kinda ugly church wedding programs- advice?

gymchick05 · March 2011

So FI & I had our meeting w/ the church last night to lay out the ceremony and the church offers to make programs for you, for a relativley decent price. The problem is they are plain, white booklets. They use nice linen paper and pretty font, but they are dull & boring. Both the wedding coordinator at the church and FI acted like I was nuts when I asked if they had other styles or if I could make my own.

The thing is, I am putting so much time & effort into having everything stationary-wise look pretty and fit our colors, etc. I just feel like these programs will make the wedding seem like its gonna be dull. Maybe Im crazy, but I feel like the program is the 1st thing people see and it sets the tone, kinda like invites before the wedding. Am I wrong? FI thinks no one will look at the programs or care. I guess Im pushing for this more since I had to give in to FI's boring idea for a generic looking wedding cake that Im already bummed about haha.

Whats ur opinion?

felicia220 · March 2011

I am with your FI on this. Honestly, I sometimes don't even look at them, let alone notice if they match everything else. I had a really short ceremony so I didn't even bother with programs, but I think that even if we did have a longer one, I still wouldn't not have done them.

uppereastgirl · March 2011

I'm 100% with you. I always look at programs and care. A lot of people look at them -- they're what keep you busy while you're waiting for the ceremony to start or when the ceremony gets long and boring. If you're putting a lot of time and effort into your other stationery, I definitely wouldn't ignore the programs.

mbcdefg · March 2011

If you are allowed to make your own and you really want to do it, go for it ... but at the same time, don't drive yourself nuts if it turns out to take up a lot of your time and money.

I think some people might appreciate nice programs and not just ignore them, but I also think that if you have plain programs people aren't going to turn up their noses ... they'll appreciate what's there, but they won't miss what's NOT there, know what I mean?

I didn't vote because I don't think there's a definite answer here. I did very plain, quick programs because I didn't care too much about them. However, I spent a LOT of time on the place cards because I really wanted certain colors and a certain design. I know it's silly to spend my time and money on a little card that people are just going to throw in the trash, but I was really happy with how they looked.

kasabby · March 2011

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_new-jersey_kinda-ugly-church-wedding-programs-advice?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:90Discussion:90f44b15-81b4-4675-9f93-c37bc8115619Post:942c93ee-1258-4f6e-91bc-ffe6060bf408">Re: kinda ugly church wedding programs- advice?</a>:
[QUOTE]I am with your FI on this. Honestly, I sometimes don't even look at them, let alone notice if they match everything else. I had a really short ceremony so I didn't even bother with programs, but I think that even if we did have a longer one, I still wouldn't not have done them.
Posted by felicia220[/QUOTE]

<div>I Ditto this! To me, if it is going to be more time and effort, I would just stick with the ones that the church has.</div>

kristen8040 · March 2011

Personally, I'd spend the extra money and make my own.

misschristinec · March 2011

As a DIY Diva I would always recommend making your own...

When someone arrives to the church for the wedding, it's the first thing your guests are going to see (well after they step into the church).

And I keep the programs (only if they are a-typical) from weddings I have attended.

akmackay · March 2011

I always look at them- and actually this weekend a friend said that she LOVED my programs and wanted to know where I had them made b/c her wedding is in July... when I said they were DIY like 75% off at Michael's, she was shocked. You can absolutely do them yourself extremely inexpensively and they will still turn out great. I'd go with doing them youself.

jcg98 · March 2011

I'm with misschristinec and uppereastgirl - I think people definitely take the time to look at programs and will appreciate the time and effort you put into them. I usually save programs from weddings. Also personally I'm too anal to let someone else control such an important element - what if they print before showing you a final version and there is a weird typo or grammatical error? I know I'd lose it.

misschristinec · March 2011

Plus there are sooo many program styles.

Some brides choose to do a fanned program if they are having an outdoor summer ceremony. Or you can do a single sheet program on thick cardstock or a sweet booklet (folder 8 1/2 x 11 in half) and then use ribbon as a binder (this is really easy - and all you need to have is Microsoft word)

I "had" to do an accordian style program.

front cover

standing up

back cover

cindy9178 · March 2011

I understand both sides here.. I rarely notice programs or what they look like when I attend a wedding...until I started planning my own wedding.. then I started paying more attention..otherwise, I never would've even remembered what they looked like... so from a guest's perpsective, they most likely aren't going to notice or care.. as a bride, I'd probably want nicer ones too..and I'd probably make my own anyway.

Little Spitfire · March 2011

I was really into stationary and did accordian-style programs. They were a lot of work and expense, but in the end I was really happy with how they came out. Yes, plenty of people noticed and I got compliments on them, but the most important thing to me was that I was happy, not what other people noticed. I'm probably in the minority when I say that I don't consider something a "waste" if no one notices, because I noticed these things and they made me happy. Having other people also think they were nice was just a bonus.

goaliegirl · March 2011

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_new-jersey_kinda-ugly-church-wedding-programs-advice?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local Wedding BoardsForum:90Discussion:90f44b15-81b4-4675-9f93-c37bc8115619Post:a5c8077f-626f-4d91-8af4-2de135cd1428">Re: kinda ugly church wedding programs- advice?</a>:
[QUOTE]I understand both sides here.. I rarely notice programs or what they look like when I attend a wedding...until I started planning my own wedding.. then I started paying more attention..otherwise, I never would've even remembered what they looked like... so from a guest's perpsective, they most likely aren't going to notice or care.. as a bride, I'd probably want nicer ones too..and I'd probably make my own anyway.
Posted by cindy9178[/QUOTE]

I agree with this. Before I was getting married, I couldn't even tell you about programs at people's weddings because I could care less. And quite frankly, lately I don' t pay attention either. But while I was planning our wedding we went to several weddings and I was more interested because I was looking for ideas. So, the average guest is not going to care what kind of programs you have. Personally, I would just use whatever the church supplies as it is one less thing to worry about.

christin228 · March 2011

I think that if you really want too keep with your wedding theme/colors, you can make really pretty ones, and really cheap. I'm considering using the "rack cards" from Vistaprint. They sent a sample wedding program using one of those in their wedding sample package, and it was perfect for my purposes, one card, double sided, with enough space for the basic details. It's also perfect size for menus. I've seen girls on here get them for free with all the coupons that VP gives out, and just pay shipping.

peaches85 · March 2011

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_new-jersey_kinda-ugly-church-wedding-programs-advice?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:90Discussion:90f44b15-81b4-4675-9f93-c37bc8115619Post:942c93ee-1258-4f6e-91bc-ffe6060bf408">Re: kinda ugly church wedding programs- advice?</a>:
[QUOTE]I am with your FI on this. Honestly, I sometimes don't even look at them, let alone notice if they match everything else. I had a really short ceremony so I didn't even bother with programs, but I think that even if we did have a longer one, I still wouldn't not have done them.
Posted by felicia220[/QUOTE]
This^^. Though I'm also of the opinion that it's silly to spend a ton of money on invitations and other paper products. As long as the programs don't look like they were thrown together by a first grader, you're fine. :-)

shoebie · March 2011

I have been to many many weddings and i could not tell you what any of the programs looked like nor did i keep any of them.........

gymchick05 · March 2011

Thank u guys for all ur opinions- I can see it can go either way. I'll finish up my invites and see what I think after. Thanks again!

GracieWeds · March 2011

What if you could take their programs and jazz them up a bit? Maybe add a custom stamp? Or design a custom cover?

kinda ugly church wedding programs- advice?

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