Wedding newspaper ideas: 40+ things to fill every page

Front page ideas

The front page gets read standing up, drink in hand, so give it one big thing and a few small ones.

• A breaking-news headline. Big type, few words: WE SAID I DO, or SHE SAID YES, HE SAID FINALLY. The headlines guide has dozens more, sorted by tone.
• A lead story in news style. Who, where, when, then one good detail. MADISON, June 5. In what sources are calling the least surprising news of the year, Maya and Jordan will marry this afternoon at Lakeside Barn.
• A weather forecast. One line, and everyone reads it. Forecast: warm, with a 100% chance of happy tears, clearing in time for the first dance. Scattered confetti after 9 PM.
• The date, set huge. Big numerals double as decoration. One catch: 06.05.27 reads as June 5 in the US and 6 May in the UK and Australia, so spell the month out if your guest list crosses an ocean.
• An edition line. The small print under the masthead is free comedy. Vol. 1, No. 1. Commemorative edition. Price: one slow dance.
• An "inside this edition" box. Three or four teasers with page numbers: How they met, p. 2. Who's who, p. 3. The crossword, p. 6.

Ideas for your story page

This is the page guests read twice. One real detail beats a paragraph of compliments.

• How you met. Tell it as a scene, not a summary. Maya and Jordan's version starts with two trivia teams claiming the same bar table and ends with a rematch. The love story examples have openers in different tones.
• The proposal, as an eyewitness report. Write it like a police blotter. At approximately 7:40 PM, Jordan was observed kneeling on a lake dock. Witnesses report one ring, one yes and no injuries.
• A relationship timeline. Five to eight dated entries: first date, first apartment, first pet, the proposal.
• What you love about each other. Write two short paragraphs separately and swap them only when the paper is done. Maya on Jordan: he makes every ordinary Tuesday feel like an adventure.
• A corrections column. Dry, and very easy to write. Correction: an earlier edition stated that Jordan can cook. We regret the error.
• A side-by-side interview. Answer the same five questions without comparing notes, then print both answers: best meal together, worst road trip, who apologizes first.
• Meet the pets. A short profile for the dog who won't be at the ceremony but is in every photo. Biscuit, beagle, 4. Interests: trivia-night snacks. Role today: ring bearer in spirit.

Ideas for the big day page

Practical information, written with a little personality, is what stops guests asking you when dinner is.

• Order of events with times. Add a small note to each line: Cocktail hour, 4:15 PM. Puzzles encouraged. The wording guide has phrasing for each part of the day in three tones.
• Meet the wedding party. Name, role and one line each. Sam Ortiz, best man: Jordan's brother and official rematch referee. One line is plenty; four paragraphs per bridesmaid is how papers grow to twelve pages.
• The menu, with commentary. List each course plainly and let the last one speak for you. Late night: tacos, obviously.
• Readings and readers. Print each reading's title and who is reading it, so guests know who the nervous cousin at the microphone is.
• The first-dance song. Name it and say in one sentence why you chose it. Skip the lyrics: they're copyrighted, and the band will sing them anyway.
• A credits box. Thank the florist, the baker and the friend who drove the chairs over.

Fun and games ideas

Games fill the gap between the ceremony and dinner, and they get strangers at the same table talking.

• A custom crossword. Clues about you, answers from your life: the town where you met, the dog's name, the honeymoon. Answers of 3 to 13 letters work, and up to 12 clues fill a page. The crossword generator builds one from your list.
• A word search. Hide names, places and inside jokes: BISCUIT, TACOS, TRIVIA, VOWS. It's the one puzzle the six-year-old ring bearer can finish.
• Guess who. Six questions, and guests circle M or J. Who said "I love you" first? Who takes longer to get ready? Print the answers upside down at the foot of the page.
• By the numbers. A row of figures that tells your story fast. 6 years together. 3 apartments. 212 trivia nights. 1 beagle named Biscuit. Use real numbers: someone will check.
• Guest awards. Small honors for real guests. Longest distance traveled: Aunt Mei, from Singapore. First to RSVP: the Okafor family. Ask before you award anyone "most likely to cry."
• Horoscopes by table. One forecast per table. Table 4: a stranger will ask you to dance tonight. Say yes. It's Uncle Leo.
• Classified ads. Tiny and deadpan. WANTED: one guest who knows the steps to the line dance. Apply at Table 7.
• Wedding bingo. A five-by-five card with squares like "someone mentions the trivia rivalry," "the beagle comes up in a speech" and "Dad attempts the worm." First full line wins a drink.

Ideas for your guests

A good guest page answers the questions your phone would otherwise get on the day.

• The schedule at a glance. Times and places only, in a box people can find in two seconds.
• Things to know. Dress code, parking, shuttle times, whether the ceremony is on grass. Garden formal. Comfortable shoes for the lawn.
• Local tips. Your favorite coffee, the bar for the after-party, the walk worth doing on Sunday morning.
• Traditions explained. Breaking a glass, jumping the broom, a tea ceremony, a ceilidh: two sentences on what it means helps everyone join in.
• An unplugged-ceremony note. A friendly line asking for phones away during the vows, and a promise that the photos will be shared.
• Your hashtag and a QR code. Put them side by side, the QR code pointing to your wedding website or shared album. Share the love: #TriviaToForever

Keepsake and after-the-wedding ideas

• Wishes for the couple. Leave a block of ruled lines for guests to write you a note. Your program doubles as a guest book.
• In loving memory. A line for someone who isn't there. Remembering Grandma Rose, who never missed a trivia night. A name and one true detail is enough.
• A thank-you note. Printed in the paper itself, so every guest has it in hand on the day.
• Predictions for the future. Ask guests to write where you'll be in ten years, then seal the answers until your tenth anniversary.
• A save-the-date edition. A one-page paper sent months ahead, with the date as the headline, sets up the full edition nicely.
• A thank-you edition. A short follow-up after the wedding with your favorite photos, sent alongside your handwritten thank-you cards.

Design and printing touches

• Name the paper. The masthead is the first thing anyone reads: The Lakeside Ledger, The Daily Biscuit, The Maya & Jordan Gazette.
• Pick a paper tone. Warm ivory reads as vintage, bright white as modern. Match it to your invitations rather than the venue.
• Plan the page count. A folded tabloid paper comes in multiples of 4 pages, so plan for 4 or 8, not 6. The size guide covers sheet sizes, including A4 for UK and Australian printers.
• Use the original photo files. Phone originals (3,000 to 4,000 pixels across) print sharp. Screenshots and photos saved from messaging apps usually come out soft.
• Print on real newsprint. A newspaper printer gives you the slightly grey paper and the real-newspaper feel. Tabloid (11 × 17 in) from a copy shop, or Letter or A4 at home, work too. See how to print a wedding newspaper.
• Present it well. Roll each copy with twine and leave one on every ceremony chair, stack them in a crate at the entrance, or fold one at each place setting.

Making yours with VowPress

Most of the ideas above start from a handful of honest answers. On VowPress you answer questions in a chat for about ten minutes (rough notes are fine), and it writes and lays out the front-page story, your love story and proposal, wedding-party blurbs, fun facts, headlines, the weather forecast and the crossword clues. It uses only the facts you give it.

The pages cover a lot of this list already: a Fun & Facts page with guess-who, guest awards and by the numbers, a Puzzles page with a crossword and word search, a Guest Guide, and a Share the Moment page for your hashtag, thank-you and memorial line. Horoscopes and classifieds aren't built in, but you can click any words on the page and write your own.

Previewing the whole paper is free, and you pay once only if you want the print files. Browse the designs first, or start your newspaper and see what your answers turn into.