Fan Programs

When I started planning my wedding, I didn't think I would have programs.  I knew I wanted a short, non-formal ceremony, and I didn't see the point to them.  But then I started thinking about what I could put in them OTHER than ceremony information.  I've seen all sorts of infomation in programs, including:
* Parts of the ceremony
* List of the wedding party (I've also seen random facts about the wedding party, or how they are related to the bride & groom - this is interesting to read while waiting for the ceremony to start)
* List of family members
* List of close people who have passed away that they want to remember/recognize
* Thank you's
* List of vendors
* Trivia Q&A about the Bride & Groom (This was an idea I came up with, I've never seen it done.  I thought it would be cool, but I already had too much going on in mine)

I knew that I wanted to have my program double as a fan, since my wedding was planned for the hottest time of the year, mid-July, outdoors in the full sun.  I also wanted to let people know what the schedule was for the evening, and who was in my wedding party.  We had 250 guests, so not everyone knew who our friends and family were. 

I found instructions for this program on a blog by Aylee.  I decided to do a 5-page program, as outlined:
Page 1: Cover, our names and the date
Page 2 and 3: List of the wedding party and how they're related to us
Page 4: Schedule of events for the ceremony and reception
Page 5: Thank you's to our parents and friends
Note: I think the most you can do is 6 pages and still use a normal size eyelet.  You could tie them together instead, but I think the eyelet makes them look more polished.

I designed it myself and found clipart and fonts on the web that I liked to make it look really custom.  I then printed out the pages on my computer on regular paper, and (since the cardstock wouldn't go through the printer without jamming it) I took them down to the local copy store and had them photocopy them onto the cardstock (Keep in mind that a photocopy isn't QUITE as clean as an original printed copy, but I could barely notice the difference).  I got 4 leaves on each sheet of paper.  I never found an economical way to have them pre-cut (to have a die-cut made was around $200 and then more $ to actually have them cut), so I cut out all 1,250 leaves by hand with scissors with help from my amazing MIL and MOH!  Then I punched an eyelet in the bottom with an eyelet punch, and tied ribbon through. I used small 3/8" eyelets, which come in various colors and shapes - I just used plain round bronze colored ones since they were the least expensive.  But, if I'd had fewer guests I may have gone with fancier flower or heart-shaped eyelets or something. These worked pretty well for creating breeze and guests seemed to like them!  (Note: I also made my centerpieces and menu's, more on those later.)