Get With the Program!

Some people think wedding programs are boring.  That they all say the same thing, look the same way, and are thrown away immediately after the ceremony.  As such, a lot of brides wind up whipping them together as an afterthought and don't stress too much about them.

I'm not one of those brides.

I don't know what it is about wedding programs, but I think they're awesome!  I started playing around with a program mock-up about a week into our engagement, and probably have five or six versions on my computer right now.  There's just something fun about trying out different fonts and layouts that really appeals to me, and it's a project I'm definitely excited to start putting together.

So what kind of style are we going for, you ask?  Well, I'm thinking something with lots of romantic quotes and flowers printed on the cover.  Maybe a darling photo of two children, to symbolize our young relationship growing into a beautiful marriage.

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I'm totally kidding.  How creepy is that picture?!  But I am definitely having a hard time deciding on a layout for our programs.  There are so many to choose from!  Do we want to keep it simple with a short and sweet layout, a la Mrs. Pineapple?

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Or there's the tried and true booklet style programs, like the adorable ones Mrs. Pretzel did:

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Should we spice up an old classic, the way Mrs. Cupcake's fabulous accordion-style programs did?

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And then of course there's Mrs. Sewing, who puts us all to shame with the anime comic book style programs she designed herself:

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So many options!  I'm leaning towards a longer format, since our ceremony will be a full Catholic Nuptial Mass.  We will have many guests who aren't Catholic, and I feel like explaining the Order of the Mass in our program would help them follow along and feel like they are participating in our ceremony, rather than just watching it.  But another part of me worries that people will be less likely to read them if the programs are too long.  I don't want reading our programs to feel like a chore!

What do you think?  I'm asking all you non-Catholics especially: would you appreciate having the ceremony explained for you in the program?  Or would you be turned-off by the prospect of reading through a long and wordy booklet?