Miss Warbler, Long Beach/MalibuAge and Occupation: 24, Quality Assurance EditorFiance's Age and Occupation: 32, Handheld AdministratorEngagement Date: December 7, 2010Wedding Date: April 2012Venue: Calamigos Ranch MalibuAbout Me: I’m a Korean BBQ loving, cheesecake enthusiast bride living in the LBC! By day I write and edit for an online search engine marketing company. By night I am a volunteer food taster of all that is delicious. I am fortunate to be marrying an amazing man who loves me and my quirky ways. I love food, books, indie music, and Harry Potter. We are planning a small, intimate wedding up in the Malibu Hills with our closest family and friends. With the help of my wonderful fiance, our loved ones, and red velvet cheesecake, our wedding will be glorious!
Mr. Warbs and I never planned on making programs for our ceremony. Since our ceremony will be super short we thought it might be pointless. Then I thought we should probably write up a little blurb about our wine box. And I also wanted to honor our loves ones who had passed. I wasn’t interested in traditional programs: sheets of paper, fans and the like. Those are fine and dandy, but if we’re going to do programs, I want something our guests can have fun with. That’s when I found Pinterest.
After this life changing event and hours of wasted time at work, I didn’t want them anymore, I needed programs. Why? Because, I had to justify all those damn pins. And I found a couple of really creative ones!
Mrs. Mole, Los Angeles/Las VegasAge and Occupation: 29, Test Prep InstructorFiance's Age and Occupation: 31, User Experience ArchitectEngagement Date: April 2011Wedding Date: January 2012Venue: Wynn Las Vegas/Bouchon BistroAbout Me: I’m a Wisconsinite-turned-Angeleno who is planning a destination wedding in Las Vegas. I am passionate about education: I spent 23 (!) consecutive years in school, and now I work to help other people get into graduate programs. I love running on the treadmill, buying bath products from Lush, learning new moves in step aerobics, and exploring my neighborhood on foot. I am sometimes snobby about food, but I am rarely snobby about books. I read everything from Geoffrey Chaucer to Iris Murdoch to Chuck Klosterman to Candace Bushnell. My fiance and I are getting married on our third anniversary!
Mr. Mole designed our wedding programs, and I have to say that I have a pretty talented fiance (very soon to be husband). We are so thrilled with the results! We hope that our guests will feel the same way when they see them.
Teaser shot
Mr. Mole had a lot of fun with the process of designing and assembling these programs. He was able to incorporate some meaningful details into the design, like our love of crossword puzzles, that really represent our relationship. Mr. Mole hadn’t done any print design work in the last 10+ years—not since his sophomore year of undergrad! He insists that it was actually a pretty easy process, here’s what he did. Read more…
Miss Petit Four, San Antonio/Isla MujeresAge and Occupation: 25, Technology teacherFiance's Age and Occupation: 30, Math Teacher and Football CoachEngagement Date: Feb 13, 2010Wedding Date: March 2012Venue: Zama Beach Club, Isla Mujeres, MexicoAbout Me: I am a polka-dot obsessed, destination wedding diva living and loving in the great state of Texas. I am an island girl at heart and I visit the beach as often as I can. I am a wannabe DIY goddess, but that doesn’t mean I won’t give it my best shot. I love pearl earrings, the color pink, and ruffles are a part of my everyday wardrobe. My wonderful fiance and I are planning a destination wedding with our closest family and friends and we’re leaving a trail of glitter in our path!
Miss Doily, Cedar Rapids, IowaAge and Occupation: 25, Autism Paraeducator/ StudentFiance's Age and Occupation: 27, Freelance Writer/ PublisherEngagement Date: August 27th, 2010Wedding Date: March 2012Venue: Father’s Vineyard Church/ A Touch of Class Banquet CenterAbout Me: I’m an Iowan girl with a deep love of Harry Potter, classic movies, cardigans, and Post-Its. My type-A Virgo tendencies often cause me to drive my laid-back college sweetheart fiance batty with lists and PowerPoint presentations. I love to be crafty and do things myself, which explains why my two crazy kittens often will prance around the house covered in glitter and ribbons. When I am not bogged down with work, school, or wedding planning, I like to travel to visit my expansive family and have wild adventures with my best friends. After a rollercoaster ride of a love story, I’m ready to take that final plunge, marry the love of my life, and become a Mrs.!
