Programs - are they needed?

andreamarie77 · February 2012

For those of you that are doing them, what is your reason?

For those of you that aren't, same question!

I wasn't going to do any because we don't really have a long ceremony - only a few minutes... enough time to welcome everyone, have the officiant say a few words, do our wine ceremony and then "kiss the bride"! What would I put into a program if I were to do one, and is it really necessary with that short of a ceremony?

Avion22 · February 2012

Our ceremony isn't long or terribly complicated, but we will be doing some prayers and call-and-response type readings. People who are familiar with this specific faith will know the prayers and responses, but others may not, and we want to give them the option to participate if they want to, or at least follow along if they don't want to participate.

For a short ceremony like yours, I don't think programs are necessary, especially if you plan on having your bridal party announced at the reception. Otherwise, as a guest, I kind of like knowing who the bridesmaids and groomsmen are and how the couple knows them. But if your budget is really tight, I'd just skip programs:-)

adktd2boots · February 2012

I don't want them, but my FI thinks we need them. He's used to seeing them at weddings, and he's pretty traditional on what things are done in this area. I think they are a waste of time and money and I don't want to be picking them up and throwing them away afterwards. I've thought about doing a "welcome" board with the list of WP members so people can read who is who if they want to off of that, but not have something to throw away.

ginadog · February 2012

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_ceremony-ideas_programs-are-they-needed?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:10Discussion:9238b269-371e-438b-bbd4-bee9e6d69b7ePost:ffc42757-526d-412c-870e-85e3607acbc5">Programs - are they needed?</a>:
[QUOTE]For those of you that are doing them, what is your reason? For those of you that aren't, same question! I wasn't going to do any because we don't really have a long ceremony - only a few minutes... enough time to welcome everyone, have the officiant say a few words, do our wine ceremony and then "kiss the bride"! What would I put into a program if I were to do one, and is it really necessary with that short of a ceremony?
Posted by andreamarie77[/QUOTE]

I won't be doing them. The ceremony is about 25 minutes - I don't want to pay for something that used for that short, then find a place to recycle them all. We don't have a wedding party to introduce or names of other people to list. Not many other elements to need to list them in an order either. We won't have tons of family there to do a family tree.

Now if I did have extended family there, I'd do something like this:
<a href="http://cdn.cl9.vanillaforums.com/downloaded/ver1.0/content/images/store/6/8/76410588-c01b-4ea8-b818-4024325cd4d2.large.jpg" title="Click to view a larger photo" class="PhotoLink"> <img src="http://cdn.cl9.vanillaforums.com/downloaded/ver1.0/content/images/store/6/8/76410588-c01b-4ea8-b818-4024325cd4d2.medium.jpg" alt="" /></a>
<a href="http://cdn.cl9.vanillaforums.com/downloaded/ver1.0/content/images/store/1/5/a141476f-4e5f-4aa2-a5d2-bbc3c77213c5.large.jpg" title="Click to view a larger photo" class="PhotoLink"><img src="http://cdn.cl9.vanillaforums.com/downloaded/ver1.0/content/images/store/1/5/a141476f-4e5f-4aa2-a5d2-bbc3c77213c5.medium.jpg" alt="" /></a>

TiffannieF · February 2012

I wasn't going to but decided to last minute.

I decided mainly so I could have directions for everybody to the reception hall. Since I was going to have little hand out of the directions I decided to go ahead and just list everybody in the WP in the program, write out our ceremony (although it wasn't a complicated ceremony) and have a little thank you message in it.

I got a 50 pack of cardstock from Michael's (I think like $4) and just made a 'book' on Publisher. It was very easy and inexpensive to make.

For your ceremony I do not think it would be necessary.

jemmini6 · February 2012

Programs seem to be a regional thing, because unless it's a long-religious ceremony where you need to follow along, I haven't been to a wedding that actually had them. Or maybe my friends are just practical and realize that they are kind of a waste of money. LOL.

graysquirrel · February 2012

No, they are not necessary at all.

We decided to do them so that I could include further info for our guests (our venue offered an historic tour during cocktail hour) and because people generally like to know who the WP consists of, what the musical selections are, etc. They also served as fans for people at our outdoor ceremony.

trixie549 · February 2012

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_ceremony-ideas_programs-are-they-needed?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding BoardsForum:10Discussion:9238b269-371e-438b-bbd4-bee9e6d69b7ePost:de2dd67e-bebb-4032-a0ed-c147f222fde7">Re: Programs - are they needed?</a>:
[QUOTE]Programs seem to be a regional thing Posted by jemmini6[/QUOTE]

Perhaps this is true. I've never been to a Midwest wedding without programs (both secular and religious ceremonies). It's just a common party of weddings here, I guess.

ElisabethJoanne · February 2012

I will have them. I've got a long, complicated religious ceremony, and only 1/3 the guests have seen anything like it before. Dad and I are debating whether to have every single word of the ceremony in the programs, or to just have an order of service with reference to the books in all the pews. My Priest thinks the simpler version is better. Dad wants the longer one. My fiance, in the process of converting to a related, but not the same Church, doesn't fully understand the issue yet.

alisonmae · February 2012

I don't think they are needed. My fiance and I are going to have a few nicely done-up black boards with the ceremony program on it. we are also having a short ceremony with just a reading and the I do's. Seems like a waste of money, and more importantly a lot of trash. Although a few people may keep them, they most likely bring them home and put them in a box and will look at them once in the next 40 years.

nrayyes · February 2012

I think they are kind of a waste of paper and not necessary.

Elinetrouwt · February 2012

Not doing them. I think they're a waste, and they sort of spoil the surprise. I'll put some information on who's who next to the card box and such stuff. I plan to put the texts from our readings and other love poetry on our desert table as decoration.

Programs - are they needed?

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