Programs, Menus, Napkins, etc?

sarahebrown · June 2011

Hey Ladies,
I'm wondering how many of you are adding personalized touches to your events such as programs, menus & personalized cocktail napkins? I'm not sure if I should worry about doing these...

Our ceremony will be simple and we don't have any readings or a sand/candle-lighting ritual. So are programs really needed? I mean, what do you put on them usually? Just the names of the bridal party and a thank you to your guests?

And since we are doing a buffet, I'm guessing we don't need menus. Is that correct? Or do guests still want to know what is being served?

Cocktail napkins are obviously not a necessity but how many of you are planning on having them? And have you found any good deals online?

eeforbes · June 2011

I think since you are doing a buffet, you definitely don't need menus. But it might be nice to put little cards or frames by each dish saying what it is? Just an idea. I know sometimes at a buffet I have no idea what something is, so labels like that are always nice.

I have no advice on cocktail napkins!

And I think it is totally fine to skip ceremony programs, at least in my opinion. I always leave them behind

OBX2011 · June 2011

I'm with PP on possibly setting out menu cards

We are doing programs only b/c it could be a little warm out that day so they can fan themselves if needed and they will simply list the bridal party and our wedding date. Nothing too fancy, just simple and cheap.

One thing we are doing is personalized door hangers for each hotel room or beach house bedroom. On one side it says "Thank you for sharing in Brent and Charlene's Wedding Celebration.....We Hope You Enjoy Your Time in the Outer Banks" and on the backside of it "Please do not disturb....we are recovering from Brent and Charlene's Wedding" LOL My mom is simply printing these out and laminating them.

jkramas · June 2011

The carters we spoke to said they take care of labeling the food usually. My question is do you set the table for dinner even for a buffet? We are doing one as well and I wasn't sure.

Personal cocktail napkins I think can be skipped and money saved in my option. The programs can serve as a fan and the same reason I was thinking of maybe doing them.

I think if you want to do any of the little touches and they are important to you, go for it. If you don't, I dont think most people would notice them missing.

mparwulski · June 2011

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_north-carolina-outer-banks_programs-menus-napkins-etc?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local Wedding BoardsForum:598Discussion:9cbbffbf-b40d-44c0-a4ad-ba76f73d1621Post:b69556c4-8db4-407b-8e7d-ed6ae8ea3bbb">Re: Programs, Menus, Napkins, etc?</a>:
[QUOTE]The carters we spoke to said they take care of labeling the food usually. My question is do you set the table for dinner even for a buffet? We are doing one as well and I wasn't sure. Personal cocktail napkins I think can be skipped and money saved in my option. <strong>The programs can serve as a fan and the same reason I was thinking of maybe doing them.</strong> I think if you want to do any of the little touches and they are important to you, go for it. If you don't, I dont think most people would notice them missing.
Posted by jkramas[/QUOTE]

The whole wedding machine is really something, isn't it? Making people feel like they have to do this and that. I thought I was running away to the beach and doing a very simple wedding. Before you know it, you're buying ribbon and making programs.

I decided to do programs because it will be hot and they will also serve as fans. Also, some people are coming a long way and I know a few will want them as mementos. I had a monogram stamp made that I can use for lots of stuff. I'll get cocktail napkins and just stamp them myself for fun. Otherwise, I'd have just done cheap colored cocktail napkins. I am having a tapas style buffet too, but decided to set the table because that's part of the decor. My salad plates and water goblets will be blue glass, white dinner plates and gold chargers, blue napkins with menus tucked inside. Otherwise, I would have put a menu card on each table so that the guests knew what they were in for. They can then carry their plates to the serving table. It's a small enough crowd. But, I wanted the tables to look like a sit down service.

