Q: These costs are adding up quickly so I want to cut to the chase in terms of spending. Do I have to have a wedding program? Is it rude not to? This is a small wedding and I don’t even know what I’d write in a program.

A: Nope, it’s not rude at all. Nor is it necessary. I’ve been to weddings with programs and thought it was cute, and I’ve been to weddings without programs and never even noticed.

Programs aren’t necessary in all cases, especially if you are having a small ceremony.

As for what you would write, I found that programs are helpful for giving people instructions. Since I got married on a boat mine stated that the ceremony was on the first level, the reception was on the second level, and they could browse the entire boat after the ceremony.

Whether or not people actually read it, I don’t know, but it was nice to have.

Also I wanted to give honor to my grandmother in a way that wouldn’t make me burst into tears. Having a photo at the ceremony would be too much, but a line in the program was just fine.

I also needed one more place (in addition to word of mouth, the wedding invite, and the wedding website) to make it clear that I wasn’t changing into “Mrs. Hislastname”

And I also gave our new address.

So you see wedding programs can be useful if you want, or you can make them cute and share your favorite quotes, your wedding party, etc. But never are they required.

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