Scrapping the Guestbook and Programs?

Programs aren't needed. If you have a wedding website, you can post the program there! Or, you can design some programs yourself and print them on cardstock paper. This way you do not spend too much on them.

Programs are a waste.

A guestbook is a personal preference, but I really enjoy looking through ours. We had a photo booth at our wedding and everyone took one of their photo strips, placed it in our book and wrote their message with it. It is a really nice keepsake from our day.

Programs aren't necessary at all. i only did them because i had an outdoor ceremony in June in SoCal so i just felt like it was a nice addition to give people a fan if they needed aha or to use for shading.

when it comes to guestbooks i think it's nice to have something to remember who and who were there. i do think the ones where it's just a book people sign are kind of just the type you'll never look at again though but now a days there are so many guestbook options

I don't think either are a "must"! I did programs because I personally love seeing them at weddings as a guest. I may be one of the few, but I read through the whole thing and really appreciate the personal touch. We added a guest book at the last minute (literally Amazon primed it to the hotel) and I'm happy we did. Not everyone signed it but it was nice to read after.

How are you having 400 people at a reception safely?

The only times I have appreciated a program as a guest is when it's a long, involved religious ceremony where I am unfamiliar with the traditions and order of events. Simple, straightforward ceremony? I'm not going to take or read a program.

Guests will not notice a "missing" guestbook. Those are strictly for you and your future spouse, if you want one to keep. Lots of people don't sign them anyway, so it's not like they are a faithful and complete record of attendees.

Programs are not necessary if you're having a non-religious ceremony. We needed to have programs because we had a religious ceremony, and we had guests in attendance from various backgrounds and a program was necessary for people to follow along. I've been to plenty of weddings without guestbooks. I would recommend programs if you're having a religious ceremony but otherwise, would absolutely skip

We never even considered doing programs. Most people knows what happens at a wedding and why spend money and create more trash for something that is completely unnecessary.

I do think guest books (or guest book alternatives) are nice, but definitely optional. An interactive activity for guests (signing a guest book, writing down marriage advice for the couple, a polaroid selfie station, etc) can be a great for guests who are shy or don't know many others and a nice way to connect with them if you have a larger group and won't be able to spend time with all of your guests individually. For us, we wanted a guest book alternative that could double as wall decor, because we didn't feel we'd ever pull out and read an actual book, whereas having something we could hang at home would be something we would look at every day and double as being a way to make our house more beautiful.

Honest opinion programs are non essential. In the end its something more to pick up at the end of the night. The guestbook I feel is important and I think you would like to have it in the end. We are looking for one of those new trendy ones to place on one of our walls once we get our home.

We're skipping the programs and opting for a rustic window sign with vinyl printed on it with the wedding party names instead. Out guest book will be a guest "log" which is basically a fancy board with live edges that we will have engraved.