A wedding newspaper was one of the things on my original wedding wishlist. I just think they are a cool way to have an order of the day and a thank you note to your guests, as well as anything else you want to communicate. Especially because the day goes so fast and you might get to the end of the day and realise you didn’t get round to all of your guests (it happens, trust me!). So the newspaper is a nice way to capture whatever it is you want to say.
Plus, photos of your guests reading your wedding newspaper are just so cool! I also had guests take them home and read them later which I thought was a fun little memento.
How To Put Together A Wedding Newspaper
Ok, so you want one. How do you go about it?
There are lots of ways to put one together and a few companies which offer the service, but they can be pretty pricey. So I did it the most cost-effective way. I designed it myself on Canva, and got it printed at The Newspaper Club. We went for their Digital Tabloid size, 4 pages and 50 copies – and it came to £59. Which was music to my ears in the midst of wedding planning.
In terms of designing it, I mentioned Canva, but Josh actually put it into the correct format afterwards – with bleeds/margins etc. So Photoshop/Illustrator skills do come in handy. But from what I can see, you can just use a Canva file to print it – The Newspaper Club offer a few templates for Canva FYI.
If you don’t feel like you could put it together, another option is to buy an Etsy template. They have all the different features laid out, and you just put your own copy in there. Here’s an example of an Etsy template.
But if you’re creating one yourself, here are some ideas of what to actually put in a wedding newspaper…
What To Put In A Wedding Newspaper
1) A Welcome Note
For your front page, most couples opt for a welcome note. Welcome your guests to the wedding, thank them for coming, introduce the venue if you like. It’s also a good opportunity to do any other thank yous you would like. You don’t want to say what you’re going to say in the speeches or anything, but a thank you to parents or anyone that contributed to wedding is a nice touch.
2) Details Of The Wedding Party
Not everyone at your wedding will know each other, so a section naming your wedding party can also be useful. Nothing that detailed, just a list of your Best Man, Maid of Honour, Groomsmen, Bridesmaids, Flower Girls or Page Boys will suffice.
3) Order Of The Day
The main thing people want to know on your big day – when will they be fed!? So an Order of the Day is a must-have item in your newspaper. It’s just a list of timings for the wedding day. The time of the ceremony, the time of the meal, the time of speeches and the time of evening entertainment are all really useful to know as a guest.
Go one step further if you are having a destination wedding or wedding events over a weekend, with details of any additional events. Maybe a day-after-the-wedding brunch or BBQ?
4) Your Love Story / Relationship Milestones
Ok, onto the cutesy stuff. A lot of couples choose to include their love story in the newspaper. A story of how they met and how they fell in love. I found that a bit too romantic for my liking, so instead did a little list of relationship milestones. The months and years that we met, had our first date, moved in, got engaged, got pregnant, etc. As we had done so much before our wedding day, it felt like quit a funny little rundown of our completely untraditional route to the wedding!
5) Interviews with the Wedding Party
To add a bit of content, you can do an interview with someone from your wedding party – the best man, father of the bride, whoever you like. We obviously had an interview with our 3 year old daughter! We asked her what she was most looking forward to on the wedding day, who she wanted to dance with and who she thought would have too many beers (“Daddy” – she was right). And it was just a cute little section to fill up our paper.
6) Details From The Ceremony
This is a good chance to capture any extra details you might like to capture from the ceremony. We included a list of the songs we played, along with any context as to why we chose them (e.g, the song Indi was born to was our “signing the register” song). We also included a reading that Josh’s dad read out at the wedding ceremony. They’re just nice things to put down for guests to read, especially evening guests who weren’t at the ceremony and want to know what you walked down the aisle to.
7) A Crossword or Wordsearch
Something else that can be a fun little thing to include is a crossword or wordsearch all about you guys. Now, these are a little tricky to create – I think I spent a few evening making our crossword! But it is a nice little touch. We included crossword clues such as – Where did the bride and groom get engaged? What colour are the bride’s shoes? Where did they meet? What is the Best Man’s name? They are all questions about us as a couple or about the wedding day – but nothing too difficult where guests might feel a bit weird if they don’t know the answers – if that makes sense??
8) Travel/Location Information
Personally, I didn’t think I could do a newspaper without a travel section! It is “my thing” after all. So I did Kara’s Travel Corner with some tips of what to do in the area for anyone staying over. A nice coffee shop to try, a local attraction, etc. But even if travel isn’t you thing, it’s nice for guests to know extra info about the veune or the area you’re in.
9) Include Photos Of You Guys!
Your guests want to see pictures of you! So if you have any engagement photos you could include, this is a good place for them (we used our beaut engagement photos by our photographer, Heather Sham). Alternatively, you could have some photos from the archive – maybe to accompany your love story/relationship milestones?
10) Explain Any Traditions
If you are having any traditions at your wedding – either religious or personal – this is a good chance to explain them or give any extra details. Some friends of ours had a Hindu wedding and had a card at the ceremony explaining what each action was for – I found it really helpful and interesting! So feel free to add this to your newspaper instead, so it’s all in one place.
Where To Put Your Wedding Newspaper
You have a few choices on where you display your wedding newspaper. You could put them on seats at your wedding ceremony, especially if you have a lot of detail about the ceremony itself. But there is always the risk that when the ceremony is over, they get left on chairs.
Personally, I had a short and sweet ceremony, so I wanted our papers to be at the reception venue. I folded them in half to look like real newspapers and put them on a table where guests arrived, next to the vintage suitcase we used as a card box. I also included a pot of eco-friendly pens for anyone that wanted to complete the crossword – so make sure you have some if you’re including a puzzle of some kind!
And there you have it! A guide to creating a Wedding Newspaper for your big day! If you had anything in your newspaper I haven’t mentioned, let me know! It’s a fab chance to be a bit creative and your guests will love it. Happy planning!
And if you haven’t already, check out more of the wedding goodness over here.
Photos in this post by the very talented Heather Sham.
Love the article and how you customized the newspaper template.
Thank you so much for sharing a link to my Etsy shop.
It is such a lovely idea. I’ve wanted to do wedding newspaper since we began planning. However, someone told me that during reception people might prefer eat, drink cocktails and take pictures, so it might be too much. We have a small wedding. What do you think? Should we still do it? I am struggling to make all of these decisions 🙂
I think it’s nice to have the newspapers there. Some people read them in the drinks reception, some read them after the meal and some took them home as a souvenir! I also love that I can now frame one in our house as a memento from our day 🙂