Wedding Programs: Take Two

When I first started my planning, I had what I previously believed to be an amazing idea for programs.  I was going to take our wedding monogram...

Sorry about the amateur redaction...

plus these little 4 bar cards...

[caption id="attachment_1144" align="aligncenter" width="250" caption="from Papersource!"][/caption]

and these A7 booklets...

[caption id="attachment_1145" align="aligncenter" width="250" caption="Also from papersource!"][/caption]

Plus some cream colored paper and cardstock.  And I was going to turn them into top-folding wedding programs.  Except, when I did so, my prototype was... well.. er.... um... ok I'll say it.  Fugly.  Totally fugly.  I hate them.  But I like certain elements about them- like our monogram on the ivory sticker, and the scalloped 4 bar cards are pretty darn cute.

[caption id="attachment_1147" align="aligncenter" width="223" caption="My first attempt- a catestrophic failure. Ok maybe its not that bad, but its pretty lame."][/caption]

So back to the drawing board I went, hoping that somehow I could find a way to use some of the paper elements I had already paid for (indeed, I had already embossed stickers and printed the 4 bar cards, so they were not something I could return).  Enter Mrs. Cupcake and her amazing idea for accordian folded wedding programs!  (the below photos are Mrs. Cupcakes and can be found, along with her great tutorial, here).

[caption id="attachment_1149" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="The presentation."][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1148" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="The overall look."][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1150" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="The template."][/caption]

As you can see, the template for this project requires some sophistication to create- with fold marks and cut lines, and perfect alignment.  This was not something I could do on my own.  But I do know someone, Sarah at Belletristics, who has agreed to help me!  And so we're going to take my 4 bar cards, and make templates on 11 by 17 paper.  I even found someone who can print on that size paper, and is going to do it for me for free since my home printer can't do it.

Will my second attempt at programs work?  Even I'm not sure, but it seems to me that anything I do will be more palatable than my first attempt.  I know they won't look as good as Cupcake's, because really, those are amazing, but I think ours will be cute once they're all in their presentation basket (to be shared at a later date).  And I suppose I should consider myself lucky that only a couple of my initial DIY attempts needed some fine tuning (don't worry, I'll be sharing those too).  Stay tuned for more!