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!
Recently, we completed our second premarital session with our officiant. We had the chance to follow up on our homework assignments from our last session, talk about drama (there always seems to be some when there’s a wedding involved), and talk about our future marriage and finalize the order of the ceremony. Do you know what that means? It means we get to make those passport programs!
From my prior post, you can see the embossing steps for the covers of the passports. Once the ceremony was set in stone I started the daunting task of printing all of the pages out: three pages (two of those pages had back and front printing on them) multiplied by 124 programs. With 372 pages to cut I finally wised up and cut 5-6 pages at a time. We probably won’t need that many programs, but I already embossed all the covers and I didn’t want them to go to waste.
Once the back pages were printed and cut (thank you trusty paper cutter!), I used spray adhesive to glue them to the covers.
Mrs. Pretzel, SeattleAge and Occupation: 32 Learning, Training, and Development SpecialistFiance's Age and Occupation: 28 Manufacturing EngineerEngagement Date: September 2, 2009Wedding Date: July 2010Venue: Catholic Church & The Engine Room at Georgetown StudiosAbout Me: I’m just a thirty-something girl who never dreamed of weddings, poofy dresses, or ritzy receptions. I am a rabid knitter, except recently, wedding projects have replaced my yarn and needles. I’ve been fiercely independent since the age of 2 and 30 years later I think my family and friends had given up on me settling down and getting married.
Ironically, I had to go all the way to Seattle to find a boy from Purdue. We fell in love over Seattle Beers and cooking together. I love NASCAR, he loves Legos. I can talk like a Muppet and he can fit a whole McDonald’s cheeseburger in his mouth. We are a two reception couple, currently planning a brewery inspired bash.
Working with Mr Pretzel to plan our Nuptial Mass was one of my favorite parts of wedding planning. I love the music, readings, and the traditions that we chose for our Mass and my only regret in wedding planning is that we do not have a video or audio recording of our Mass. Truthfully, I really just wish we had thought ahead to arrange an audio recording. While we don’t have audio, we do have our programs and just reading the elements of the Mass takes me back to July and to the memories of the moments. For this reason, our programs are one of my favorite details from our big day.
Mrs. Meerkat, Kalamazoo, MI/Riviera MayaAge and Occupation: 30, Application EngineerFiance's Age and Occupation: 23, IT ConsultantEngagement Date: July 26, 2008Wedding Date: December 2010Venue: Al Cielo / La LagunaAbout Me: I’m a tech-savvy tomboy with an affinity for hot tea and good sushi. Us Meerkats are just a couple fun lovin’ geeks from Michigan. We love anything having to do with movies, books, video games or technology and we hold a special place in our hearts for our two very spoiled shih-tzus, Wicket and Bravo. We also LOVE to travel. We love it so much it only took us 12 hours after we got engaged to decide to have a destination wedding. We are working our little Meerkat tails off planning a rustic-chic, travel themed destination wedding in the Riviera Maya with a semi-formal, vintage-turned-modern, outdoor at home reception back here in Michigan.
Well you could have knocked me over with a feather when I got requests for a tutorial on these. I mean after I saw them in action at the wedding I loved them but back when I wrote that post I was in the “yea they look good enough” mindset. So it kind of floored me that other people liked them enough to want to make their own.
As requested here is the step-by-step of how I did it. And by the way, they were SOOOOO easy and cheap to make.
Mrs. Earrings, Fresno, CA/ Nelson, New ZealandAge and Occupation: 20, Student, Wannabe Writer
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 19, Photography StudentEngagement Date: February 14, 2010Wedding Date: January 2011Venue: Gardens of the WorldAbout Me: I'm a girl from down under who grew up in Indonesia and I'm marrying a California boy. I'm addicted to all things sweet, have never met a chocolate silk pie than can get the better of me, and have dreams of one day being a fulltime novelist. I go weak in the knees for lace, tea cups, and a beautifully crafted sentence. When I get excited about something (whether it is historical linguistics or the Beatles) I tend to go overboard in research, and planning this wedding is no different. Mr. Earrings is my high school sweetheart, my best friend, and somehow we combine all our quirks into one big happy mess.
