Wondering what stationery you need for the day of your wedding? The world of wedding stationery can seem a little overwhelming, if it’s your first time getting married, it’s likely you won’t have heard of some of the printed items you may need. Do not fear! This handy wedding day checklist will help you on your way, when it comes to 'on the day' wedding stationery…
What Stationery do I Need for the Day of my Wedding?
- Welcome Sign
- Order of Service Booklets
- Order of the Day Board
- Table Plan
- Table Numbers
- Place Cards
- Menus
- Favour Tags
What Should be in a Wedding Ceremony Program?
Let’s start with your wedding ceremony. Most couples like to have an ‘Order of Service’ booklet for guests to read during their ceremony. It contains a schedule of your wedding ceremony, in the order it occurs such as the entrance of the bride, exchange of vows, signing of the marriage certificate etc. Plus the words to any hymns and readings that you may have within your service.
Order of services can be both religious and non-religious. The religious programmes, often used for church weddings, tend to have more text due to the length of the hymns, so these booklets are best with inner pages so you have more space. However, if you’re having a civil ceremony or perhaps a destination wedding, and don’t need to print hymns, you may be able to go for a single folded card with no pages.
How many Programs are Needed for a Wedding Ceremony?
Most couples order one per person, or one between two.
What's the Difference Between an Order of Service and Order of the Day?
The ‘Order of Service’ is purely for your ceremony. If you wish to share timings of the full day with guests such as dining and first dance timings, there are ‘Order of the Day’ or ‘Order of Events’ cards which include a brief list of the key timings throughout your wedding day.
This is handy to ensure no-one misses a moment or nips to the loo as speeches are about to start. Or you may have some entertainment planned for later in the evening. Perhaps a caricaturist, comedian or live singer and it may be useful for guests to know the timings - especially any guest’s with children that may need to leave early.
What is Wedding Table Stationery?
‘Table Stationery’ includes anything that is part of your table décor or tablescape such as place cards, menus, table numbers and favour tags. Place cards are printed with each guest’s name, and can be decorated with florals, foliage or wax seals. These indicate where each guest should sit, once they have found their table. Menus are useful to remind guests what they have ordered, you can have one per person and personalise the menu to the guest's menu choice, or have one or two per wedding table. Table numbers help the guests find their table and can be displayed on wooden logs, photo holders, on mini easels or in picture frames.
What Should be Included in a Wedding Menu?
Wedding menus are useful to help remind guests what they have ordered - they also make a lovely wedding keepsake! A wedding menu should include details of each course, and can also have the newly weds names and date of the wedding printed at the top.
Your wedding menus can all be printed with the same text, listing the options for each course, or they can be personalised to each guest’s menu choice, which is a nice little touch and fabulous way of personalising your wedding stationery. It’s possible to combine the place card and menu, making your stationery more cost-effective and meaning you have less little cards on the table. Wedding menus with place names are essentially a lovely menu card with a name tag for the guest, usually held down by a wax seal or other embellishment.
Table numbers (or table names) are quite self explanatory and are used to identify each table. There’s lots of ways to display them including mini easels, table number holders and photo frames. Whether you have made DIY favour tags or ordered personalised gifts, don’t forget to customise your favour tags! You could include a monogram or wedding crest if you’re having one, or perhaps your wedding hashtag to remind couples to share photos of the day.
What Signage is Needed for a Wedding?
It may sound a little dull, but there’s lots of ways to get creative with wedding signage. The essential wedding signs are a welcome sign and table plan. Wedding welcome signs help guests know they are at the right venue and in the right room, while table plans (also referred to as seating charts or seating plans) help guests find their seat. Your list of tables can be ordered numerically or mimic the layout of the room, or you can put guests in alphabetical order.
