Mrs. Gray Wolf, Washington DCAge and Occupation: 26, Business Development ExecutiveFiance's Age and Occupation: 30, Research ScientistEngagement Date: November 11, 2011Wedding Date: February 2013Venue: Whittemore HouseAbout Me: I'm an ultra-organized, pun-loving, list-making, cheese-enthusiast bride-to-be. Although my day job is in cubicle land, I'm happiest in the modern art wing of a museum, having recently earned my Masters in Museum Studies. Shortly after a chance meeting five years ago, I moved in with Wolfman and haven't looked back since. We love music, movies, TV, and all things pop culture; we have an unspoken competition to be the first to share the latest YouTube sensation or indie song. Together, we've filled quite a few pages in our passports, but also love quiet nights in with a Game of Thrones marathon and our French Bulldog, Tonks (Harry Potter, anyone?). I'm planning a small, cozy winter wedding---think mercury glass and candle light---in the heart of DC. Our venue is a historic home with a lot of political charm, but needs a bit of work to be wedding-ready.
Mrs. Treasure, ChicagoAge and Occupation: 24, Law StudentFiance's Age and Occupation: 28, Equity AnalystEngagement Date: July 30, 2011Wedding Date: September 2012Venue: Saint James Chapel at Quigley Prep/Murphy AuditoriumAbout Me: I was born and raised in Indiana, but now live in sweet home Chicago. I'm a third-year law student and aspiring trial lawyer, which means Mr. T never wins an argument. Other than Mr. T, I love singing, exploring the Chicago restaurant scene, and Notre Dame football. We met in a musical (just like my parents!) and after 4 years together, we are excited to be planning our urban "destination" wedding.
By now, you all know that I love me some paper, so it should come as no surprise that I dedicated a lot of time to our ceremony programs.
I wanted our programs to be a little different than the folded piece of paper you typically see at weddings. To accomplish this, I decided to go with a different shape: a square.
The cover of the program was printed on cardstock and featured the same calligraphy as our save-the-dates and invitations. The other font (Copperplate Light) and the Chicago star also carry over from the save-the-dates and invitations.
We wrote a note to our family and friends, thanking them for coming.
Mrs. Armadillo, Houston, TexasAge and Occupation: 23, Graduate StudentFiance's Age and Occupation: 24, Armed Security OfficerEngagement Date: September 28, 2011Wedding Date: March 2013Venue: First Presbyterian Church/Bay City Civic CenterAbout Me: I’m an oldies-loving, board game-playing, coffee addicted fine arts junkie from Southeast Texas in pursuit of her master’s degree in communication studies who met the goofy, strong, artistic, and unexpected love of her life in the beautiful piney woods of East Texas. Serendipity threw us together again and again (and again) on our college campus before we eventually stuck, but when we finally did submit to destiny, we hit the ground running and never looked back! We’re planning a religious, small town, budget-friendly, DIY-infused “winter becomes springtime” ceremony and reception to celebrate the beginning of our lives together with the people we love the most, and are pouring our hearts and souls into making sure our wedding represents us as a couple down to the nitty gritty details and balances tradition with the quirky individuality that is uniquely and unequivocally “us”!
Today’s post is all about ceremony programs, which arguably means I’m doing this wedding-planning stuff a BIT out of order considering we have NONE of the ceremony details hashed out yet, but bear with me—when my eyes fell on this lovely wedding program by Martha Stewart, it was love at first sight:
Mrs. Dragon, Sioux Lookout/Brockville, ONAge and Occupation: 24, JournalistFiance's Age and Occupation: 35, Graphic DesignerEngagement Date: August 22, 2011Wedding Date: September 2012Venue: Mother of the Bride’s ResidenceAbout Me: I moved to Northern Ontario for a job, expecting to be single for the year I'd be there. Within one month I was dating a co-worker, and now, more than two years later, we’re planning a wedding and I’m still a Northern girl. I’m a reporter and a photographer for a small-town newspaper, and I get to do all kinds of fun, exciting, and sometimes weird things at work. When I’m not getting the scoop, I’m cooking, adventuring, playing with our three black cats, or blogging.
Mr. Dragon and I met while working at a newspaper, so I knew I wanted to include newspaper SOMEWHERE in our wedding. I saw a picture of a newspaper-inspired program on Pinterest at the start of our wedding planning and decided to make my own version!
Creating these programs was seriously such a hassle. I managed to lock myself out of the program I started creating them in, and had to jump through all kinds of hoops to get myself into an editable file one week before the wedding. And then, after I printed two of them, our printer ink ran out. I rush-shipped some ink, only to find out that the company had sent me an empty remanufactured cartridge. There were definitely tears.
