Simple DIY Ceremony Programs

You can see my tutorial for making my invitations here.

DIY Ceremony Programs

What you need for one program:

1 piece of cardstock
1 piece nice computer paper, printed double sided with program information, with 1/2″ cut off each side.
approximately 1 1/2 – 2 ft. of ribbon

1. Fold cardstock in half. (I used a straight edge and the back side of a butter knife to create a crease so it folded nicely.) Stamp whatever you want on the front – I used a penguin.

2. Fold program paper in half.

3. Centre program paper on cardstock and hole punch approximately 1″ from the edge in the crease of both papers.

4. Pull ribbon through the middle and tie a bow on the outside. (What I found worked best was to sit on the floor holding the program between your knees and then tying the ribbon.)

This is what I wrote on the program itself incase you are interested:

Page 1:

“The Marriage Ceremony
Uniting
Miss Bean
and Mr. Bean

<Our Wedding Date>

<Our church>
Calgary, AB

Page 2 (Next to the title, I lined up the person’s name):

Who’s who in the Zoo:

Parents of the Bride
Parents of the Groom
Grandparents of the Bride
Grandfather of the Groom

Maid of Honour
Best Man
Bridesmaid
Bridesmatron
Groomsmen

Officiant

Greeters

Ushers

Musicians

“Today we honor those who could not be with us, especially the bride’s grandparents: Grannie and Danda Bean and the Groom’s Grandparents: Grannie, Grandma and Grandpa Bean in law.

Page 3: (Note: this is a standard order of service at an Anglican church. In the appropriate place I listed names and page numbers.)

Order of Service

Processional
Gathering of the Community
Proclaimation of the Word
Lesson: Ecclesiasted 4: 9-12
Psalm: Psalm 121
Gospel: Matthew 7:21, 24-29
Message:
The Wedding
Prayers of the People
The Lord’s Prayer
The Blessing of the Marriage
The Peace
Signing of the Register
Presentation of the Couple
Recessional

Page 4:

We cannot express our gratitude enough. We are so thankful for all of the support, encouragement and prayers each one of you has given us. Your presence on one of the happiest days of our lives is a blessing!

Mr. and Mrs. Bean

Be Thous my Vision, O Lord of my heart;
Naught be all else to me, save that Thou art.
Thou my best Thought, by day or by night,
Waking or sleeping, They presence my light

– Be Thou My Vision, Old Irish Hymnal

There you have it! How did you make your ceremony programs? What were your inspirations?

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Recaps: Ceremony Part 2

Where we left off last, Mr. Bean and I were ready to get hitched. I think I forgot to mention that we got married in our home church of St. James Anglican. It’s not the most beautiful church in my city, but it holds special meaning to both of us (Mr. Bean has been going there with his family for 17 years!) and it’s still pretty nice looking. Another plus of getting married at your home church – you already know the priest!

Our service was taken directly from the Anglican Book of Alternative Services, which mean that there wasn’t too much room for customization. But that’s okay, I think it’s a really beautiful service regardless and all the important elements were included. We ended up not doing any sort of “unity ceremony“, which I kind of regret. But there is nothing I can do about it now.

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Recaps: Ceremony Part 1

In the last post, we left off where we were all dressed and ready to go to the church. So we happily piled into vehicles and drove! I drove with my parents and it was quite an interesting experience because I just let everything go. I knew that I was going to get married and whatever else happened, I wouldn’t care. (That’s what my friend Dana, my DOC, was for!)

At the back of the church is a little room where the female half of the bridal party waited for our que to enter. We were set to start at 1:41 (anyone know why?) but I think we actually started just a few minutes late, which isn’t too bad. Has any one else been to a wedding that was 1/2 hour late *and* they asked the guests to arrive half an hour early? At least I knew lots of people and got to catch up with them.

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“Unity Ceremonies”

As promised in a previous post, I have done some research about other types of unity ceremonies as an alternative for communion.

Option 1: Unity Candle.  

What it is:As most of you know, this is where the bride and groom takes a flame from two candles (representing each of their families) and jointly light the candle in the middle to represent their lives coming together.

Thoughts:Given that I’m a huge spaz and I’m going to be nervous, playing with fire is not the best idea. I think the thought is nice, but I don’t think it’s special enough.

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Communion or not?

Something Mr. Bean and I have been debating since we got engaged was whether or not to have communion in our ceremony. We’re both practicing Anglicans and have been going to church for our entire lives, so the symbolism of partaking in communion would be very significant. However, there are a few points that make having communion less favourable. 

Pros	Cons
Very symbolic – inviting God into our new married life from the very beginning Important to our faith Involve more people in the ceremony	Communion for 175 guests is a production It will add at least 30 minutes to our ceremony – generally people enjoy shorter wedding ceremonies and then if I’m late, there is less time to play with for pictures, greeting guests, etc. Need to find communion servers and make sure ushers know what is happening to prevent a gong show Have to pay vendors to stay there longer

After much discussion and angst about timing of the day, we have decided to not have communion. Besides, everyone knows that all I really want is a huge red wine stain down my dress because I was nervous when the cup came to me! (or not.) Now we are deciding  whether or not to include a unity demonstration – like a unity candle type thing. It’s time to do some research – any suggestions? 

For those of you who are/were also debating as to whether or not have communion, how did you come to your final decision?

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