Wedding Program Wording: What to Include, in What Order, With Examples You Can Copy

Good wedding program wording is short: your names, the date and place, the order of the ceremony, who is standing up with you, and one line of thanks. Everything else is optional, and most programs fit on a single card printed on both sides.

Guests read a program for the ten minutes before the ceremony starts and then hold it. That is the whole job. So the trick is to give them the useful bits (what happens next, who that person reading is, when to stand) and stop before it turns into a booklet nobody finishes.

What goes in a wedding program

Here is the full list, from must-have to nice-to-have:

• Cover: your two names, the date, the venue and town.
• Order of ceremony: each part in one line, with the name of the person doing it.
• Wedding party: officiant, maid of honor, best man, the rest of the party, flower girl and ring bearer. Add "sister of the bride" or "college roommate" if you like, guests love knowing who is who.
• Readings and music: titles and who reads or plays them.
• A line of thanks to guests, and maybe to parents.
• Optional extras: a note remembering someone who has died, an "unplugged ceremony" request, a hashtag, what happens after the ceremony (cocktail hour on the lawn, for example).

If you are writing out a full church service with hymns, prayers and responses, you need a folded booklet. Everyone else can stay with one flat card.

The usual order of a ceremony

Most programs follow the order of the ceremony itself. Your officiant will have the final say, so send them your draft before you print. Typical orders look like this:

Non-religious ceremony	Church ceremony (no mass)	Short civil ceremony
Prelude music	Prelude	Welcome
Processional	Processional	Words from the officiant
Welcome	Greeting and opening prayer	Vows
Reading	First reading	Exchange of rings
Words about the couple	Second reading	Pronouncement
Vows	Homily	Signing
Exchange of rings	Vows and rings	Recessional
Pronouncement and kiss	Prayers and blessing
Recessional	Recessional

A Catholic wedding with a full mass adds the liturgy of the Eucharist and runs longer, which is where a 4 or 8 page booklet starts to make sense.

Wording examples for different ceremony styles

All of these are written for this article, so use, change or mix them freely. Swap in your own names, of course.

Modern and relaxed

Maya and Jonah Saturday, June 6, 2027 · Hollis Orchard, Vermont

Prelude · The Linden String Duo Here we go · Maya walks in with her mom Hello, everyone · Sam Okafor, our friend and officiant A reading · "Union" by Robert Fulghum, read by Priya The promises we wrote ourselves Rings Kiss, cheering, and out we go

Stay close. Drinks are under the apple trees right after.

Traditional church

The Marriage of Elizabeth Anne Grant and Thomas James Reilly Saturday, the twelfth of September, two thousand twenty-seven St. Brendan's Church, Portland, Maine

Prelude · Canon in D, Johann Pachelbel Processional · Trumpet Voluntary, Jeremiah Clarke Greeting and Opening Prayer · Reverend Paul Mendez First Reading · Ecclesiastes 4:9–12, read by Claire Grant, sister of the bride Second Reading · 1 Corinthians 13:4–8, read by Daniel Reilly, brother of the groom Homily Exchange of Vows and Rings Blessing Recessional · Ode to Joy, Ludwig van Beethoven

Small courthouse or elopement-style

Ana and Luis got married today City Hall, Room 3 · 2:30 p.m.

A few words · A few promises · Two rings · One signature

Thank you for squeezing into this small room with us. Lunch is on us at Bell Street Bistro, a five minute walk.

Short and funny

Jess + Ollie: The Ceremony Running time: about 20 minutes. Tissues: optional but likely.

1. Ollie tries not to cry
2. Jess walks in, Ollie cries
3. Our friend Marcus says nice things
4. We say nicer things
5. Rings, kiss, applause (yours)

Then: food. We promise.

Lines you can add to any program

• In memory: "Today we remember Grandpa Joe, who would have been first on the dance floor."
• Unplugged ceremony: "Please keep phones in your pockets during the ceremony. Our photographer has it covered, and we would love to see your faces."
• Thanks to parents: "To our parents, thank you for every lift, every pep talk and a good part of today's bill."
• For guests: "Thank you for traveling, rearranging and showing up. It means more than this card has room for."

What wedding programs cost

Here are US prices we checked in October 2026:

Option	Price	For 100 programs
Print at home on cardstock, 2 flat programs per sheet	$25.29 for 250 sheets of 110 lb ivory cardstock at Staples, about 5 cents a program plus ink	about $5 plus ink
Print at home, 1 folded program per sheet	about 10 cents a sheet	about $10 plus ink
Zazzle flat program	from $1.07 each on sale	about $107
Zazzle folded budget program	$1.59 on sale, $1.87 regular	$159 to $187
4OVER4 folded programs	$82.38 for 100	$82.38

Prices from Staples, Zazzle and 4OVER4. Online shops change their sale prices all the time, so check before ordering.

Our take: printing at home saves the most money, but only if your printer handles thick paper. If it jams on cardstock, a folded order from an online printer at well under a dollar each is a fair middle ground.

You also don't need one program per guest. One per couple or family is plenty, plus about ten spare for the front rows and the photographer's flat lay. For 100 guests, that means about 60 programs.

DIY printing tips that save you a reprint

• Do one test sheet first. Print one page on plain paper, fold it, and check that the front and back line up. Most home printers shift the back side by a few millimeters.
• Choose the right paper weight. 65 to 80 lb cover stock feeds through most inkjets. 110 lb looks nicer but is the weight many home printers struggle with, so check your printer's manual before buying a pack.
• Use a font size people can read. At least 11 point for the order of ceremony. Grandma is reading this in a sunny garden.
• Let the ink dry. Leave sheets spread out for an hour before folding or stacking, or the ink smudges onto the next one.
• Fold with a ruler or a butter knife. Running the back of a knife along the fold line gives you a crisp crease without a bone folder.
• Have two people proofread. Names, spellings of readings, the date. The two of you will read what you meant to write.

Make it match the rest of your stationery

The cheapest way to make programs look planned is to reuse what you already designed. Print them on the same cardstock and in the same fonts as your invitations and your table numbers, and it all looks like one set without extra effort.

If you are making wax seal invitations, the same seal works on the program too: a small seal on the folded edge of a few programs for the front row looks lovely, and you already own the stamp. Doing pressed flower invitations? Put a scan of one of your pressed flowers on the program cover instead of buying clip art.

When you can skip programs entirely

Programs are a nice extra, not a must. Skip them if your ceremony is under 20 minutes with no readings, or if you have fewer than 30 guests who all know each other. A single large sign at the entrance with the order of ceremony does the same job, and you can reuse the easel for your seating chart later. Our ceremony decor article has more ideas for that space.

Whatever you print, write the program after your timeline is final. Our wedding day timeline helps you lock that in, so the program and the actual ceremony match.

The short version

Names, date, place, order of ceremony, wedding party, one line of thanks. Use one flat card unless you have a full church service. Print about one per household at home for around 5 to 10 cents each, or order online for $0.82 to $1.87 each. Proofread twice, then fold.