Thursday, September 8, 2011

Wedding Recap: Ceremony Programs

Our ceremony programs were something that shouldn't have been as annoying as they ended up being for me. I ordered paper sample after paper sample online. I really wanted to print on plain 5X7 folded cardstock, but no matter how many times I tried...I couldn't get things to line up for me the way I wanted them to when printing, and I'm just not good enough with actual designing and layout - there's only so much I can do in paint. So I finally settled on this paper from paperdirect.com, in gold.
I bought a box of 300 so I would have plenty to test before printing. I tested, printed, tested again, and ran back and forth to Staples over my lunch breaks 52,000 times over the course of the week. Finally, after many, many tests done by the good people at Staples, (I couldn't get things to line up the same on my computer as it was printing on their computer) I had them print a sample for me and it was perfect except for one little spelling error I wanted to rush back to my computer and fix before emailing them the file. I left the paper with them, and ran back to my office to make the correction and send them the file. I attached the file and sent them this email:

Hi Natan, it's Laura and I just dropped off the program paper for my wedding on Saturday.

Attached is the pdf for it, please make sure that the writing doesn't go over the imprinted border image at all...if it does, let me know and I'll make some changes.

I need 250 programs printed.

Thank you,
Laura

I had talked to the guy enough times over the course of the last few weeks that he knew exactly how I roll, and exactly what I wanted. I figured the sentence "make sure that the writing doesn't go over the imprinted border image at all" was pretty clear-cut if you ask me. Well, apparently it wasn't, because when I arrived at Staples this is what I found:

Front - Just fine:

Back: "Order of Ceremony" is completely over the corner border IMAGE!!! It baffles me, and it's truly amazing how every printer and every computer is different, because I printed a ton of samples with that same file and Order of Ceremony didn't touch the border! It nested perfectly between the corner image and the leaf right below it.
I was enraged - how much more clear could I have been? I screamed, I yelled, I became *gasp* a bridezilla. But I mean, honestly, how incompetent can one be? And there was absolutely nothing I could do about it. All 250 had been printed and I didn't have enough paper leftover to re-do the print job. The lady I was yelling at wasn't the person who did the printing - he was in the back hiding eating his lunch. In the end, the lady gave me the entire print job for free (which would have cost me about $80) soooo there was a bit of a silver lining. She just wanted me to leave the store so she wouldn't have to deal with me anymore.

After thinking about it - WHY DIDN'T I JUST DROP OF A PRINTED SAMPLE AND HAVE THEM MAKE COPIES FROM THAT, RATHER THAN OPENING THE FILE ON THEIR COMPUTER?!

I guess it's when you step back from a project when you realize what an idiot you've been all along, and the whole thing could have so easily been avoided. It's also key to note I was doing this the week of the wedding...which is just never a good idea...ever.

But that was it, there was nothing I could do about it, and I wasn't about to order another box of 300 programs. So I went home, Chris' mom folded them for me, and that was that. I couldn't be bothered with them anymore.
deja vu studios

I put them in a basket I had on hand and threaded some green ribbon through before adding them to the "TAKE TO CHURCH" pile.
deja vu studios

Here they are in action on the big day:
deja vu studios

deja vu studios

In the end, it was obviously fine, and (to my knowledge) nobody cared that one word happened to be over the printed image. I still wish it hadn't of happened that way - but it's safe to assume they pretty much all ended up in the trash anyway...sigh.

Did/Will you print your own programs? Did you encounter any issues in printing them?
What advice to you have for making DIY Programs?

17 comments:

Mom said...

Oh dear, I can't even remember the drama over the programs though I'm sure you told me. As far as my programs-LOL! Remember, I got married when there were no home computers. Hell, I don't even think there was a Staples. Staples used to be the food items found in every kitchen in America back in the day!

Jessica said...

I think they look pretty! We printed and assembled our own. Had our own little folding party between my mom & me. I hate it when you /know/ something isn't exactly how you imagined it, but you just gotta let it go!

k... said...

They look beautiful and as a guest I wouldn't even notice. But as a bride I would've been a hollering mess as well. It's just so frustrating! I'm getting frustrated just thinking about it. LOL!

K said...

I would have been the same way! I got a little OCD going on, so it would have haunted me in my sleep! This is why I decided that I don't want to print my own anything. I know that I couldn't handle it. At least you got them for free though!

Heather said...

Ugh, that type of stuff drives me crazy, too, but they still looked beautiful. We printed ours at home using ivory resume paper, and luckily didn't face too many issues with the borders. I did have to add in some "filler" quotes and images in order to avoid having blank pages, though.

It's A Love Story said...

I love them!

Megan said...

I probably would have freaked out too! Your programs looked great though! I probably wouldn't have even noticed. I am not sure what we are doing for our programs. We talked about having the guy that is doing our invites do them, but I am not sure at this point. I should probably get on top of that,haha!

Unknown said...

Oh wow! Some people just don't pay attention I guess... Looks like it turned out ok though! The front looks really nice and the back doesn't look bad at all! So... I also had a programs issue. I decided to just print some at home. I worked on the layout for days, took the file to my home computer, thought I got it right, sent them to print 50 at a time and went off to do something else. When I came back... HALF of all the last names was CUT off. By then it was too late to get more paper, too late to get more ink and I just broke down crying. The mister told me no one would even notice, and they didn't. But it still annoyed me!

Anne said...

I was all set to use the church's bulletin, but it was more involved than I thought it would be. So I just did them myself. Although Matt wasn't too happy about the two hours we spent in my office one Saturday cutting the pieces of paper.

Shannon said...

I think they look great and I'm sure most people didn't even notice, us brides typically are the only ones that notice when something is "off"

I printed our programs...took FOREVER but I was pleased with how they came out.

Karen said...

I think the programs turned out lovely! I'm sure your guests thought so as well. I think every bride has at least ONE thing in that final week before the wedding not go as expected, and sometimes you need to get upset, and then move forward! :) I'm counting on having at least one, if not two or three freak-outs/meltdowns in that final week!

eliz said...

I am starting to see programs everywhere...but I refuse to make them! hahah

Tiff For Tat said...

They came out fantastic in the end but you did clearly state not to let the wording run over..so how did he miss that?!? I will be doing programs as well and hope to print my own, I hope they don't cause a huge pain for me too!..But you are right, and its unfortunate but true that they end up in the trash anyways.

steph c said...

I do plan on making our ceremony booklets, and I KNOW I will be the same way with my perfectionism.. but really, what bride wouldn't be?! In the end, they still looked beautiful.. c'est la vie!

HiLLjO said...

Yours are just adorable and so perfect with your invites and colors/style of the wedding!

We skipped the whole program thing. We were outside... I didn't have rocks to weigh them down... we were trying to "be green" without extra paper... and I just didn't have time.

Anonymous said...

I didn't even notice until you said something! I think they turned out fine!

Nicole-Lynn said...

Your programs looked great!

I won a tri-fold brochure giveaway from Uprinting so I uploaded our monogram on the front, and just did a tri fold layout of a program. I think it served it's purpose and I'm so glad we didn't have to spend any money on them.