# What to Put in a Wedding Newspaper | PuzzleBuilder > URL: https://puzzlebuilder.co/blog/what-to-put-in-a-wedding-newspaper/ What goes in a wedding newspaper: the sections couples actually use, how long it should be, folding and printing options, and where a guest puzzle fits in. --- 31 August 2026 ## What to Put in a Wedding Newspaper (and How to Make One) A wedding newspaper replaces the ceremony program with something guests actually read: the order of the day, short profiles of the wedding party, your story, and a puzzle to solve between courses. Here is what goes in each section, how long it should be, and how to print it. Most wedding programs are read once, folded in half, and left on the chair. They contain information guests either already know or do not need: the order of readings, the names of people they will meet in an hour anyway. It is a piece of paper that exists because weddings have always had one. A wedding newspaper is the same information doing considerably more work. It carries the running order, but it also carries your story, short profiles of the people standing next to you, practical details nobody wants to ask about, and something to do during the gap between the ceremony and dinner. Guests read it on the chair, then take it back to the table, then take it home. ### Why Couples Are Choosing Newspapers Over Programs The practical reason is that it consolidates. Instead of a program, a menu card, a table plan sheet and a separate activity, one folded sheet covers all of it. That is fewer items to design, fewer to print, and fewer to leave scattered across the venue at midnight. The better reason is that guests actually read it. A newspaper format gives you permission to write in a voice, include photographs, and add a section that has nothing to do with logistics. Your grandmother reads the how-we-met story. Your university friends go straight to the wedding party profiles to see what you have written about each other. Somebody at table nine spends twenty minutes on the crossword. There is also a quiet cost advantage. Newsprint is cheap. A four-page newspaper printed on uncoated stock costs less per guest than a single letterpress program, and it looks intentional rather than economical. ### The Sections That Actually Get Read #### The front page Names, date, venue, and one large photograph. Treat it like a real masthead: give the paper a title ("The Daily Vow", "The Morning Post" with your surname, or simply your two names and the date). Add a fake issue number and a price that is a running joke. The front page sets the tone for everything else, and it is the part guests photograph. Keep the front page mostly image. Text-heavy front pages read as a document; image-led front pages read as a keepsake. #### The order of the day The section doing the job the old program did. Ceremony timings, who is speaking, when dinner is served, when the band starts. Written as a schedule rather than prose. The detail guests appreciate most is the one couples usually leave out: what happens in the gaps. "3:30pm — drinks on the lawn. Photographs happen here; you have ninety minutes and the bar is open." That single line prevents a hundred people wondering what they are supposed to be doing. #### Meet the wedding party A short paragraph and a photograph for each person standing with you. Two or three sentences each, written by you rather than by them. How you met, one specific detail, and something slightly unflattering. This is the section that makes the newspaper feel like a newspaper. "Chief Bridesmaid. Met the bride in a queue for a nightclub in 2011 and has been organising her ever since. Owns four identical black blazers." That paragraph does more for the room than a list of names ever will. #### How we met Half a column, no more. The version you tell at dinner parties, not the full chronology. Guests who know the story enjoy seeing it in print; guests who do not now have a conversation opener with the person next to them. If you want a longer version, break it into a short timeline instead of prose. Dates, places, one line each. It reads faster and takes less space. #### Practical information Taxi numbers. The last train. Whether there is a coat room. Where to leave gifts. Whether the lawn is wet and heels are a bad idea. Which parts of the venue are off limits. Unglamorous, and the section guests reference most. Put it on the back page where it is easy to find. #### The puzzle The section that turns a document into an activity. A crossword built from your own story, a word search using guest names, or a quiz about the couple. It occupies a quarter page, costs nothing extra to print, and gives every table something to do during the ninety minutes you are away having photographs taken. A crossword works best in a newspaper because it belongs there. Guests already expect one. If you want it easier, a word search using the names of everyone in the room works for all ages and needs no explanation. For the full walkthrough, see [how to create a personalized wedding crossword](https://puzzlebuilder.co/blog/how-to-create-a-personalized-crossword-puzzle-for-your-wedding-guests/), and for clue ideas drawn from a relationship, see our [40 wedding crossword clue ideas](https://puzzlebuilder.co/blog/wedding-crossword-clue-ideas-questions-about-the-couple/). #### Optional extras A few sections worth considering if you have space: - Advice column. Marriage advice collected from married guests in advance, printed