haha! I agree though, I don't think programs are that necessary! It was just super easy for us to do one since my brother in law is a genius in making stuff like that and he enjoys it haha.

I love your idea ally. I may have to steal it lol

Ayrin thank you!! Steal away! lol

I'm making layered programs.

Layer 1-Ring warming ceremony explanation

Layer 2- Wedding party

Layer 3- Ceremony rundown (what's happening, songs being played, name of Rev or person doing each part)

Layer 4- I-spy game that I found (helps people capture pictures for you throughout the ceremony/reception).

I wanted to forego the programs but were out voted by my FI and MOB. So we went with fun and non traditional with the silhouettes of the bridal party and their names, short and sweet ceremony description, and in memory. There's lots of them on etsy (we used PaintTheDayDesigns), search under silhouette wedding programs where they design them, send you a pdf file and you can print them wherever you'd like (I used vistaprint) with the cost of the design and printing (300 guests) I spent around $120 for beautiful, great quality programs

I used the rack cards on vistaprint.

The front has our names, date, bridal party, parents, and a thank you.

The back of the card has a map and directions to the reception since it is at a different location.

Now that I think of it I wish I had waited and included our officiant, and musician. We have not hired the musician yet which is driving me nuts, but I am hoping for a cellist.

I didn't include an explanation of the ceremony or order of the ceremony because it will be pretty short and straight forward. I know that is kind of the main point of a program but ah well.