You’re halfway through your wedding day checklist, and it’s time to write your wedding day cheatsheet: a simple one-page on the wedding party and the day’s events. What is this Rosetta stone of your wedding day, you ask? It’s your wedding program.

A wedding program serves a dual purpose: It benefits you, the happy couple, as well as your guests. For you, a wedding program creates a keepsake for your ceremony. For your guests — particularly guests traveling from out of town — your program tells them the order of events and individuals involved in the wedding ceremony.

This leads to the next question: What should you include in the wedding program wording?

When writing your wedding program, you’ll want to follow a few guidelines. But, just like many items on your wedding to-do list, there are many ways to customize the program to your personality. Below, you’ll learn what to include in your wedding program and different approaches to wedding program wording.
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The ring exchange: It’s the moment in your wedding ceremony where all those promises and dedications you make are symbolized in a physical form. For many couples this is one of the most special moments of the ceremony.

You might be familiar with the “With this ring, I thee wed” or “Take this ring as a symbol of my love” script and think that’s all there is to it. But, like with almost every aspect of your wedding including your wedding invitations, you’re free to choose your own words for this magical part of the proceedings.

Whether you’re looking for something traditional to say as you exchange rings or you want to make a modern statement, we’ve got plenty of ring exchange wording samples to inspire you.
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Your special day is fast approaching, and you’re mentally running through your pre-wedding checklist. Send save the dates? Check. Block off accommodations? Check. Decide on colors, wedding invitations, and menus? Check, check, and check.

You’re flying through your list like a trained pilot, yet something seems amiss. And that’s when you palm-to-forehead realize, oh right, what about the actual ceremony? What will you do? Where do people stand? And most important — what will people say?

And that’s when you decide, you need to draft a wedding ceremony script to coordinate all the moving parts (and players).

You were so transfixed on every detail leading up to your special day, you forgot about the main event. Sure, you scheduled a rehearsal dinner under the assumption you’d do a ceremony scrimmage. But here you are, just weeks before the big day, and you forgot to construct your playbook.

Below, we’re offering three sample wedding ceremony script templates to use on your wedding day. While you’ll certainly want to modify these drafts to fit your unique style, we hope you’ll find the words to write the next chapter of your love story.
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One of the most magical things about weddings is seeing all your family, friends, and other loved ones gathered together in one place. To ensure your favorite humans are standing with you on your big day, you want to get your save the dates out as early as possible. So what’s the next step on your soon-to-be-wed to-do list? Determine your save the date wording, and get the calendars of your loved ones blocked off — stat.

A save the date card is your opportunity to give your wedding guests a heads up about your upcoming nuptials. Sent months before your big day, a save the date card gives your guests ample time to request off work, make the necessary travel plans and lodging arrangements, and ensure they don’t overextend themselves with other plans. It also helps you, the happy couple, to ensure everyone you love is standing with you on your big day.

If you’re deciding on what to say on your save the date, here’s the golden rule: Short really is sweet. Below, we’ll explain what information to cover and give some sample language to use on your save the date cards, but first, some etiquette.
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Your big day is fast approaching. You’ve taken your engagement photos and set a date. Now you just want everyone you love to block that day off on their calendar. But how soon should you send out save the date cards? What about invitations to your bridal shower? And what about the actual invites — do you know when to send wedding invitations?

All these questions (and more) are about to be answered. We’ll help you construct the perfect wedding day timeline to give your guests enough notice with save the dates, wedding invites, and RSVP deadlines. You’ll also learn suggested time frames on when to send out invitations to bachelor and bachelorette parties, and the rehearsal dinner, and we’ll cover what deadline to set for RSVPs.

So grab your white wedding planner or open up your Google calendar because we have a special timeline to construct. At the end of this virtual wedding planning session, you’ll know exactly when to notify your guests about your big day.
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It’s just two months until the big day. The bridal party is chosen, the menu selected, and the cake taste-tested. Now is the time to send out the invitations — but how does one address wedding invitations? Don’t worry — this is our territory.

There is a formal way to address wedding invitations, and we’re happy to walk you through it. The questions may already be bubbling up in your own mind: Whose name should you write first? How do you tell single guests whether they’re welcome to bring a plus one? How do you invite a whole family?

All of these questions — and probably a few others — are about to be answered. But before you write the addresses for each person on your guest list, let’s talk about envelopes.
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Getting engaged and planning a wedding is an exciting time in your life. You’ve done all the fun stuff — shared the news with loved ones, taken engagement photos, and put together your dream wedding Pinterest board. Once you set the wedding date, though, the real work begins. It’s time to dive into the logistics of wedding planning, including sending save the dates. Picking the right design for your wedding save the date is enough of a task. But you also need to figure out when to send save the dates.

Wedding etiquette changes as the times change, and the rules are not the same as when your grandparents were getting married. These days, wedding invitations are becoming more informal, online invitations are more common, and even save the dates are a fairly recent addition to the wedding suite. So it’s only natural to have a lot of questions. We’re going to get into the nitty-gritty of when to send your save the dates and other save the date etiquette.
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Wedding planning is all about the details, so we’re thrilled to share some expert advice from Megan Clark, the owner of Clutch Events here in Seattle! One of her top tips is all about timing. While it certainly won’t be the most fun aspect of wedding planning (hello, cake tasting!), it very well could be the most important. According to Megan, “Your ceremony start time is a key decision that will impact timing for the rest your wedding.”

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Someone once said to me that the main reason why a couple chooses to have a destination wedding is to keep the wedding small without having to compromise on the guest list. Whether or not you agree with that, here are six things not to do when planning a destination wedding:

1. Inviting people you dislike: Since your guests will be spending money and time to fly to your wedding, they will most likely also turn the trip into their own personal vacation and stay longer than the actual wedding.  So before you send your ex an invite, ask yourself if you really want to see him for more than a day.

2. Sending invitations at the last minute: If you want anyone to show up, you need to send out invitations, or at least save the dates, as soon as possible so your guests can plan ahead. Digital invitations can save you a lot of time!

3. Forgetting to the check the weather: The last thing you want is a hurricane to ruin your wedding day.

4. Forgetting to take care of your guests: Did Sally fly to the wrong airport or Marcus get a sunburn because he forgot to pack sunscreen?  Remember to provide important transportation information on Greenvelope’s details page and welcome baskets with essentials for your guests.

5. Not asking for help:  Planning a wedding at a distance can become overwhelming. Hire a destination wedding planner to help shoulder some of the burden.

6. Underestimating costs: It’s easy to forget to factor in expenses such as welcome bags, unexpected activities, and travel costs.

Did we forget something? Comment below!

One day you will have children of your own, perhaps even a daughter. You’re going to love and provide for her during her formative years. But you know that the day will come, when a strapping young man whisks her away from you. That’s definitely a big deal, and you wouldn’t want to mess it up for any father in the world. So without further ado, Greenvelope gives you 5 tips to asking the father for his daughters hand in marriage. (And yes, you definitely have to ask.)

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