When it came to making our programmes, I had a simple scroll design in mind right from the beginning: a sheet of A4 cream paper printed on one side then rolled up and tied with a ribbon. These were my inspiration pics:
Mrs. Meerkat, Kalamazoo, MI/Riviera MayaAge and Occupation: 30, Application EngineerFiance's Age and Occupation: 23, IT ConsultantEngagement Date: July 26, 2008Wedding Date: December 2010Venue: Al Cielo / La LagunaAbout Me: I’m a tech-savvy tomboy with an affinity for hot tea and good sushi. Us Meerkats are just a couple fun lovin’ geeks from Michigan. We love anything having to do with movies, books, video games or technology and we hold a special place in our hearts for our two very spoiled shih-tzus, Wicket and Bravo. We also LOVE to travel. We love it so much it only took us 12 hours after we got engaged to decide to have a destination wedding. We are working our little Meerkat tails off planning a rustic-chic, travel themed destination wedding in the Riviera Maya with a semi-formal, vintage-turned-modern, outdoor at home reception back here in Michigan.
Hopefully you have not forgotten who I am since my posting has been a bit delayed. With the wedding drawing close I find more and more last minute projects to do, one being our ceremony programs.
Originally I wanted to do a material covered front and back cover for the programs. Like this:
Mrs. Seashell, Chicago, IL / Providence, RIAge and Occupation: 28, Marriage and Family TherapistFiance's Age and Occupation: 31, Electrical EngineerEngagement Date: September 3, 2009Wedding Date: September 2010Venue: The Glen Manor HouseAbout Me: Fonts and fashion, stationery and Sundays, photography and french toast... the beauty is in the details for this fun-loving Chicagoan who loves to plan plan plan! The soon-to-be hubs plays "Mr. Fix-It" in our new condo while I swoon over beautiful, personalized stationery and choose shades of aubergine for my bridesmaids' dresses... and thus begins my new fairy tale! Skirting to the East Coast for our September nuptials where my home state of Rhode Island awaits with fall foliage, I'm just a few dress fittings and bachelorette party away from saying "I Do" to a very happy ending!
When I started researching inspiration for our wedding programs, I had one thing in mind: keep it simple. As much as I love a beautiful, intricate, interesting programs, I couldn’t help but feel heartbroken by the idea that most people throw them away after leafing through them during the ceremony. I searched the Weddingbee Gallery and I found this lovely one by hive member Joie De Vie:
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!
I’ve been a little all over the map when it comes to programs. At first I wanted something simple and easy, probably similar to our save the dates, in a square fashion with card stock and paper.
Mrs. Sand Dollar, HoustonAge and Occupation: 24, Graphic DesignerFiance's Age and Occupation: 22, Electrical TechnicianEngagement Date: January 8, 2010Wedding Date: September 2010Venue: MacLean ParkAbout Me: I'm a domestic diva down to the core. I heart cooking, sewing, baking, decorating and making sure we have a hand-crafted home. The best part about the wedding is I get to incorporate it all! I make sure I put my art degree to good use by screen printing, craft knife cutting, and a whole lotta graphic design. We're having a big-time party on a small-time budget, and I promise to show you a boot-scootin', barbecue-eatin', finger-lickin' good time! Mr. Sand Dollar and I spend most of our time on DIY projects or traipsing around the outdoors with our two pooches Rory and Juno. I'm looking forward to sharing our journey with all of you!
Our programs are done! One of the first things I wanted to take care of this past weekend was cutting and gluing the program fans. I started with some kraft paper that we cut in half, and then just printed out my program design on some cardstock I had laying around. It was gray, and while at first it sort of bugged me, I decided to just let it go. Our STDs were printed on cream, invites on white, so I figured, why not just throw another color in the mix? The only time you’d ever notice would be if they were all laid out next to each other. So, it’s whatevs.
Mrs. Jellyfish, Pleasanton, CAAge and Occupation: 27, Law StudentFiance's Age and Occupation: 26, Air Force PilotEngagement Date: February 21, 2009Wedding Date: September 2010Venue: Casa Real at Ruby Hill WineryAbout Me: In a nutshell, I’m the most optimistic worrywart you’ll ever meet. My family emigrated from Romania to San Jose, CA when I was 8, and I've been a Nor Cal girl ever since! My fiancé is also a Bay Area native, so it’s funny that we met at UCLA, as college freshmen living on the same floor (go Bruins!). Between his career as an Air Force pilot and my path to becoming a lawyer, our relationship has been anything but typical. We currently live together in Berkeley with our puppy Stinson. In addition to spending time with the loves of my life, I enjoy crafting, attempting complicated recipes, environmental law and non-law school reading (Us Weekly, anyone?). Follow along as I plan an elegant 200-person winery wedding, graduate law school, take the Bar exam, get married and get used to the always unpredictable but never boring life of a military spouse!