as an agony aunt page. - Weather report. A fake forecast for the day. Funnier if the real forecast is bad. - Classified ads. Short joke listings. "Wanted: someone to dance with the bride's father. Enthusiasm essential, rhythm optional." - Photo hunt. A short list of shots for guests to take during the night, printed as a boxed sidebar. - Playlist requests. A blank box for guests to write a song request, collected before dinner. ### How Long Should It Be? Four pages. A single sheet folded once, printed both sides. Two pages feels thin relative to the effort. Eight pages means most guests read the front page and put it down, and you will spend three evenings filling space. Four pages holds a front page, a running order, wedding party profiles, your story, practical information and a puzzle without any section feeling squeezed. If you genuinely have more to say, use a smaller page size rather than more pages. Eight A5 pages reads faster than four A3 ones. ### Printing and Folding The simplest home option is A3 paper folded once, giving four A4 pages. Most home printers do not handle A3, so this usually means a local print shop, which is where the cost stays low anyway. Paper matters more than size. Use uncoated or matte stock between 80 and 120 gsm. Glossy paper makes it look like a takeaway menu; heavy card makes it look like a program, which defeats the point. Slightly off-white newsprint is the closest to the real thing and the cheapest of the three. For a genuine broadsheet, several printers run short newsprint jobs specifically for weddings. The per-copy cost drops sharply above fifty copies, and the fold and paper weight do most of the work in making it feel authentic. Print ten percent more than your guest count. People take spares home, and a stack on the welcome table looks better than an exact number. ### Where to Put It One copy per chair at the ceremony is the standard placement and the one that works. Guests pick it up while they wait, which is when they actually read it. A second stack on the welcome table catches anyone arriving late and gives guests a spare to take home. Avoid putting it only in welcome bags. A newspaper in a hotel room at midnight is a newspaper nobody reads. If you want it read, put it where guests are sitting with nothing to do. ### Building the Puzzle Section The puzzle takes about ten minutes: 1. Choose the format. Crossword for a newspaper feel, word search if you want everyone to finish it. 2. Write your answers first. The city you met in, the dog's name, the song, the proposal location. Fifteen answers is plenty for a quarter page. 3. Generate the clues. Describe your relationship and let the AI clue generator write the word-and-clue pairs, then edit anything that does not sound like you. 4. Size it to the column. A quarter page fits a 13x13 grid comfortably. Larger grids need half a page. 5. Export print-ready. Download at print resolution and drop it into your newspaper layout as an image. You can build the grid in the [crossword generator](https://puzzlebuilder.co/crossword-generator/) or use the [word search generator](https://puzzlebuilder.co/word-search-generator/) for the simpler version. Both export at print resolution in several sizes. If you want to see finished cards before you start, browse the [examples](https://puzzlebuilder.co/examples/). ### Frequently Asked Questions #### What sections should a wedding newspaper include? A front page with the couple's names and wedding date, the order of the day, short profiles of the wedding party, a how-we-met story, practical details such as transport and timings, and one interactive section like a crossword or word search. Four to six sections is enough for most weddings. #### How long should a wedding newspaper be? Four pages is the sweet spot: a single sheet folded once, printed on both sides. Two pages feels thin for the effort involved, and eight pages means most guests read the front and stop. Four pages fits everything guests actually need without becoming a magazine. #### Is a wedding newspaper the same as a wedding program? A wedding program lists the ceremony order and the wedding party. A wedding newspaper includes that information but adds stories, photos, guest details, and usually a game or puzzle. The newspaper replaces the program rather than sitting alongside it, so guests only have one item to keep track of. #### How do you print a wedding newspaper at home? Print on A3 paper folded once to make four A4 pages, or on tabloid stock folded to letter size. Use a matte or uncoated paper between 80 and 120 gsm so it feels like newsprint rather than a flyer. For a true broadsheet look, a local print shop can run short newsprint runs at a low cost per copy. A program tells guests what is happening. A newspaper tells them who you are, gives them something to do, and ends up in a drawer instead of a bin. For the price of some uncoated paper, that is a reasonable trade. **[Build Your Wedding Puzzle Section →](https://puzzlebuilder.co/start/?oc=wedding)** ### Ready to make your event unforgettable? Open the editor and build your first puzzle in minutes. You only pay when you're ready to download or publish — and every purchase is covered by a 14-day refund. [Start Building →](https://puzzlebuilder.co/start/) --- Path: [Home](https://puzzlebuilder.co/) › [Blog](https://puzzlebuilder.co/blog/) › [What to Put in a Wedding Newspaper (and How to Make One)](https://puzzlebuilder.co/blog/what-to-put-in-a-wedding-newspaper/)