But, it all worked out! I even found grey linen paper that seemed newsprint-y.
I made them on regular 8.5″ x 11″ paper, printed landscape-style, folded in half, and folded again in the middle to look like little tiny newspapers.
Mrs. Pony, Bloomington, ILAge and Occupation: 25, AttorneyFiance's Age and Occupation: 34, AttorneyEngagement Date: March 22, 2010Wedding Date: September 2011Venue: Mackinaw Valley Vineyard; Bloomington Center for the Performing ArtsAbout Me: I found my Southern counterpart in law school and since he popped the question last March, we have been busy graduating, job searching, bar taking, and wedding planning. My loves include must see TV, magnets, quotes, anything green, my car, fun socks, the Cubs, and my Mr. Together we love wine, playing outside, and exploring the world together. Stay tuned to see our Midwest wedding full of Southern charm, vintage flair, lots of DIY details, and a whole lot o’ wine.
I love fun, unique ceremony programs, particularly fans, but I knew early on that I needed to keep this project on the simple side for my sanity. What I didn’t know was that no program is just a “simple DIY,” at least not for me. Keeping what I thought would be a “simple DIY program” in mind, my first love were these beauties made by Mrs. Dachshund:
Mrs. Castle, NYC/Southern CaliforniaAge and Occupation: 26, Actress/BabysitterFiance's Age and Occupation: 31, Actor/Writer/Graphic DesignerEngagement Date: January 1, 2011Wedding Date: April 2012Venue: Padua Hills TheaterAbout Me: I am a Southern California girl living in the Big Apple. I moved here to put my degree in Musical Theater to work! My survival job is caregiver to an adorable 2 1/2 year old. When I'm not working, auditioning or rehearsing, I am hanging out at home with my FI and our two beloved cats. I love to read, sing, dance, hang with friends, and spend quality time with Mr. Castle watching our favorite TV shows (LOST, Big Bang Theory, and Mythbusters...to name a few). Mr Castle and I met while performing in college, so it is only fitting that our wedding take place at an old theater. We are planning a vintage, theater-inspired wedding with some DIY projects and plenty of personal touches thrown in. I love living in the city but I am excited to marry my man in the state where we fell in love.
Sorry I’ve been absent for a while. Those thank you notes took longer than I thought! Before I start my official recaps I wanted tell you all about some things I didn’t get to blog about before the wedding. I didn’t have time to write about them because I was scrambling to finish them!
The weeks leading up to the wedding were crazy. We were constantly working on projects that needed to be finished before we traveled to California. It was a stressful time, and some of our projects were not going as smoothly as we would have hoped. I have to say our biggest stress was caused by our programs.
Designing them was actually the easy part. I found the template for our programs by Googling “Wedding program template.” On the results list is a link that says, “[doc] Free wedding program template.” Clicking on it automatically downloads a template for Word that looks like this:
Mrs. Hawk, Richmond, VAAge and Occupation: 26, FinanceFiance's Age and Occupation: 30, District SupervisorEngagement Date: March 13, 2011Wedding Date: May 2012Venue: The Chapel of the Sir Christopher Wren Building, 2007 Legacy HallAbout Me: I’m an Arizona-born girl who has spent the majority of my life living below the Mason-Dixon line. The South has definitely earned a special place in my heart (alongside my Virginia born and bred fiance, of course!). We are planning a traditional Christian ceremony at my alma mater in historic Williamsburg, Virginia, followed by a rocking reception filled with Southern cooking and vintage/shabby chic details. When we’re not wedding planning, we enjoy spending time with our three dogs, going for runs together, watching plenty of football (or baseball depending on the season), and sampling new wine.
As you may or may not recall, even though I planned my wedding from start to finish, I really didn’t have a lot of real wedding experience. In fact, not counting my own, I’ve still only attended two weddings in my adult life. At the beginning of planning I felt a bit lost, but I found that in some ways it was a blessing. I think it may have relieved some stress from feeling obligated to participate in or do certain things simply out of tradition. In some ways, like our chapel wedding ceremony, we stayed very traditional, but in others we said “tradition shmadition.”
Although I loved our paper elements like our STDs and invitations, and was obsessedwithmonogramminganythingthatdidn’tmove, I was completely uninterested in the idea of creating a wedding-ceremony program. I guess I saw it more as a “nice to have” rather than a “need to have.” We weren’t having a super-long ceremony or participating in any special or unique ceremony elements that needed explaining. I suppose it would have been a nice place to call out and give thanks to the wedding party, but we had other things planned for them at the reception. In the end, I just said “to hell with it” and skipped them altogether.
