How to make wedding program fans

How to make wedding program fans. When I first heard about this type of program I have to admit I thought it sounded a bit of a faff, but at the time I had visions of those folded fans that used to make as a child!

rogram fans work really well when your wedding is in a hot climate, last summer I was at a wedding where the bride had chosen this program and they looked lovely. However only the women used them, the men passed them to their partners or just placed them on the side. So the lesson from that is - do you need to make one for everyone? Think about whether the men will appreciate this type of fan, you may be better off having a fan for the women and a plain card - same design for the men but less work!

Program fans can be either strips of card held together with a ribbon or the card with what looks like a large ice lolly stick as the handle.

How to make wedding program fans at home, for the strips fan, you will need colored card, a hole punch and ribbon. Design the program on the computer, if you want the fan to have alternate colors then have a color sheet for the first piece and for each section. A good way to organize this is to have different details on each section. Names and date on the first, followed by readings by, songs, and names of the wedding party, plus any other details you want your guests to have. When you have printed the card, cut each section out and hole punch at the bottom, collate all the pieces for a fan and then tie with ribbon. As you will need to have fairly hard card you may want to take these to a printer to print rather than breaking your own printer!

The more simple and easier design is the card with a stick attached as the handle, you may want to curve the edges of the card to make it look more decorative, print the details, the same as the previous fan design and then glue to the sticks. I would use ribbon to decorate the stick otherwise it looks too plain. If you choose this design you have more room for the wedding program details and could even include a photograph of the two of you.

Just incase your creative edge has left you I have found some great wedding program fans where all you have to do is type the words that you want displayed and they do the rest. The price quoted is for 100 fans!

How to make wedding menus

During my time working in hotels I put together a lot of wedding menus, so my first tip has to be - check with your venue, will they do them for you? You may find that they will for a corporate dinner but don't for a wedding, mainly due to color being so important at weddings. You will find that they have a standard menu cover that will probably have the venue name on, have a look at them and see if you would be happy to have them on your tables. If the color is not right for you then ask if they will print the inserts, this will leave you with just the cover to do.

When you are making your own wedding menus think about your tables, how many menus will you need? I would have 2 per table of 10, not everyone is going to look at them and then you will not detract from the centerpiece or other decorations.

A folded A4 card works well, you can use artwork from your invitations, or plain color card with menu, the date and your names printed, or you could have a picture that adds to your theme. To add an extra color you can tie the menu with a color ribbon. Recently I have noticed more and more people are having black and white photographs printed on the covers, which is a fun addition to the table decor.

If your wedding menu is for the buffet table, it would be worth having A4 or even A3 sized card with the details of the dishes. Have copies at the beginning and also spaced through the buffet tables. You may want to have a starters menu and then a mains menu at the appropriate points otherwise you could end up delaying your guests as they read what is on offer.

My advice would be to keep it simple and keep it fit for purpose, how to make wedding menus is by telling your guests what they are going to eat!

Make your own wedding items!

Make your own wedding items can be enough to tip the balance from a sane well organised bride-to-be to one that is stressed to the max! The best way to avoid this is to be honest with yourself on what you are good at and what are your patience levels! Sticking 300 mini bows onto boxes can be very frustrating, if not just plain depressing. Where do you start? My way would be to ask all of your friends and relatives if they would mind helping with a few craft projects for your wedding. Invite them all round for snacks and drinks, the more the merrier! Get them involved in your ideas and they will get caught up in the wedding fever. What talents do they have? Ask away and you will be amazed at how many people want to help and be involved.

Invitations are a great place to start, you could set up a mini production line in your kitchen, one to stick the bows(don't give me that job!), one in charge of the printer, one to write all of the envelopes - choose the one with the best handwriting - you get the picture, the more helpers the quicker this will get done.

How to make wedding invitations

How to make cheap wedding invitations with some glue and your printer is a fairly easy way to save yourself some money in your wedding budget. For the picture on the invitation you have lots to choose from.

You could have old photos of you both, either as children or when you first met, with the classic line "Guess who is getting married?" underneath.

A photograph or drawing of where you are getting married if it is a more formal wedding, a caricature of you both if you are having a fun relaxed wedding.

Or you could have photos of flowers, confetti, wedding rings, wedding cake, the list is endless.

Make sure you print the photograph using the right photographic paper for your printer, maximise the paper by fitting as many copies as you can on one sheet.

Use your printer to print out the wording for the front of the card and the insert, again maximise the paper!

When you have all your bits, you need to stick them onto your card, you can buy ready folded blank cards which are great, and normally come with all the envelopes. Definately shop around as you can pay more for the blanks if they are labelled with wedding rather than just a blank card - but there will be no difference.

To stick the photo and the words onto the card I would recommend using glue dots or foam craft pads if you want a 3d effect, this way you avoid messy glue spillages!