Wedding Programs...Penguin Style!

The programs are done!!! Well, almost. But half the hurdle is deciding what you want to do, designing it, printing it, cutting the paper, and then putting it all together. As of right now, half of my programs are completely done, and the rest are ready to be assembled. Not too shabby, eh?

Mr. S and I were inspired by Mrs. Penguin's programs for her Thai Water Ceremony. We liked the way the pages fanned out, and from a DIY perspective, the actual process was pretty straightforward.

I love Mrs. Penguin's lovely flower design and cool, calm colors:

Source: Weddingbee

With our Mrs. Penguin-inspired programs, we took 8.5x11" green cardstock and cut the pieces in half vertically, and scored the pieces down the middle horizontally. So, they're a bit taller and skinnier than Mrs. Penguin's, but I was able to get two covers per sheet and didn't have to put a whole lot of thought into the cutting.


Instead of putting more of the "cover sheet" on the inside, we put that on the front (we'd originally tried it as Mrs. Penguin has it, but since we weren't decorating the front, it looked like it was missing something).


We also stuck with a 2-color combination, mostly because there wasn't a third color that we really wanted to add in. Page 1 is the order of service, page 2 lists the wedding party, reader, parents, etc, and page 3 is a thank you message from Mr. S and I.

The inside pages are just slightly smaller than a quarter of a page (so they're 3.75x5"). So, between the pages and the cover, I used 77 pieces of cardstock for 52 programs (I'm debating whether or not we'll need more...our headcount is only 100).

There definitely have been some bumps in the road, most significantly being the fact that our printer always seemed to want to change the margins! I did a test run with one at the end of last week, cut it perfectly and it worked great. The next night I printed out enough for 50 programs and went to cutting...only to find out that the margins were just slightly off! So, the words are much closer to the edge on a couple of the pages than I would prefer. Disappointing, to be sure, but I'm just going to slip my photographer one of the good ones for her to snap pictures of!

This is my last big DIY project for the week, and I'm almost done...hurray!

Where did you find inspiration for your programs?

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Program Progress

I've been watching the countdown to "the day" on my Facebook page continue to shrink. I was excited at the 365 mark (only a year...it will just fly by!) to 200 days left...and now we're getting precariously close to the 100 day mark. And then we're on to double digits!

So...what about all of those projects that 12, 9 or even 6 months ago I wouldn't even let myself think about because it was "too far off"? We're about there. Decisions must start getting made...followed by some major action to make everything happen.

First up - ceremony programs. I had kind of a leave 'em attitude about programs when I first started planning. We don't necessary need them. I don't think our ceremony (which, sadly, I haven't yet given a lot of thought to, either) will be incredibly intricate. But as I continue to go through the planning process, I wouldn't mind having a "play by play" of the ceremony. And a place to give extra thanks to our wedding party and family. Besides, we need to keep the ushers busy. They're there to work, people! (I kid, I kid)

When I saw these poster-style ceremony programs featured somewhere last year, I fell in love. I wish I could have been at that wedding, because if the programs are this great, I can only imagine what other splendid details were at that wedding.

Mr. S loves the programs as well, and we've brainstormed different ways we could make this happen for us. But I'm worried that between printing and then folding, we may kill our budget (well, our non-existent program budget, as I hadn't really factored these in, heh) and would just be adding one more project onto the pile with all of the folding. I don't know that we're up for that, but seriously, how great are these?! Of course, we would only be using these as inspiration.

Source: createmyevent.com

Source: createmyevent.com

In my search for other cool, less traditional program ideas, I came across these lovelies. You still get the "fold out feel" with less intense folding. I literally know nothing about printing, so I don't know what costs would be like for that, but I do know that we could easily design these ourselves.

Source: yusthaus.com

Source: yusthaus.com

By far one one of the coolest options was this two-sided poster. No folding would be involved and I think it would be cool to have the ushers passing out these one-pagers (assuming they're printed on heavier cardstock). I think I'd change up the style quite a bit and make sure there's a place to list the wedding party, but overall I like that these are more casual in nature and kind of fun. This would also be great to frame after the event.

Source: robeastblog

Source: robeastblog

So, I now have three great pieces of inspiration for the programs I didn't think I was ever going to do. I think that's a pretty fabulous start! Now it's all about making those decisions and implementing them...

What creative elements are you incoporating into your ceremony programs? Where have you gotten your inspiration?

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Wordle This

I think Wordle is such a great way to turn a poem or other details about your wedding into something special that you can work into a lot of different elements of your wedding, from invitations to ceremony programs to just a framed print on the gift table. I've seen a lot of brides integrating this into their day.

The poem "XVII (I Do Not Love You)" by Pablo Neruda is one of my favorites. I think it's so romantic and yet describes my relationship with Steve - he is my best friend and my other half. So I put the poem into Wordle, along with our names and wedding date. But what to do with it? I'm thinking of tying it into the ceremony programs, although our ideas for the programs change from day to day. Hmm. I just know that I love this poem too much to not use it somewhere!

XVII (I Do Not Love You...)
by Pablo Neruda

I do not love you as if you were salt-rose, or topaz,

or the arrow of carnations the fire shoots off.

I love you as certain dark things are to be loved,

in secret, between the shadow and the soul.

I love you as the plant that never blooms but carries in itself the light of hidden flowers;

thanks to your love a certain solid fragrance,

risen from the earth, lives darkly in my body.

I love you without knowing how, or when, or from where.

I love you straightforwardly, without complexities or pride;

so I love you because I know no other way

than this: where I does not exist, nor you,

so close that your hand on my chest is my hand,

so close that your eyes close as I fall asleep.

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