However, in an effort to make sure all our guests still made it to the reception, I ended up making a simple map to distribute a la Mrs. Ballet Flat instead. I knew directions couldn’t be skipped since most of our guests were unfamiliar with the Williamsburg area, but eliminating the task of programs from my to-do list certainly made for less stress.
Mrs. Turkey, PhiladelphiaAge and Occupation: 29, Brand ManagementFiance's Age and Occupation: 28, ConsultantEngagement Date: February 2011Wedding Date: May 2012Venue: The Rittenhouse HotelAbout Me: I'm a marketer who loves a good glass of wine, anything pumpkin-flavored, every crime drama on TV and, of course, Mr. Turkey. It's funny to say out loud, but we're former coworkers turned betrothed---now planning a wedding in the city of Brotherly Love. For three years, we've been eating our way through Philadelphia, playing tourist at home, and cheering for every sports team in the 215. Although we've hit some unplanned snags along the way, we're determined to have a rocking party this spring with our loud, fun families and friends.
As a paper-obsessed bride, it’s no wonder that there have been multiple Turkey posts on stationery and the like. There could have been more, but I was able to show some level of restraint.
Mrs. Wizard, PittsburghAge and Occupation: 22, Front-end Web DeveloperFiance's Age and Occupation: 23, Software ProgrammerEngagement Date: June 8, 2011Wedding Date: June 2012Venue: Glades Pike Winery, Somerset, PAAbout Me: I’m a born-and-raised Pittsburgh girl marrying a born-and-raised Pittsburgh dude. I’m a stubborn Italian with a huge personality, and I love oldies music, baking, housewifery, and all things Harry Potter. He’s a quiet, level-headed guy who loves my cooking and laughs good-naturedly at my lack of verbal filter. He’s an intellectual who likes to learn, and can often be found going on "Wiki walks" and landing on the most hilariously weird articles imaginable. We truly are a case of "opposites attract," and we balance each other out perfectly. We keep each other sane and make each other laugh so hard we cry almost every day, and that’s all I could ever ask for. Together we’re planning a simple, elegant, summery June wedding, and we can’t wait to be Mr. and Mrs.!
There were two major DIYs left on our to-do list: programs and wine-cork place cards. (I know I said we weren’t going to do either of those, but after that bout of apathy wore off, we decided to do them after all. And I’m glad we did.) We had to wait until the very end to do these, though, because obviously we needed to finalize things like ceremony order, processional songs, and reception table seating. Once we figured all that out, it was all systems go for our last two DIYs.
First, the place cards. We ended up buying a kit of print-your-own place cards from Michaels, and printed them using the same font from our invitations (which is called Windsong, in case anyone is wondering). The cards were intended to be tent cards, but we just cut off the back part of the “tent” so that we just had flat place cards. Mr. Wiz’s dad sanded the bottoms off our corks with a belt sander, and cut a slit for the cards in the tops of them using a small saw, and that was that.
I’ll show you our photographer’s and videographer’s place cards as examples, because theirs won’t need any blurring of names:
Mrs. Fox, Washington DC/Havre de Grace, MDAge and Occupation: 26, Massage TherapistFiance's Age and Occupation: 28, Field Support EngineerEngagement Date: April 18, 2010Wedding Date: June 2012Venue: Vandiver InnAbout Me: I’m a dancer turned massage therapist who was born and raised in New York. Alas, true love has brought me “south” where I still maintain my penchants for pretty shoes, wine, crossword puzzles, cherry blossoms, and the Mets. I own more sunglasses than a normal person should and don’t eat red meat (though I make up for it by eating my weight in sushi). I tend to be a big planner who likes to get things started early, but generally end up being indecisive and procrastinating when it comes down to it. I have a (not so) secret crush on Chris Carrabba, but my loyalty and love ultimately goes to the future hubs, of course! Together, my Foxy man and I love to discuss (read: debate) politics and current events, have Mario Kart and Scrabble duels, and just laugh. A lot. We’re hoping and planning for a laid back, fun, summery, rustic vibe to our June wedding that will be genuinely “us” – that is, if we finally make some decisions. Huzzah!
I think I whinedenough these past few days, yes? Time for me to get. with. the. program.
The ceremony programs, that is! Har har har har.
Anyway, the programs have been one of those things on my to-do list from the start of wedding planning, but something that obviously needed to wait and be done closer to the end of it. I started seriously thinking about them about a month or two ago, and decided that they were something I just wanted to be done with at this point and have out of the way.It would be incredibly easy for me to wait until the week of the wedding to whip something up, but let’s get real. That will be one of the last things I’ll want to worry about next week! (Holy crap.)
But what exactly would these programs even look like?? While I’ve had lots of fun looking around and pinning inspiration pictures for the past two years, I kept being drawn back to the same three.