I seriously thought Mr. D and I were just going to be able to show up at the church with our pretty clothes, filled-hearts, a couple of rings, and call it a day. I had no idea everything that is involved with a ceremony. Well, I kind of did, but I just assumed it got done and I wouldn’t have to really do anything. We have figured out our ceremony, our vows, our music, and now we are trying to figure out whether or not to do programs.
Now, I already took the time to design programs. They are super cute too, but it’s the printing that is becoming discouraging. I think it’s simply going to be too much time and money to print them and assemble them. I just don’t know if they are worth it. Like I said last time, our ceremony is only going to be 30 minutes long with no frills. It’s only close friends and family, so everyone knows everyone (or of everyone) for the most part. I don’t know if it’s worth printing out programs that are only going to be looked at for all of 30 seconds and then tossed aside.
Mrs. High Wire, DallasAge and Occupation: 23, Legal AssistantFiance's Age and Occupation: 25, Director of CommunicationsEngagement Date: October 9, 2010Wedding Date: September 2011Venue: Clark GardensAbout Me: My loves include yoga, anything spicy, our eccentric cat, our rambunctious dog, and Mr. High Wire, of course! Like the steadiness act of the tightrope walker, this gal is busy balancing life while planning a wedding to the man of her dreams. We’re hosting a laid-back, vintage-inspired, bird themed wedding with heavy doses of love, good eats (did someone say tacos and margaritas?), and endless Texas charm. Mr. High Wire and I are so happy to have you along for the walk across the tight rope.
With not much on the social calendar this past weekend, Mr. High Wire and I decided to knock out our wedding programs.
I had come across this link ages ago, and had it stored in my little special area of wedding projects I wanted to complete before the wedding. While the weather should be significantly cooler by the end of September, we still wanted to have these fans handy in case the temps are still somewhat sweltering.
Ms. Ferris Wheel, San FranciscoAge and Occupation: 29, PsychologistFiance's Age and Occupation: 27, PsychologistEngagement Date: May 23 and 28, 2010 (one for each of us!)Wedding Date: November 2011Venue: Parc55 Hotel (city lights ceremony, ballroom reception)About Me: Born in the Southeast, educated in the Northeast, and over-educated on the West Coast, I finally earned my city-girl credentials and have put down roots in gorgeous San Francisco. I’m a raging perfectionist with a lightning quick wit and a terrible sense of both time and direction. Our wedding task list is endlessly growing because of my predilection to think that DIY projects I can make = DIY projects I should make (so not true!). I always go to bed wishing there were more hours in the day to enjoy all the things I adore, whether that be hobbies, friends, my career, our two dogs, or Mr. Ferris Wheel. Ours is a story of a non-traditional couple living an oddly traditional life planning a not-so-traditional wedding in this city we adore. Together we are bustin’ out all of our best skills (and some of our worst ones) to plan a laid-back-chic DIY-craftastic love-alicious affair!
Marriage equality is an *extremely* important topic for the Ferris Wheels. In fact, our marriage talks began back when California legalized marriage for same sex couples because, at the time, we were a same sex couple. We knew we wanted to get married, but we were both still students and the timing just wasn’t right for us yet. Unless you’ve been in this situation, it’s impossible to explain what it feels like to consider rushing to get married because you’re afraid you’ll never again have the opportunity to legalize your union with the person you love. In the end we decided to wait until we were ready, even if it meant that our relationship wouldn’t be legitimized by state and federal governments.