I am doing a combo of renting and purchasing linens, plates and flatware with the intention of reselling. It just made more sense to purchase some of it and have something to show for my money at the end of the day. Plus, I could be a little more creative and customize things. If anyone's interested in sharing the costs on items that I do purchase, let me know and I can pass things on to you. My wedding is 8/14.

sarahebrown · June 2011

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_north-carolina-outer-banks_programs-menus-napkins-etc?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local Wedding BoardsForum:598Discussion:9cbbffbf-b40d-44c0-a4ad-ba76f73d1621Post:03057c8f-647d-4d9f-80f3-6ed5b3dc91b8">Re: Programs, Menus, Napkins, etc?</a>:
[QUOTE]I'm with PP on possibly setting out menu cards We are doing programs only b/c it could be a little warm out that day so they can fan themselves if needed and they will simply list the bridal party and our wedding date. Nothing too fancy, just simple and cheap. <strong>One thing we are doing is personalized door hangers for each hotel room or beach house bedroom. On one side it says "Thank you for sharing in Brent and Charlene's Wedding Celebration.....We Hope You Enjoy Your Time in the Outer Banks" and on the backside of it "Please do not disturb....we are recovering from Brent and Charlene's Wedding" LOL My mom is simply printing these out and laminating them.
</strong>Posted by OBX2011[/QUOTE]

I LOVE LOVE LOVE this idea!!! How cute is that? I'm not gonna steal it, just wanted to tell you how original it is.

Thanks ladies for the advice. I think I'll do as you suggested and make little signs for the food at the buffet, skip the expensive napkins <img src="http://cdn.cl9.vanillaforums.com/downloaded/ver1.0/content/scripts/tinymce/plugins/emotions/images/smiley-money-mouth.gif" border="0" alt="Money mouth" title="Money mouth" />, and do simple program/fans. If anyone has pics of thiers I would love to see!

ms_teach · June 2011

We're skipping napkins and menu cards, but I made program fans. They still need ribbon, but I have to make another Hobby Lobby run for that because the ribbon I bought was too thin. Here's a pic.

dwfangirl · June 2011

Sarah, definitely check with the caterer on signs for the food... Red Sky labeled each food item for us. I have to say, we bought personalized cocktail and dinner napkins -- they aren't a necessity for sure, but I thought they were cute. I watched weddingchannel.com emails for a while though and pounced when I saw the best deal. It wasn't a big expense for us as we had so few people (45). I can't imagine it cost us much more than renting linens, if it even was more expensive.

Charlene - LOVE the door hanger idea!!

ms_teach - very cute program/ fans!

boderboo · June 2011

Feel free to use our idea as we "borrowed" it from another bride. We all have to share to save $$$.

OBX2011 · June 2011

Teach....love the program fans! I am doing a starfish theme and I may use this as a template

Krhoy20 · June 2011

I can't remember who did the DIY personalized napkins...quick question, I know you had your monogram stamped onto the napkins but where did you get your stamp made??vistaprint???

boderboo · June 2011

Sarah & Ms_Teach - i sent both of you PMs. I did not realize that a PMs failed to pop up or whatever.

enichole22 · June 2011

I love the idea of "borrowed"!! But what exactly are you borrowing?

boderboo · June 2011

Someone on The Knot had made personalized door hangers so I "borrowed" their idea. They were very cute. I will send the template to anyone that wants to do something similar.

I definitely do not want to take credit for someone else's hard work. But like I said, we all share so well.

mparwulski · June 2011

This is who I got the personalized stamp from. Chris at loongchai74 was easy and flexible to work with. I basically sent an image and they made it up for me

http://shop.ebay.com/loongchai74/m.html?_nkw=&_armrs=1&_from=&_ipg=&_trksid=p3686

This is the one I bought. It cost me $6.50 + 2.80 for shipping.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=290334760110&ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT

mparwulski · June 2011

Oh, Teach, love your fans. I was going to do paddle fans like this.

But, I think I may do these. I thought there wouldn't be enough room for the wording, but I was playing around with the type and I think they may actually work better.

Here's the How-To link:

http://www.athomealterations.com/2010/09/diy-fan-wedding-programs.html

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