Programs?

bridetobemnm07 · March 2014

What's everyone's take on program's for the ceremony?

cruffino · March 2014

We didn't do them and they weren't missed. I think they're a nice touch if the ceremony is unusual or unfamiliar to the guests, but otherwise I find them unnecessary.

sofakingmad · March 2014

Personally, I think they are a big waste of money.

However, My exH insisted that we have them. And since I thought they were wasteful, I decided to make them useful we picked out fan style programs (it was a DW) and put a word search on the back for people to do before/during/after the ceremony.

HisGirlFriday13 · March 2014

We did them. They were cheap (I designed them myself in MS Publisher and we printed them on heavy paper we bought on clearance at Office Max; 110 of them ran us $40).

We did them because we had a full Catholic Mass, and no one other than us, my immediate family, my dad's siblings/spouses/kids, our reader and cantor, and a few sets of my parents' friends were Catholic (about 30 invited people out of 152 invited people).

People told me they liked them -- I got A TON of compliments on them.

sarahufl · March 2014

Our family is Catholic and my sister had a Jewish wedding. She made great programs describing the ceremony that were very helpful for guests. People loved them.

Not sure if I plan to make them for my wedding - 2 Catholics marrying each other so at least 80% of our guest list is Catholic. I suppose if I have some free time closer to the wedding, we may do them.

MollyandD · March 2014

HisGirlFriday13 said:

We did them. They were cheap (I designed them myself in MS Publisher and we printed them on heavy paper we bought on clearance at Office Max; 110 of them ran us $40). We did them because we had a full Catholic Mass, and no one other than us, my immediate family, my dad's siblings/spouses/kids, our reader and cantor, and a few sets of my parents' friends were Catholic (about 30 invited people out of 152 invited people). People told me they liked them -- I got A TON of compliments on them.

I went to a Catholic wedding and would have been lost without my program. I plan to make my own inexpensive programs.

bridetobemnm07 · March 2014

Our ceremony is going to be pretty quick. We are getting married in a non-denominational chapel.....Hmmmmm

HisGirlFriday13 · March 2014

Molly&Domenic said:

HisGirlFriday13 said:

We did them. They were cheap (I designed them myself in MS Publisher and we printed them on heavy paper we bought on clearance at Office Max; 110 of them ran us $40).

We did them because we had a full Catholic Mass, and no one other than us, my immediate family, my dad's siblings/spouses/kids, our reader and cantor, and a few sets of my parents' friends were Catholic (about 30 invited people out of 152 invited people).

People told me they liked them -- I got A TON of compliments on them.

I went to a Catholic wedding and would have been lost without my program. I plan to make my own inexpensive programs.

I really think it's a courtesy for your guests. If you're inviting them and it's unfamiliar to them, the nice thing to do is give them something to follow along with.

phira · March 2014

We're planning on having them, but we're leaving them till the end on purpose, in case we don't have time.

However, we're having a sort-of-Jewish wedding with a lot of not-Jewish guests, and we're skipping a few traditions, like cutting the cake. I wouldn't have them otherwise. I think that having programs just to tell people who the wedding party members are is a waste, although if you love 'em, go for it.

Cookie Pusher · March 2014

We're having a couple of cultural things within our ceremony and reception. As we'll have 10 people at most who are familiar with the Chinese customs that we are incorporating, we're going to do a simple fan-style program (totally DIYing them) so our guests aren't confused and understand why those things are important for us to include. If we weren't doing the cultural stuff, we wouldn't bother.

AddieCake · March 2014

Didn't need them.

doeydo · March 2014

Unless there is something that not everyone will understand (ie. cultural or religious ceremonies, different languages, etc.) I think they are kind of a waste.

emmyg65 · March 2014

We did them because we had a Quaker ceremony and needed to explain it to our guests. I just printed them myself and I think it was $20 for 80 programs. If you don't have any special parts of your wedding that you need to explain, you can totally skip them.

anjuli116 · March 2014

Agree with PPs that it depends entirely on your ceremony. They're kind of a waste of money if you've got a short, simple ceremony that most people could follow. But it's a courtesy to your guests if the ceremony has elements that might be confusing to them.

We go to an Episcopal church, so there are just enough differences to throw off my dad's Catholic side of the family, and FI's family goes to a church with a worship band, so they would be totally thrown off. I'd rather save the money, but I feel like 80% of our guests would be lost without something with which to follow along.

mysticl · March 2014

I was going to do them but ran out of time. I had them designed on my computer and was just going to print them on resume paper I already had. It was the same color as all the other wedding stationary so it would have blended. I had originally planned to purchase blank ones to match the invites but am glad I didn't since it would have been a waste of money.

Jen4948 · March 2014

It depends on the specifics of your wedding. If you are getting married outside the mainstream of the culture, language, or religion of many of your guests, having a program that explains the ceremony is helpful. It's also useful when you have deceased loved ones you want to offer a tribute to.

But if most people who will be attending will be familiar with most of your ceremony and there are no tributes to deceased persons, I don't see that they're necessary.

wrigleyville · March 2014

I agree they're only necessary if you're having a ceremony that might be unfamiliar to some of your guests. They're mostly a waste at the non-denominational, standard weddings. I barely even glance at them.

Some people use them as fans, but if the heat is a concern, then I recommend just having fans for everyone. Then they have a cute fan as a keepsake, and it doesn't have wedding info all over it.

cowgirl8238 · March 2014

We are only doing them becuase I wanted to make DIY fan programs for an outdoor August ceremony. Honestly though, if I don't end up making them it won't matter. Aside from who is in the wedding party they won't really say much people don't already know.

sofakingmad · March 2014

I will say that at the one Indian wedding I went to, the programs were important considering the ceremony was in Hindu. It helped us understand what was going on and we could pick and choose what parts we wanted to see (since it was 4 hours long).

VerizonGirl · March 2014

I love them. I want to know who is who, when to do what, and what all will be included. It makes me feel like I can be a part off this celebration, instead of watching the celebration from the outside in.

Programs?

Re: Programs?

Choose Another Board

Search Boards