Ceremony Programs - Tutorial

Back before I left for the wedding, which seems like forever ago, I posted about our ceremony programs that we "settled" for. You remember, these little things:

Well you could have knocked me over with a feather when I got requests for a tutorial on these. I mean after I saw them in action at the wedding I loved them but back when I wrote that post I was in the "yea they look good enough" mindset. So it kind of floored me that other people liked them enough to want to make their own.

As requested here is the step-by-step of how I did it. And by the way, they were SOOOOO easy and cheap to make.

First, lets talk fonts. The cursive handwriting at the top is a free font called Dear Joe Four, I used Prestige Elite for the main text area and the headings on the side of the pages (and in the middle of the cover) are done in Eras Light ITC. Other than that it was just photos I added along with three lines of brown dots on each side.

In order to print these front to back and have them line up I used a very simple technique in PowerPoint. I drew lines. No really I used the line tool and drew guidelines exactly the same distance from what would be the outside edges of the paper:

Above is the front and back side of page 2. Next I added a outline box, brown dotted lines and headings then copied them into each of the pages I wanted so that they were all lined up exactly the same. All that was left then was to add the content.

After they were printed and cut out, it was time to assemble them with metallic eyelets and a crop-a-dile tool. I measured out the exact spacing I wanted for the eyelets on a extra cover I printed, marked a line at 1/2 inch from the edge, then punched holes in the locations spaced equally apart along that line to create a template.

Then came the easy part. I lined up the template on each cover and traced inside the holes I punched. Next I stack all the pages for a single program together and used the crop a dile to punch holes where I had marked on the covers using the template. Then it was just a matter of putting the eyelets into the holes and using the crop-a-dile to smash the eyelet down to secure it. (Tartlet totally has the how to use a crop-a-dile tutorial going on here in case you need some help.)

Besides paper and printing, the only things I bought were the eyelets which were $2.99 for the 100 piece package and a crop-a-dile on sale for $18 (using the 40% off coupon in our local craft store's flyer). It was completely affordable and everyone loved them.

Reserved with Love

One of the last minute projects I had to finisih before we left for Mexico was reserved seating signs for the ceremony. We needed to mark the front two benches at the ceremony for our families. When I started researching different sign types the only examples I could find were ones that were for chairs. 

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Not real useful for those of us using benches. Of course we could just lay them out on the benches like this but I was really afraid with the wind on the beach they would blow away.

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Then I got inspired by this idea:

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It wasn't so much the color or design that inspired me as the way it tied around the chair back. So I "borrowed" the tie idea and created signs that were more my style and colors to tie around the benches.

And as always I am going to tell you the step by step on how I made them. *grin* 

You can do this in PowerPoint or Photoshop. It will work exactly the same way in both. 

1. First step is to add the same time worn paper background I used for our menus and the I-Spy cards. You can find it here as a free download.
2. In brown, I typed reserved in centur font, sister of the bride in good vibrations font and then added our monogram at the bottom left.
3. After printing I glued a second sheet of cardstock to the back using 3M General Purpose 45 Spray Adhesive to make the sign less bendable. (By the way you can find the spray glue at any craft store.)
4. Next I traced an upside down cup to make the rounded corners and cut them out with scissors.
5. Finally I cut four feet of brown ribbon and used the spray glue to attach the ribbon to the back of the sign.

I made six signs total and the whole thing cost less than $15. The most expensive part was the can of spray adhesive which I was able to use for other projects. And by the way they looked totally fabulous on the dark brown wooden benches at the ceremony!

Did any of you have problems finding reserved seating signs that would work?

MRS Meerkat Back From Paradise

Hola hive! Well we are back and I am now officially a MRS!

With the wedding done, holidays over and after taking some time to just enjoy being newlyweds, I figured I should pop back in and let you all know I was still alive and kickin'.

It is still going to be a few weeks before we have our photos back but don't worry though I am not going to leave you completely hanging without a single picture of the wedding. Our photographer, Sol Tamargo, was sweet enough to give me a sneek peek photo so that I could share it with the hive. *squee*









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Photo by Del Sol Photography

How did the wedding go, you ask? It was AMAZING. Mr. Meerkat's Grandmother has been telling everyone that I was a princess in my very own fantasy.

Now I am not going to say our little fantasy didn't come without a few hiccups.  While I don't want to give away too much before recaps, let me just give you a couple highlights. Two days before the wedding the hotel told us that Best Man Meerkat had cancelled his reservation. The morning of the rehearsal dinner Sister-In-Law Meerkat and Bridesmaid K both discovered their dresses for the wedding were too big. And the day of the wedding we ended up running over an hour late to the reception. Even with all of that craziness, everything worked itself out and our wedding day was more amazing than I could have ever dreamed.

While we wait for our photos I want to catch you up on a couple last minute projects that I didn't have a chance to blog about. Along with a tutorial I promised for the ceremony programs.

It's good to be back hive. I missed you guys!

Tons of love,  Mrs. Meerkat