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Top 15 Design Ideas For Ceremony Programs

Your wedding program is the very first thing your guests see when they arrive for your ceremony and likely to be something they bring home. It’s not only an information tool, as it has been in past decades where programs looked very much like restaurant menus (black print on beige paper), but rather a colorful presentation of the very personalized or traditional ceremony that you have planned. Since the ceremony is the most important part of the entire day, the program shares each element in detail and in your voice

Today’s programs do more than list names of who is in the bridal party and who is playing the cello for your processional. Since you are in charge of design, you can share the deeper meanings of religious or cultural rituals, your favorite readings, the sentimental wording of your wedding vows, and more. Here’s how to make the very first impression an unforgettable one with perfectly-designed wedding programs:

1. Create a graphic cover page
   In the past, most wedding programs looked alike, bearing the words “The Wedding of…” with the couple’s first names, the wedding date, the location and perhaps a stock graphic of wedding rings or a dove. Now, covers are so much more personalized. Consider using an oversized font for your names, or shaping them in a circle. Your opening wording might be a message to your guests, such as “Now our day is perfect, because you are here.” Or skip the wording altogether, in favor of a beautiful graphic like a single lily, a photo of the two of you, or the new trend: a photo of your hands (your ring hand placed above his, or a holding-hands shot). Your imagination paired with a high-quality digital camera can grace your program cover with an eye-catching image. Another trend in program covers: a single oversized monogram of your married last initial, with a meaningful quote at the bottom of the cover.
   
   
2. Beyond standard size
   In the past, program pages were printed on standard sheets of printer paper, either used vertically or folded in half to tuck into a program cover. You can, of course, use either of these two varieties, or you can print yours on squares of colored card stock, attached at the corner by a hole punch and ribbon-tie.
   
   
3. Each page in a different hue
   Whichever format you choose, you’re not limited to a monochromatic collection of pages or cards. Think about alternating colors for each page or card: sage green, apple green, sage green, apple green. Or alternate a solid-colored page (like a blush pink) with a page that bears a coordinating accent design like a deeper pink page with cranberry-colored border, stripes, polka dots, or your understated and elegant cranberry-colored monogram on the top right-hand corner. Since the accent is on every other page, it’s not overkill.
   
   
4. Mix up your order
   Rather than place your thank you message on the last page or back cover of your program, place it on the inside front cover as the first thing you wish to express.
   
   
5. Fabulous fonts
   In way-back wedding world, program wording appeared in a single italic font (usually basic black). Now, you have the freedom to explore a variety of font styles to make your section headings stand out, your parents' names larger if you wish to honor them as hosts of the wedding, or the wording of your wedding vows in a noticeably different style than the rest of the program. Experiment with coordinating fonts for the perfect presentation of your words.
   
   
6. Share the meanings
   Where you list the elements of your wedding ceremony, share the deeper meanings of all rituals with a small-print caption underneath each listing. For instance, in some cultures, a bread, wine and salt ritual is performed during the ceremony. Your short explanation below that entry shares the profound symbolism of each item. Since weddings now incorporate so many religious, spiritual, cultural and even personalized rites and symbols, your program serves as an education and unifier when your guests learn a little something new about your heritage. These explanations in today’s great programs have inspired other engaged couples to include the same types of rituals in their own weddings.
   
   
7. Print your vows
   Especially at outdoor weddings, beach weddings and large house of worship weddings where the bride and groom are not speaking into microphones, it can be difficult for guests to hear them speaking. Rather than have your guests miss out on the most meaningful and personalized element of your ceremony, share your vows with them in print. Especially if you’ve written your own personalized vows, rather than following a traditional or religious script, you’ll surely want to share the inspiring promises you’re making.
   
   
8. Include texture
   From a frosted vellum program cover to a raised monogram sticker, add a touch of texture or dimension to your program. Visit a scrapbook store for mini fabric starfish or creative die-cuts, or find a beaded cord to attach to the ribbon tie holding your program together. Check out craft stores for stamp art with embossing powders that are heat-dried to a shine.
   
   
9. Creative binding
   Again, single papers or cards can be tucked into a folded program cover, or – as a new trend allows – slid out from a heavy card stock ‘pocket’ that you make yourself. However, if you’ll marry outdoors or on the beach, a breeze can flutter those pages across the grounds. So creative binding is in order. You can find colored staples in office and craft stores for a coordinated secure bonding, and you can also find colored and theme-shaped paper clips made of metal or plastic. For instance, you might secure the pages of your program with an oversized paper clip in the shape of a graphic spiral or a bright yellow daisy. Or, use that hole punch (circular or shaped such as square or oval, star-shaped or heart-shaped) to secure a ribbon-tie at the corner or top centers of your pages. Check out delicate ribbons at the craft store, or match thin fabric strips to the color of your bridesmaids’ gowns. Go solid, go with stripes, match the color to the font on your invitation, or color-match the hue of the card itself for a barely-there appearance.
   
   
10. The tissue insert
    One of the biggest trends in wedding programs today is the pocket-insert of a single travel-sized tissue. You can find these at bulk discount stores and even at beauty supply stores in the mini travel bins. Match the color of tissue to your program palette, and function matches style. You can even print on the pocket a message such as “For tears of joy.”
    
    
11. Someone once said….
    The wording and elements of your program are up to you, but if you’re feeling stumped, share a favorite quote such as “There is only one happiness in life -- to love and be loved” by George Sand. Quotes and music lyrics have grown into a top trend in wedding programs.
    
    
12. Quote yourselves!
    An example of this might be designing your back cover – or the bottoms of each of your program pages or cards – to showcase a quote from one of you. Guests love this insight into your love story, such as “I knew the first time I saw her…” – Michael. If you’ll include this hot new trend, and you wish to share several quotes from the two of you, alternate the sizes of your quotes for a more graphic layout. Your back cover, then, might feature six quotes from the two of you, and – why not? – a few from your parents or Best Man, Maid of Honor. It looks very much like the quotes found on the back cover of a book.
    
    
13. The personal handoff
    Make sure you appoint someone to hand out your programs to your guests. It’s not acceptable to provide a pile in a basket with a note reading “Take one.” You’ve put a lot into designing your programs, so they should be presented by a friendly greeter or usher at the entrance. Child attendants can also be given the charming task of handing out programs to each guest who comes through the door.
    
    
14. Make extras
    Of course, you’ll print out enough programs to give one to each guest, but print out extras for both personal keepsakes and to send to friends and family who couldn’t make it to the wedding. Regardless of whether or not they sent a gift in their absence. It’s just a wonderful way to include your far-flung loved ones in the happiest day of your life. It will mean so much to them that you were thinking about them.
    
    
15. Creative framing
    Speaking of keepsakes, one of the biggest trends now is framing the program. Not just jamming the entire thing into a 5”x7” frame, but rather custom-framing each individual page in succession, from left to right, in a single panoramic-style frame. Your program, then, becomes a part of your home décor, perhaps displayed over your bed or in your living room, and it is also protected from yellowing by special acid-free matting and other specialties of a custom framer. Do the same with your wedding invitation!