Ever since I saw the idea of paneled program fans online, I’ve wanted to have them for our wedding. Due to the difficulty of this project, however, I was almost sure that the fans would make it to the “cut list.” However, Mr. Jelly loved them almost as much as I did and was instrumental in making sure we got these done, after all!
To make the programs, I used the Aylee Bits template which can be found here. My super helpful friend Nancy actually designed the panels for me in Word, using my favorite font (Beautiful ES and Beautiful ES Caps, available for free here). We did 5 panels: Title page, Wedding Party 1, Wedding Party 2, Ceremony and In Loving Memory/Special Thanks page.
After the design process was complete, I had to find suitable paper. The Aylee Bits page recommends using 110 lb Cover cardstock, which is incredibly difficult to find in person. Since the wedding was about a week away when we started this, we didn’t have time to order paper online. Read more…
Mrs. Sand Dollar, HoustonAge and Occupation: 24, Graphic DesignerFiance's Age and Occupation: 22, Electrical TechnicianEngagement Date: January 8, 2010Wedding Date: September 2010Venue: MacLean ParkAbout Me: I'm a domestic diva down to the core. I heart cooking, sewing, baking, decorating and making sure we have a hand-crafted home. The best part about the wedding is I get to incorporate it all! I make sure I put my art degree to good use by screen printing, craft knife cutting, and a whole lotta graphic design. We're having a big-time party on a small-time budget, and I promise to show you a boot-scootin', barbecue-eatin', finger-lickin' good time! Mr. Sand Dollar and I spend most of our time on DIY projects or traipsing around the outdoors with our two pooches Rory and Juno. I'm looking forward to sharing our journey with all of you!
Soooooo… I got our programs designed! I wanted to keep the style and theme similar to our save the dates and invites. Since we’re having a laid-back ceremony, and keeping it at about 10 minutes, I decided not to include an order of events. Here’s what I came up with for the front:
I love it! It sums up our entire event. And for the back, I channeled my inner Twilighter. Read more…
Mrs. Sewing, San Mateo, CA/Honolulu, HIAge and Occupation: 24, Electrical EngineerFiance's Age and Occupation: 24, Electrical EngineerEngagement Date: June 27, 2009Wedding Date: July 2010Venue: Anela Garden Chapel & Japanese Cultural Center, HonoluluAbout Me: I'm an easily entertained, compulsive idea-scheming machine who loves good art, good food, and a good engineering challenge. I'm planning a half-destination wedding on the beautiful island of Oahu - imagine a plethora of movies, art and games; savory Hawaiian food; blended Chinese and Japanese cultural details; lush, fragrant tropical flowers and all the air conditioning a NorCal native could want! And once I marry the love of my life, we'll come back to the 'mainland' to party it up all over again in my hometown of Salinas, the salad-bowl capital of the world!
Although I love just about every detail we have incorporated into this wedding so far, our program would have to be my favorite child. It really did take a good chunk of time and creative juice to complete. You’ve already seen a little of it, here and here.
After completing my 6 page comic “book”, I really wanted the programs professionally printed. After checking around the web and other print stores though, I realized that booklets were costly! Up to $500, just for a hundred or so programs! There was no way I could do that.
Mr. Sew had already started making plans for how we’d print them at home, when I stumbled upon a little site called Smartpress. Read more…
Mrs. Paisley, Orange County, CAAge and Occupation: 25, JournalistFiance's Age and Occupation: 31, Spanish ProfessorEngagement Date: September 2008Wedding Date: June 2010Venue: Family Lake HouseAbout Me: From my earliest days I attracted attention, as much for my intelligence as for beauty. I display an originality, a perspicacity, a certain je ne sais quoi that sets me apart. I posses a mysterious authority which compels people to do my bidding. I am a regal blonde with classic features and the daintiness of Dresden porcelain. I am poised, soft-spoken, and well educated... Okay, now that enough eyebrows have sufficiently shot through the roof, everybody can relax---I kid! I'm just a sarcastic NorCal-turned-SoCal girl who loves outdoor activities, books, letterpress printing and of course, Professor Paisley.
Storybooks are my favorite, from the fairy tales Grimm to Babar the Elephant to yes, even storybooks’ physical manifestation via Storybook Land at Disneyland.
I owe a great part of my admiration for storybooks to my mom, a children’s librarian.
To pay tribute to her, my wonderful bridesmaid Alexa will recite a reading based on the book, The Runaway Bunny.
