Programs and Place Cards

Welcome to Day 3 of my DIY Wedding Event!

Day 2:  Table Numbers and Holders

Day 1:  Birdseed Tossing Cones

Today, we'll be looking at programs and place cards, or seating cards.  Plus, I
have an additional frothy wedding treat for you.  I convinced my friend Sonya to join me as her daughter was married three weeks before mine.  So, after you get done reading my post ;), head on over to her table decor post (it's supposed to be up today).  I know you won't be disappointed!







Programs:  We used  a standard 1/3 page program with our own little twist.  I used the very helpful template at Chica and Jo's.  Instead of a script initial, as they suggested, I used a Martha Stewart monogram.  I also changed the font to Papyrus, much to the dismay of Strapping Lad, who was pushing for Garamond.  Our program was a total of four pages.  I used both parchment and resume paper.

They were both backed with white cardstock (8 1/2"l x 3 7/8"w).  I threaded the parchment with green ribbon and the ivory colored paper with white.  The reason I used two different papers was I wanted to use up some old resume paper I had, but was hoping it would blend with the parchment.  I'm not really sure how harmonious the mix is, but we liked them.  Healthy Chick didn't want everything to match exactly, anyway.

 Materials:

• paper of your choice (I found the resume paper was easier to punch holes into than the parchment.)
• cardstock
• ribbon
• hole punch
• decorative hole punch (optional and not really recommended--I used a Martha Steward design from Michael's)
• paper cutter or xacto knife and cutting mat OR pre-cut seating cards

After you get all of your program info in draft form, have both the bride and pastor proofread it.

Then I would recommend taking it to Staples or Kinkos and copying them there.  I went to Staples and they will also laser cut all of them for you for $2/cut.  I only had two cuts, so it was only $4 to have every single program precut for me.

I then punched the ends of the pages with the lacy hole punch stacked with the cardstock and put two regular, round hole punches in the top to lace the ribbon through.  I would not recommend the added lacey edge.  It added extra time and the hole punch stopped working.  Twice.  The first time I returned it.  The second time, I was almost done, so left the last few without the edge.  This took a lot of time.  I did it over 3-4 days doing maybe 15-20 at a sitting. 

Total Cost:  $41 for 100 programs

Cardstock and resume paper:  Had on-hand

Parchment:  About $15

White ribbon:  "Free" it was extra that we'd replaced out from the invitations

Green ribbon:  $3.50 for 100 yds. from B. B. Crafts (also used for invitations and misc.)

MS Hole Punch:  About $8 w/coupon

Copying:  About $12

Laser Cutting:  $4

Time:  At least three hours--if you do not punch the decorative edge, your time will go down considerably!

Place Cards

You may remember from my early post, that we were using a coffee-theme for the reception.  I showed Healthy Chick a couple of options for the cards and we both liked this one the best.

I was hoping to find clip art to use and print out.  Well, I found the clip art, but ended up hand painting them, instead.  Crazy, I know.  But, I love them, and actually they came together in a snap.  Well worth the time.

This was my inspiration.  Once again, I did them in batches.  I first used a template I made making a freehand "swoop" and cutting it out from cardstock for the vine.  I then used a fine-line scrapbook marker to make all of the vines on the cards, then painted all of the beans.  They were dry by the time I was ready to paint the leaves.  (I used a fine art brush and just made two facing Cs for both the beans and leaves.)  Those were dry by the time I drew in the outlining and swirls.

You can purchase pre-cut place cards or cut your own using a paper cutter or xacto knife.   I cut my own using the white cardstock.  Why?  Because I had it.  Sometimes I just did a cost/benefit analysis (ha-I knew all of those business classes would come in handy!) and figured by the time I went out to the store and got back, I could have them all cut out anyway.  (And, yes, we scored before folding!)  They measure 3 3/4" W x 4 1/2"H.

Total Cost:  FREE

Cardstock, Craft paints, Paint brush, Marker :  On-hand

Time:  Maybe an hour

Sharing:

Also at The Wedding Bee