Unlike most other queer couples, we’re now able to access the institution of marriage because of Mr. FW’s gender change. We wrestled with the politics of our decision to get married, and we remain steadfast in our belief that all loving and committed couples deserve to be treated equally in the eyes of the law. We will openly talk about this belief during our marriage ceremony and we wanted to give our guests a way to visibly show their support of marriage equality as well. Enter white knots for marriage equality.
In our ceremony program we plan to include a page with the white knots and a description of their meaning.
Mrs. Bunting, Grand Rapids, MIAge and Occupation: 24, freelance illustrator & print productionFiance's Age and Occupation: 24, graduate of historyEngagement Date: December 3, 2009Wedding Date: June 2011Venue: Spring Grove Park & St. George Banquet CenterAbout Me: I am a freelance illustrator and designer with a love of nature and a taste for adventure. Textures and color fuel my world, along with apple cider and noodles. I'll try anything once, especially if it involves heights or food. I've hiked the Grand Canyon, gone sky diving, cuddled a baby wolf, and now my latest venture consists of designing and planning a large wedding involving color, DIY details, love, and marrying my best friend.
Paddle fan programs are nothing new in the wedding world, but boy are they still fun! Here’s how ours turned out:
I would tell you that the concern for our guests’ comfort on a potentially hot summer day was the leading deciding factor to use paddle fans, but honestly, the cuteness factor had just as much influence. I just cannot resist things that are both adorable and functional. Read more…
Mrs. Plaid, AustinAge and Occupation: 26, Pastry ChefFiance's Age and Occupation: 34, Cabinetry CarpenterEngagement Date: August 8, 2009Wedding Date: October 2010Venue: Kindred Oaks, GeorgetownAbout Me: I am a Jersey girl born and raised but have since migrated to Texas and embraced its twang and Tex-Mex. I could probably eat chips and queso every day but instead I eat popcorn. I use the word “awesome” way too much but I just can’t seem to stop myself. I am addicted to all things DIY and am planning what I call a Texas-Chic wedding. I love snuggling with my two adorable dogs and of course, my adorable fiance. I can’t wait 'til I can call him my husband some day! October 2010, here we come!
I decided to show y’all all the details of our programs since some of you were asking. They were definitely one of the most involved projects I took on, but probably the one I was most proud of.
I started by scoping out other people’s programs to see what they included in their programs. I love you Google search! When researching I fell in love with two types of programs: the booklet and the fan. So what’s an over-achieving DIY addict to do? Combine both ideas, of course!
I started with blue and yellow card stock. I cut them to size and used a crease-r to make the program cover.
Mrs. Tartlet, Rochester, MIAge and Occupation: Age & Occupation: 27, Post-Doctoral Research FellowFiance's Age and Occupation: 28, Medical StudentEngagement Date: May 2, 2009Wedding Date: May 2011Venue: The Royal Park HotelAbout Me: I'm an exuberant gal from the Midwest with a penchant for Neuroscience and anything sparkly. I'm not afraid to poke fun at myself, and I'm a believer that given the right pair of shoes, a girl can conquer the world. While an interest in the sciences threw Mr. Tartlet and me together (again, and again, until it finally stuck), we share a love for many things---food, video games, car dancing, food, bad puns, travel, did I mention food?---that ultimately led us to where we are now, less than five months from becoming Mr. and Mrs. We're planning a laid-back, romantic, garden-inspired affair with organic and quirky touches that reflect our love for the unexpected!
We’ve seen the outside–now it’s time explore the contents of our wedding programs! I mollified some of my guilt over Mr. Tartlet doing the brunt of the work by designing the panels and printing them onto text weight speckletone kraft paper. They were cut to the final dimensions of 3-9/16″ x 4-13/16″, which left a small border all around. Aaaaaaand, there’s where my hand in this stops, because Mr. Tartlet promptly took over to stick them onto the accordion panel backing using 3M Super 77 Multipurpose Spray Adhesive.
