The church has actually two versions: English and Tagalog. The changes to the wedding program script in both versions are minor. However, they do help me ensure a streamlined wedding mass process for either type of wedding mass.
Description of my Customized Wedding Program Guide
The physical construction of my customized wedding program guide was borne out of my desire to have a compact version of the church's wedding program in a binder. I even printed a pocket-sized version of the wedding program. But I rarely used it because the size is not practical and the font is just too small to be readable.
Here is a brief description of my customized wedding program booklet:
- Paper Construction
The program guide is printed on standard letter-sized (8.5"x 11") ordinary paper. Printing is done two pages per sheet and back-to-back (both sides). This is fairly easy to do using the "book fold" or booklet option. Margins were kept to a minimum to put in as much text as possible. Printing orientation is landscape. Only four sheets of paper were used and this translated to 16 pages total for the wedding program.
- Print Style and Font
The font style is Arial all throughout the script. The font size is kept at a readable 10 point. The commentator's part in the script is set to bold. This is to clearly distinguish my parts in the script. Callouts to specific members of the entourage are in red. Notes in parenthesis are set in italics. Headers that indicate the sections of the mass are in uppercase.
- Distinction between English and Tagalog Wedding Programs
Just to easily distinguish the English and Tagalog versions of the wedding mass program, I have a different graphic printed on the cover page of both wedding mass program guides. They also have different colors. But just the same, I carry both versions each time. There was one time when the list of wedding schedule indicated an English mass. It turned out the wedding was conducted in Tagalog. So I just bring both versions every time, just to be sure.
Advantages of a Customized Wedding Program for the Commentator
A mother-butler who also happens to be a lector was curious as to why I made my own versions. Some wedding couples even prepare their own customized wedding programs already. There was one couple who changed the church's wedding program missalette but this resulted in unwanted consequences.
Well, apart from the customized changes I made to the wedding program text, there are other advantages.
- Small and Handy
I could sit on the chair at the commentator's lectern and follow the readings with the wedding program guide on my lap. It's like handling the thin and handy Sunday missalettes. Actually, I can do that too with the present wedding program in its binder. Sure it's sturdier, but it's also bulkier and heavier.
- Slim and Compact
There are more lines to a page. That's what makes it slim. I'm able to see more of text and doesn't require me to sift through the pages oftenly. It's easier to carry around. The customized program guide/missalettes are very light. I just put them in the carry basket of the bike and I'm ready to go. Sometimes, I actually need something to weigh them down inside the basket to keep them from being blown away.
- Extra Copy
Because I already have my own customized version, the program binder on the commentator's lectern becomes and extra copy. This extra copy becomes useful when the priest forgets to retrieve his own copy from where he put it. Sometimes it's the lector whose copy was taken by the priest. There was even a time when a volunteer mass reader needed one for practice-reading at the pews.
