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With a Catholic Church ceremony in the works, I guess I’ll have to worry about programs. We were initially going to have a 20 minute reading of vows in the reception tent without needing programs. So, now I’ve got to do programs. I have no idea how to DIY, as we have a laptop and no printer at home. We have that to contend with, and also the information needed in the programs.
The Wedding Guru, Martha Stewart, says this about programs:
A wedding program is a wonderful little extra that shows the bride and groom have truly tended to all the details. The most basic program is straightforward and purposeful. The bride’s and groom’s names act as a title of sorts and are typically followed by the date and location of the wedding. The order of the service, often including titles of readings and songs, helps guests to follow along. And listing the names of the members of the bridal party as well as others who have a role in the wedding enables everybody to put faces to names.
In the case of my non-religious family, I fear the program isn’t going to be an “extra”. And that information, while still helpful, doesn’t really go into detail about what I really need to put in the program. Do I put the whole reading/passage? Do I just need to put the page number, in the book no one knows?
Can anyone help me figure out what to write? Also, how did you do your programs, or are you not doing them?
Tons of info here!
http://www.theknot.com/co_profileview.htm?profilename=theprogrambio
We’re still undecided if we’re doing one so I don’t have much advice. BUT I do think you could toootally get away with not doing them if you don’t want to! Don’t feel pressured into it, your family will still be able to follow along easily enough!!
http://www.weddingbee.com/2006/12/08/la-fete-de-mariage/
the first inside page contained the info above. this was followed by who was in the wedding party, priest’s name, organist, trumpeter, & violinist on the next page. the following page had a little info on each of the bridesmaids - how we met, etc. that was followed by a page containing info on the groomsmen. and finally, the inside back cover had a little thank you from mr. bop and i.
thanks it.
I agree that they are not at all neccessary. I am not religious at all and have been to many church ceremonies and never been lost. Most people (especially the non-religious people) are there to witness your joy as you are married and although you will be picking readings with a specific purpose (because they say something about you or your love) I don’t think it is neccessary to reprint the readings so that everyone can see every word down on paper. If it is an extra cost that you can’t really afford to take on then I say drop them altogether. If you can afford them and decide you would like to have them I vote for the more simple version with just the bare essentials.
Hi! Here is a link to the marriage info for my university’s Catholic student center:
http://www.sheil.northwestern.edu/worship/weddings.pdf
I’m not getting married there, but they have a good section on a ‘worship aid’, which is essentially a wedding program (starting on page 16). They note a few things:
- don’t print the full text of the readings/vows, because they should be heard, not read (you want guests to be looking at you!)
- do include parts of the service that are sung/stated in response, along with info on the parts of the service when to stand/sit so that guests unfamiliar with Catholic services can follow along.
I really like the way they make up their worship aids for weekly masses, specifically how they print the music for all of the sung parts (like the responsorial psalm, Alleluia, lamb of God etc) because it’s so much easier to sing! At least as someone who reads music, it really helps. I think I really want to do this for my wedding programs b/c I think it’s much nicer if guests can participate. I’m trying to figure out how to put this together.. if you’d like to see a sample from a mass that includes the music, email me at eibhlinn at hotmail dot com and I can scan one to send to you. (I know you’re not having a full mass but probably will have the Alleluia before the gospel reading, etc)
Hope this helps!
I had a great one - Catholic, too; feel free email me if you want it. It’s formatted to print on the Crane’s kit.
everyone already mentioned great tips. i plan on having one because i’ll be including a paebaek, which no one [aside from my mom and her sister] has seen before. that way they know why we’re kneeling and getting dates and chestnuts tossed at us!
Our MOH designed one using text I provided and then we sent it to a printer. For 161 guests, we printed 120 in English; 25 in Japanese. And we had so many leftovers (in English). If you are having a program, my suggestion is to make less — so you won’t waste money 
Iris and/or Mrs. Bee, can you please forward me the template as well? I am also having a Catholic ceremony and need to start working on our programs. thank you!
stella.an@gmail.com.