Mrs. Tartlet, Rochester, MIAge and Occupation: Age & Occupation: 27, Post-Doctoral Research FellowFiance's Age and Occupation: 28, Medical StudentEngagement Date: May 2, 2009Wedding Date: May 2011Venue: The Royal Park HotelAbout Me: I'm an exuberant gal from the Midwest with a penchant for Neuroscience and anything sparkly. I'm not afraid to poke fun at myself, and I'm a believer that given the right pair of shoes, a girl can conquer the world. While an interest in the sciences threw Mr. Tartlet and me together (again, and again, until it finally stuck), we share a love for many things---food, video games, car dancing, food, bad puns, travel, did I mention food?---that ultimately led us to where we are now, less than five months from becoming Mr. and Mrs. We're planning a laid-back, romantic, garden-inspired affair with organic and quirky touches that reflect our love for the unexpected!
Remember these babies from way back when? Hive, I can’t even begin to express how elated I am that Mr. Tartlet finished these over the weekend. Our wedding programs evolved from being a couple pieces of cardboard covered in fabric to something incredibly precious that I’m so in love with—and Mr. Tartlet is pretty proud of, too.
Mrs. Lox, BaltimoreAge and Occupation: 33, Government WorkerFiance's Age and Occupation: 35. IT ConsultantEngagement Date: May 8, 2010Wedding Date: May 2011Venue: Vandiver InnAbout Me: I’m an East Coast gal born and bred and a suburban brat turned city rat for the last year. Now Mr. Lox and I enjoy walking all kinds of places, having the coolest things around in our backyard, and especially our garage parking. I love gadgets, toys, Ben & Jerry’s Chubby Hubby ice cream, monkeys, and our insane cats. I’m a blonde by birth and a redhead by choice. I’m that girl in the cubicle farm with all the cool toys and the file cabinet covered in magnetic poetry. I still use smiley faces in my emails, whether people like it or not. This is not the first rodeo for Mr. Lox nor me. And together, we are planning an intimate afternoon wedding on a budget we can afford by ourselves.
Hive, let’s take a moment to let me freak out. Our wedding…it’s getting CLOSE. Y’all can see I’m a May bride right? I mean, I’m less than a month away. So now I’m working on those last minute things… some of them more last minute than others. And as I get frenzied, I am hoping to keep up with you all. But if I don’t quite hold up my end of the bargain, you know where I am right? Right.
So back to the details… program fans were something I’ve been set on since I can’t even remember when. I was just fixated really. Initially, I hunted down templates all over the web. And each one was kind of worse than the last. Then I decided to just use 2 8.5×11″ pieces of cardstock. You know that was too big, right? Yeah, so do I. Now. So I got a little desperate and the hive came to the rescue. Specifically the fine bees in this thread. Thanks ladies!
In case you were wondering, the end solution was to use one piece of 8.5×11″ cardstock… cut in half. And so I was ready to go. And here is the skinny on how I did it. Read more…
Mrs. Starfish, Boston/NewportAge and Occupation: 25, Operations AssistantFiance's Age and Occupation: 25, SalesEngagement Date: October 8, 2008Wedding Date: October 2010Venue: The Atlantic Beach ClubAbout Me: I'm a perfectionist who is a planner at heart. I don't do well with surprises. I love planning, crafting, Newport RI, family and friends, and most importantly, Mr. Starfish---all of which will be big components in our October wedding in our favorite little city by the sea.
One DIY I just didn’t have time to share was our programs. I had debated the need for these, but Starfish Mom thought they were important and I realized I love following along with them at ceremonies, so we went ahead and made these the week before the wedding. Luckily Sister Starfish and Starfish Mom were around to help. We originally made the top design for the cover, with the embossed starfish to follow along with the other paper elements, but realized the embossing was bleeding through, since I used linen resume paper, instead of card stock or regular. So, we came up with the design below. This also made the project much easier, since all we had to do was print, punch holes and tie bows.
