By Amanda Colyer, Della Stella
For our DIY Wedding
Materials for DIY Wedding Programs:
- A2 sized folded cards (or card stock
- Golf pencils
- Popsicle sticks
- Scissors
- Needle with a large eye
- Corner Rounder Punch
- Thin ribbon
- Double Sided Tape
Note: A2 is a great size because there’s room for content, but they’re not so big that they’re floppy. If you go with a different size, make sure that when folded, the programs will be sturdy enough to write on.
Designing my programs was a snap with Microsoft Word. On the front, I put the basics – names, ceremony details, and bird graphics to match our wedding theme. To jazz up the back, I came up with three wedding related games for our guests to play while they waited for the ceremony to start: a Mad Lib, a fill-in-the-blank, and a word search.
I had tons of ideas for games that I ran out of time to use. How about a crossword puzzle, Sudoku, maze, or connect the dots?
Once you’ve designed your programs (making sure to fit the card dimensions), print the front and back onto the outside of the cards. I used my regular ink jet printer
To start assembling, open up a card and put double stick tape on three sides.
Then put double stick tape on both sides of a popsicle stick, covering about half of the stick. Center on the card and press in place.
Close the card, pressing to seal the edges.
Using the corner rounder punch, carefully round all four corners.
Cut a piece of ribbon that, when halved, is long enough to reach from the end of the popsicle stick to the end of the pencil, while still allowing enough slack to write on the program.
Thread the halved ribbon through the hole in the popsicle stick.
Use a lark’s head knot to secure.
Thread the two cut ends of the ribbon of the ribbon through a golf pencil.
Knot the ends to secure, then trim.
Here’s the back of a finished program. Word search, anyone?
And the finished stack of about 50 wedding programs.
Our guests loved them! I had people coming up to me during the reception to read me their wedding Mad Libs. We got such a kick out of the reactions to these programs — I’m really glad I took the time to do them. They were quick and easy to put together, and total cost ended up being around $25 for 50 programs. The hardest part was drilling holes in the pencils and popsicle sticks. I’m dangerous around power tools, so my husband very nicely did them for me. And isn’t helping each other what marriage is all about?
Amanda Colyer is a 24 year old cubicle-dweller in corporate America. She dreams of one day finding a job that will pay her to knit, quilt, and generally be crafty. You can see her various creative endeavors at dellastella. Read about Amanda and Ben’s Real Wedding.
Thanks so much for the helpful info Jenna!
Amanda, where do you get the A2 cards? Also, do you have a printing service print them for you or run them through your own printer? Any advice you can give is appreciated!
Where is your bird graphic from? I love it and it matches with my wedding theme perfectly! Would love to use if you wouldn’t mind sharing it with me or telling me where to look. Thanks!
We just did this for our wedding! We made 250 of them so it was quite a task but well worth it!!
If you want someone to design and or print them for you I used the site below!
I printed them myself but she designed them and it was great!
http://www.etsy.com/listing/74765688/diy-printable-wedding-mad-libs-or
What a brilliant tutorial and such a cute idea
Hello,I was wondering where could I find pre-drilled golf pencils? Can anyone enlighten me,please.
I’ve yet to find pre drilled pencils. You have to drill them yourself.
I found a couple of birds on http://www.clker.com. There are several in different colors. You just need to signup as a user and save the images. You can even upload your own or modify them and create new colors, shapes, etc. This is the direct link to a brown one (without the ring though): http://www.clker.com/clipart-gray-bird-silhouette.html.
Absolutely love this!
I know others have asked but would you mind sharing the template you used for printing? I love this idea and want to make sure it looks as beautiful as yours did!
These programs are so cute and I have been busy trying to recreate them for my upcoming wedding. I’m at the printing stages now but am having issues with formatting. I’ve set the margins to zero to make sure it prints exactly on the a2 folded card but when I do a test print on white copy paper, it either gets cut off at the top or has extra paper before the template. How do you get it to print directly on the card?? Please help!!