Between the program, seating card and wedding favors, (not to mention menu cards, table numbers and place cards), you could spend a lot of your budget and time on personalized touches.

While no element is mandatory – except maybe seating cards, but I’ve been to weddings where a waiter stands at the door and tells you which table to go to – there are ways to cut costs while still having all of the details you want.  How?  By combining the pieces. There are a variety of ways to combine the different elements, and here are some ideas:

• Program and seating card
• Menu card and place card
• Menu card and table number
• Program and menu – I’ve seen couples print the menu in the back of the program

And pretty much everything can be combined with your wedding favor: 

• Program: You can print your program on a fan or print information regarding a charitable donation on one of the pages
• Seating card: Print or write seating information on the packaging of the favor
• The same idea works for place cards
• Centerpiece: You can create a centerpiece that comes apart and each person takes an element with them
• Entertainment:  In addition to music, couples are renting photo booths and creating craft tables to entertain their guests and also give them a keepsake from the wedding
• Dessert: Instead of serving a dessert course with your wedding cake, treat guests to cupcakes, mini-pies, cookies or candy.  Arrange for boxed items to be available for guests as they leave or set-up a bar for guests to make their own goody bag.