Are place cards and wedding programs really necessary ?

If you are doing a board to let guests know which table to sit at, no they are not necessary.

Programs, not necessary either. But I think they are nice, it let's your guests know who your bridal party is, etc...

I did programs because they're sort of like the "opening credits" for your wedding day - our officiant and musicians were friends who volunteered, so I wanted to give them proper credit in the program.

We just did some cheap DIY programs from Oriental Trading: http://www.orientaltrading.com/black-and-white-wedding-programs-a2-47_660.fltr?prodCatId=388728&tabId=1

One thing I regret is doing a program for each guest - most couples shared, and we could have gotten away with just having 50.

I agree if you are doing the board no need for place cards, but I think programs are needed, even tho they get left behind it lets the guests know what is happening and who everyone is.

Well I'm not really have a big wedding party just 1 MOH and 1 BM. But FH just woke up and I asked him and he wants the programs .But he said no on the place cards thats its a waste of money.He even said no to the escort board, but he don't really understand the reason for any of it.

I say do what your budget allows! If you have a tight budget (like I do, ours is under $3k!) don't bother with them, I'm not. I just can't see spending money on something that will be looked at for probably a whole minute (if that long) and then tossed in a purse (which is what I did at the last wedding I went too.. I looked it over then in my purse it went!) or on a table/floor/ground/etc. I know alot of things for a wedding will only be used for a day, but IMHO things like decor and food and whatnot are more important than a piece of paper that will get looked at for a minute or less IMO

Since you are having your wedding outside, make your program 1 page, on card stock and turn it into a fan. That way people will hold onto them to cool themselves off if they get hot! I'm doing this for my wedding because April in the south is hot for our family coming from NY

I am not doing either of these. The ceremony will be very short and my bridal party and volunteer friend performers have already been recognized on our website that everyone had to RSVP and will likely check back as that is where we will be sharing the pictures from all the events (bridal shower, rehearsal and dinner and the wedding).

The reception does not have any specific seating arrangement except for the head table and the parents table but I can get away with this a little easier because I am having a small wedding. All the same, I will have an usher on standby in the unlikely event that someone cannot find somewhere to sit.

They aren't necessary but are a nice touch. I say do something inexpensive. If you don't have the DIY skills try www.zazzle.com. I ordered invites, placecards, and labels for my favors from OrangeOstridgeDesigns and they are beautiful and inepxensive.

Place cards are definitely not necessary, but for the programs I'd say do them yourself, that's what I plan on doing, I'm gonna look for a nice template and print them out myself for cheap

I'm not assigning people individual seat- just tables, so I'm not doing place cards. The only reason they may be necessary is if you are having a plated dinner with more then one option the catering company will require you to have them with some sort of symbol for the people who want chicken, and another for people who want fish. Just so they know who gets served what.

As for programs, I'm not doing them unless somehow we miraculously end up with extra money. I may do some sort of poster outside of the reception (they are being held in the same spot, just ceremony outside, reception in) by the guest book and such saying whose who in the bridal party.

@Chelsea: My budget is around 6K, i just hate to waste money.And on top of that I'm only having about 60 guest. But with the way I'm budgeting we might end up spending more.

@ Mrs. Welch : I'm not having an outside wedding , that not even an option for me here in Tx. TOO DAMN HOTT

@Zahra: GOOD POINT about all the wedding details on the wedding website. I could save some trees ! LAMO

@Shellie: Cute idea with the poster outside

I'm not doing either.....although I'm going to do a chalkboard as the "program". I saw this picture and thought it was very cute!

I just found a cute template on Marta Stewart I might try and DIY .

http://www.marthastewartweddings.com/photogallery/downloadable-programs-menus

@Lanai oops, sorry I misread when you said they'd end up on the ground outside I don't think either are needed though. Do what you can.

If you are having plated dinner name tags are needed.

as for program i never read them so i am not going to have them. though my officiant makes the program for his couples as a gift. i might just make simple ones for those who are active in the wedding, such as the photography and my grandfather who will be giving the blessing.

I think as long as you have the seating chart your fine. People don't need to be told who to sit next to, lol. As long as they know what table they're good to go. As for the programs I don't think they're really necessary, they're nice, but I agree with you, I wouldn't want people to throw them away. I would feel like I wasted my time and money. People know what a wedding is and what happens at a wedding, they don't need a program to follow.

You could just do a board that has the table set up on it and then underneath have all the guest's names and what table they are at so they would find their name and then look at the table set up chart to locate that table. As for place setting cards, to save money, you could just add a little tag to your wedding favors with their name on it so after they found their table, they would just have to find their name on the favor box. Or if you have a website, you could post this information up on it to let them know a head of time and then have a board so those who looked and had access to the internet would already know where they were sitting and could go right on to their table so that not everyone is standing around your set up board, doing that may make the all guests be able to sit faster.

For the programs -- this is up to you. I've been to weddings where they did not have these. Nobody noticed or complained. BUT I do think it is a nice touch. You don't have to go overboard and buy expensive ones. I've found a lot of very nice DIY ones (templates included) on-line that were cheap to make.

Instead of just making 20 for the whomever, how about making one per couple? They could share and any younger guests (kids) do not really need one. Even if you were having a no kids allowed wedding and your wedding guest list was at 100, if they all were couples or had dates - you would only need to make 50.

I plan to make programs, but none for the kids as they seriously don't care and will probably do one per couple because a couple doesn't really need two. I will have to find someone to pass them out though that knows this as leaving them in a basket for people to take - they may not follow the "one per couple".

I think you either do them for all, or don't do them. If youa aren't one of the 20 you might feel left out. I will probably do enough for 3/4 of the guests because I don't want to not have enough. But really, how much does it save on your budget? I am printing mine on my computer so the most they will cost me is about $20. When I was 17 I did the programs for my brother's wedding. They were tri-fold and I did them using a simple word program and a few clip art images. I printed them on regular paper and folded them myself. Though you can get away with a 2 pager if you don't have a large wedding party.

From an environmental perspective, I'm kind of uncomfortable with programs--they're just a bunch of paper that no one is going to keep. I also think most of the time, people can basically figure out what's going on, and if they don't already know the WP's names, they probably aren't going to care that much.

And I agree that table assignments are all you need even with a plated dinner--I'm not a huge fan of telling people exactly where to sit anyway. :p