Wedding DIY: Heart Shaped Programs

Add a sweet handmade element to your wedding with these heart shaped programs from our book Handmade Weddings published by Chronicle Books. These adorable programs double as fans for an outdoor summer wedding. They're also the perfect compliment to the Big Day wedding suite!

Materials

Makes 100 programs

• Two hundred twenty-two 8 1/2-×-11-inch sheets red card stock

• 100 wood fan handles

Tools

• Heart-Shaped Program template (available online here)

• Font: Strangelove Text

• Laser or inkjet printer, with extra ink cartridges

• Scissors

• Pencil

• Double-sided tape gun and extra tape (we recommend the 3M Scotch ATG 700 Transfer Tape Dispenser), or glue sticks

How to

1. Customize and print your programs. Customize your program text using the online template. Print 110 copies onto red card stock using a laser or inkjet printer (10 copies are for inevitable mistakes when cutting). Using scissors, cut each program into a heart shape, following the outline on the template and being careful to cut inside the line so the outline doesn’t show.

2. Assemble your programs. Place your hearts back-to-back. Try to pair up hearts that match each other as closely as possible, as there will be some inconsistencies due to the hand cutting. Once you are happy with your pairings, take the first two hearts and lay them side-by-side, right-sides down, on your work surface. Center a fan handle on one of the hearts, left to right, and position it vertically so that the top 6 inches of the handle lie inside the heart, and the bottom 3 inches lie outside of it, forming the handle. Dispense glue or double-sided tape on one side of the top 6 inches of the handle and press into place (figure 1). Dispense glue or double-sided tape along the heart-shaped areas of the same heart as well as the second side of the handle. Align the second heart, right-side up, over the glued side and press down firmly (figure 2). Repeat for all programs.

Variations

Paddle fans, as these types of fans are known, can be made in any shape—a circle, oval, square, rounded square, egg, leaf, or traditional fan shape (resembling a quarter circle). If you have a longer ceremony, you can print on both sides of the fan, adding a bit of decorative flourish along the borders.

Real Wedding: Jacob and Kristen

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Talk about a good ol' time! This Indiana barn wedding featured on Style Me Pretty sums up all there is about summer goodness. From yard games to lemonade, suspenders to leather boots, the rustic and fashionable details have us gushing with joy. And it's no lie that we've seen a fair share of barn venues, but never something this pristine.

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81440008 It's always fun to see images of our paper products used in weddings, but it's rare that we see our Big Day inspired paddle fans in action! These lovely ladies sure know the right way to stay cool on a hot day!

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All photos by Austin Warnock Photography