Me tooooo! I want the template, I have been ambivalent about programs. The first time I saw one at a wedding I started laughing: “What’s this? Why do I need a program? They are not actors? They are going to get married aren’t they? How much can it vary?” If I ever see that they are reading from Corinthians, I will probably fall asleep before it begins
If anyone is formatting templates I would love one too. I tried to make my own but I couldn’t figure out how to split the page in half (computer genuis I am not).
Thanks so much!
Abutterworth@dmpm.com
Ok I’m hopping on the bandwagon and requesting a template too.. so far I only have hard copy samples from church but it would be great to have a digital copy I can format. Thanks so much everyone!
eibhlinn@hotmail.com
This was my big project for the weekend so if you have a template I would love to see it too!
Catholicbride.com has one as well.
I had a title page with the date, a list of the bridal part, a list of reading and bullet points of the service, a memoriam page for my mother, a map of the surrounding town with suggestions on how to fill the 3 hour gap time (farmer’s market, coffee shops), and a tissue pasted inside the cardstock cover I made for the programs. A rough can be seen here.
http://www.weddingbee.com/2006/07/21/giveaway-contest-entry-13/
Your church should be able to give you a template. Often they have book that they give you with selections and info on how to word readings and things. Give this to your priest before you print it to make sure you didn’t leave anything out. Also, make sure he knows what you plan — a bride I knew planned all kinds of secular readings and music and didn’t talk to the priest until a few weeks before the wedding. 3 weeks until the wedding she needed to re-plan the ceremony because he put the kibosh on everything she’d planned that wasn’t religious. Keep your priest in the loop.
I can’t tell by the way you wrote it… it almost sounds like you’re put out.
“With a Catholic Church ceremony in the works, I guess I’ll have to worry about programs.”
Our program recognized those in the wedding party and recognize those who could not be with us or were there in spirit. I also included the music selections since we had soloists and instrumentalists. Our program had our future address on the back so that our wedding guests could update their address books and keep in touch with us.
Dana, it’s not put out I’m feeling. As you saw in the post, I hadn’t intended on using them at all, because it was a short ceremony and there are only two people in our bridal party (other than us and the two kids). But with a Catholic ceremony, it’s almost necessary to inform the guests of what will be sung/read/played. Especially since a lot of them will be curious.
It’s also an added expense that we weren’t counting on. So put out, no, a little grumpy because of the extra spending and work, yes.
Miss Kiwi,
Did you ask your priest about the program? Our Deacon will be providing us the run down of the wedding ceremony and so that’s how I am able to base the program on. Include readings, dialogue, etc. It’s not just an extra. It’s really useful in my opinion in a Catholic wedding because the program can be something that people can follow and read. I have a template I can send you from knottie JDAngel if you want that.
This is the Crane’s template which prints perfectly on Crane’s stationery (not cheap, but easy!)
http://www.crane.com/social/imprintables/DIY_ProgramKit.aspx
Cheaper and just as easy is Wilton stationery: http://www.wilton.com/printyourown/
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Mrs. Kiwi, Los Angeles Age and Occupation in 06: 27, Bookkeeper Fiance's Age and Occupation: 27, P.E. Teach/Coach @ private schools in LA Engagement Date: March 31, 2006 Wedding Date: November 3, 2007 Venue: Radisson Hotel About Me: I'm a bookkeeper who failed high school algebra. I'm currently living in Los Angeles, literally a street over from where I grew up with Mr. Kiwi, my honey of three years. We have a jumbo mini-dachshund (seriously, he's huuuuge), and we're planning an autumn themed wedding on a shoestring, paid for by ourselves. The wedding date is my late grandma's birthday, I needed her there somehow, and that seemed like the best way for us. I can't believe I'm a Bee! I couldn't be more proud!
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