To tie in the theme, I created program backs using the pages of my favorite children’s book (about a wedding, of course!) “A Frog Went A-Courting” adapted and illustrated by Nina Barbaresi:
I used different pages so about every row, if they put their programs together, can get the gist of the story: Read more…
Mrs. Scissors, LaGrange, GAAge and Occupation: 25, Photography & Graphic DesignFiance's Age and Occupation: 24, Engineering Grad StudentEngagement Date: January 1, 2009Wedding Date: June 2010Venue: Ceremony - First United Methodist Church; Reception - My parents' house!About Me: I’m a six-foot-three bride with a fifty-foot personality! I love great art, fabulous design, intense color, tons of music, indie photography, watching movies on repeat, and being really awesome. This super-tall, Southern, loud, quirky, neurotic artist is marrying a German, quiet, silly, super-amazing roboticist in an eclectic, funky, fun, snazzy, technicolored June wedding. Anything is game for this shindig, for it is all about us! We’re bringing giant paper cranes, six-foot-tall portraits, fortune cookies, a photo booth, a club-circuit DJ, handcuffs, and possibly a kidnapping to this small Southern town. Watch out, y’all, and try to keep up!
I designed our programs to be design-friends with our invitation suite. I’m a stickler for consistency, so they work well together, but I also went a little more whimsical with these guys. The pressure was off for the programs, and I had quite a lot of fun with these. This weekend, Mr. Scissors and I spent a good two days printing, cutting, folding, measuring, nailing, threading, sewing, and assembling our eighty programs. He was a marvelous helper, and we are both so thrilled with the results.
Mrs. Dachshund, Fresno, CAAge and Occupation: 24, Legal Office AssistantFiance's Age and Occupation: 27, Computer TechnicianEngagement Date: April 18, 2009Wedding Date: May 2010Venue: Victorian Gardens of Two SistersAbout Me: I’m a 24-year-old Californian bride-to-be who found love in the most unlikely of places - an online video game! I’m a farmer’s daughter living in rural Central California, but will always have a special place in my heart for the city. My future husband is a 27-year-old extraordinarily tall, exceptionally cute, and undoubtedly Canadian boy who was able to sweep me off my feet and take me for his bride. I love color, folksy songs that make me smile, interior design, kettle corn, my one-year-old puppy, Juno, and my fiance, of course! We’re planning a DIY garden wedding with a laundry-list of projects, all while dealing with the bureaucracy that is American Immigration!
Though the DIY process for our programs was not quite as involved as our invitations, they still caused me a bit of stress. You see, I had a pretty good idea of the way I would have liked our invitations to turn out before I started to make them. This was not the case with the programs. I knew I wanted a booklet, but as far as the design or what to put in them? No idea. In fact, other than the names of the bridal party I really didn’t know what to write for our programs. A timeline of the day? Well, that required me to finalize the ceremony. There was so much involved, and with about a month left until the wedding I figured I should probably get started.
First things first, I gathered my inspiration. I searched Weddingbee for posts on other bees’ programs and fell in love with the sewn booklets made by Mrs. Cream Puff. Seriously, they’re so cute. I tried a few mockups and, while cute, they would’ve just taken way too much time. Not to mention I was worried my sewing machine would have a hard time sewing through two layers of cardstock and multiple layers of printer paper.
After a bit of fiddling around, this is what I came up with.
Mrs. Guinea Pig, Baltimore, MD Age and Occupation: 26, PhD student Fiance's Age and Occupation: 26, Operations Director at a non-profit Engagement Date: December 25, 2008 Wedding Date: May 2010Venue: The Chesapeake Bay Beach Club About Me: I'm a tomboy science nerd whose girly side has made a startling appearance thanks to wedding planning! I love to bake, knit and sew but I also ride a motorcycle (that Mr. Guinea Pig wouldn't touch with a 10 foot pole). We live with our three crazy cats and love to read, travel, watch movies, and do home improvement projects together! My parents/family are Canadian but I'm definitely American, although I've lived in 5 different countries, 6 different states, and speak Russian fluently. Mr. GP and I met online (did I mention I'm a scientist?) and had a whirlwind romance - now we can't wait to get married & celebrate with all our friends and family in a blue and yellow waterfront affair!
I loved the simplicity, the rounded corners and the sewn detail.
When I first got obsessed with programs, I wasn’t quite sure what the design was going to look like (because Mr. GP and I couldn’t agree on it ). Once we got down to the wire of a few weeks before the wedding, we made up our minds quickly and set to work getting it done using elements from a bunch of our other wedding stuff. Read more…
All-Inclusion Invitation Suites
). Once we got down to the wire of a few weeks before the wedding, we made up our minds quickly and set to work getting it done using elements from a bunch of our other wedding stuff.