Mrs. Eggs Benedict, SeattleAge and Occupation: 29, AttorneyFiance's Age and Occupation: 35, AttorneyEngagement Date: December 5, 2009Wedding Date: February 2011Venue: IslandWoodAbout Me: I'm a Northwest girl who spends my time goofing around with Mr. Eggs Benedict and our dog, hiking, traveling, drinking wine and planning a wedding that will showcase the best of what the Pacific Northwest has to offer. I also love photography, beating Mr. Eggs Bene at Mario Kart, and watching the most ridiculous natural disaster flicks you can think of (seriously, how can you deny the awesomeness that is The Core or 2012?? That's right, you can't). We are planning our weekend wedding adventure at an environmental educational center, and I can't wait for the fun to begin!
One of my favorite wedding projects also turned out to be one of the most time consuming tasks that I took on for the wedding. The Facebook. As I mentioned earlier, it’s not like Mark Zuckerberg’s Facebook (though that did come in handy to find many of our guests’ photos for our wedding version). No, it’s like those college facebooks that we got our freshman year that had all of the first year class’ names and pictures and you used it to try to predict what your roommate would be like, who your friends might be and what guys you wanted to meet (what, I was the only one who did that?).
As much as a pain in the a** that this project was, I’m SO happy that I stuck with it and finished it. Everyone loved it and so many people said it was one of their favorite additions to our wedding. Read more…
Mrs. Tartlet, Rochester, MIAge and Occupation: Age & Occupation: 27, Post-Doctoral Research FellowFiance's Age and Occupation: 28, Medical StudentEngagement Date: May 2, 2009Wedding Date: May 2011Venue: The Royal Park HotelAbout Me: I'm an exuberant gal from the Midwest with a penchant for Neuroscience and anything sparkly. I'm not afraid to poke fun at myself, and I'm a believer that given the right pair of shoes, a girl can conquer the world. While an interest in the sciences threw Mr. Tartlet and me together (again, and again, until it finally stuck), we share a love for many things---food, video games, car dancing, food, bad puns, travel, did I mention food?---that ultimately led us to where we are now, less than five months from becoming Mr. and Mrs. We're planning a laid-back, romantic, garden-inspired affair with organic and quirky touches that reflect our love for the unexpected!
Hive, I’m so excited to share this project with you! Not only because I puffy pink heart how these turned out, but also because you get to see how crafty Mr. Tartlet is. He’s had weekends off this past month (glorious!), and has been the driving force behind the creation of these babies:
Book covers for our wedding programs! Now, how on earth did we get this idea planted in our minds? A while back I came across these brochures that Megan of Kelly Oshiro Events created. Read more…
Mrs. Elephant, Dallas, TXAge and Occupation: 27, Financial Operations AnalystFiance's Age and Occupation: 27, IT Student/Store ManagerEngagement Date: March 29, 2009Wedding Date: April 2011Venue: The Tribute Golf ClubAbout Me: I'm a Philly native creating roots deep in the heart of Texas. I might be a little obsessed capturing those Kodak moments of anything and everything (mainly on vacations). I've become more of a gamer thanks to Mr. Elephant, who I met online and can't wait to spend the rest of my life with. We are planning a wedding based on our favorite colors, blue and green, with a travel theme for 150 of our closest friends and family. Hopefully our long (2-year) engagement won't kill me!
You’re probably tired of these programs, so this is one last post, I promise! Well, it’s one last post dedicated to them. I’m sure they will show up in my recaps at some point.
I realized that I never actually showed you what was inside of our programs—that’s totally my bad. You’ve seen the embossed blue and green covers.
Open it up and guests will find a version of the normal passport page, formatted for our wedding. The left side was a free template from Aylee Bits. The right side is similar to most front pages of programs.
Picture via Style Me Pretty
All-Inclusion Invitation Suites