The next was extremely colorful and had a light, whimsical feel to it. Read more…
Mrs. Coyote, Westchester, NYAge and Occupation: 26, Administrative AssistantFiance's Age and Occupation: 30, Computer ProgrammerEngagement Date: August 2010Wedding Date: June 2012Venue: Franklin PlazaAbout Me: I am an overly-caffeinated, sports-obsessed history nerd who loves a good book and hates bananas. Originally from a small town in Upstate NY, I made the move to Westchester County and never looked back! My loves include NBC Thursdays, red wine, fleece pajamas, and my amazing fiancé. Together we are planning a formal evening affair for 175 guests with a mix of new and old traditions and plenty of personal touches.
…I ended up with a big ol’ booklet program. I made a list of all the information I wanted to include in the program, and realized that in order to keep it to one sheet of paper I was going to have to shorten it A LOT. I didn’t really want to take anything out, so I just ran with it… Read more…
Mrs. Mink, Charlottesville, VirginiaAge and Occupation: 34, College AdministratorFiance's Age and Occupation: 40, Craft Beer ConsultantEngagement Date: November 26, 2010Wedding Date: June 2012Venue: Pippin Hill Farm & VineyardsAbout Me: I left a pre-war brownstone in Boston six years ago to live in a funky, Southern city where Thomas Jefferson, Dave Matthews, and urban chicken keepers enjoy equal social standing. I still love my Patriots and Red Sox, but have fallen in love with Virginia. I work in education and specialize in integrating technology into my work to improve the student experience. I’m a diehard blogger, animal lover, jamband follower, and DIYer. I paint to relax and have transferred by energy from home projects to wedding projects in recent months. When Mr. Mink and I started talking about marriage, we knew our wedding would be outdoors, that my golden retriever would be part of the day, and that the music would be fantastic. We’ve taken a few risks during our planning process and we’ve been enjoying the process immensely!
I took a break from sharing pictures of our program fan project to tell you about the Jorge Manuel Upon a Star event I attended with Mrs. Pony. It’s time to get back to those details! As you may remember, I had the print center at work print our programs with some pretty bad results. A trip to an independent print shop fixed everything. I didn’t have too many extra sheets of the expensive card stock I ordered from Cards & Pockets, so the second printer had to use the backs of the pieces that were used (ruined?) by the first.
When I got home, I used a corner punch to round the corners of the card stock sheets. This was surprisingly time consuming work. The Martha Stewart punch I used could only handle two sheets of card stock at a time. I had 200 sheets of card stock and four corners on each sheet, so I had 400 punches to make. (It actually took more than that because I didn’t discover the punch could take two sheets until I was a good bit into the stack of paper.)
Photo by Miss Mink
I followed Mrs. Bunting’s advice and used some packing tape to secure the fan sticks I bought on Etsy to the card stock. I had to stare at that first, botched print job for hours while I taped.
Mrs. Elk, City: Syracuse/Long IslandAge and Occupation: 25, Medical StudentFiance's Age and Occupation: 25, Computer EngineerEngagement Date: November 22, 2010Wedding Date: May 2012Venue: The Old Field Club About Me: I’m a Long Island girl finishing my last year of medical school in western NY, on the road to becoming a pediatrician. When I’m not studying or sleeping at the hospital, I spend my free time watching bad TV (Vampire Diaries anyone?), playing with my pooch, singing incredibly off-key (to the annoyance of Mr. Elk ), and reading Harry Potter for the zillionth time. Mr. Elk and I are planning a secular wedding infused with both Irish and cultural Jewish traditions. Only a week after I become an M.D., I will get my Mrs. degree, too!
Hive, I have been a busy, busy bee these past couple of weeks trying to complete all of the little details for our big day! I can’t wait to share all of our hard work with you, but I am most excited about our programs, which I am so happy to say are complete! Because we are having an outdoor ceremony (weather permitting- insert dance to the weather gods), we thought fan programs would be a nice detail for guests, assuming it is actually warm at the end of May. I really didn’t think these would be all that difficult—just print, fold, glue in a stick and voila you have yourself a fan program. But hive, let me tell you I was WRONG. These took forever, but I love them so much I don’t even care!
So I started by creating a document in my favorite program ever, Powerpoint (because I am not advanced in the whole computer department). Next I added in Audrey’s illustrated bridal party and my brother’s hand painted flowers (which we scanned so I could use throughout the wedding). Here’s what they looked like:
Mrs. 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…
Before I start my official recaps I wanted tell you all about some things I didn’t get to blog about before the wedding. I didn’t have time to write about them because I was scrambling to finish them!
