Sea Monkey Ceremony Programs

The very last major thing we had left was making the ceremony programs. Unfortunately, we didn’t know any details about our ceremony until less than a week out.

Like everything else about my wedding, I wanted to go with non-traditional programs. We weren’t having musicians, speakers, live singers or a bridal party, so we had no reason to credit anyone. The only person we needed to acknowledge was our amazing officiant Charles.

Since we didn’t have all the details, we had to get creative to let our guests know what to expect. Mr. Sea Monkey got on this right away, while I started on picking a design.

My job was pretty easy, because I immediately fell in love with one design. In this design, they had an envelope on the back that holds tissues “for tears of joy”. One thing I always forget to bring with me whenever I go to weddings is a tissue.

Photo by Janelle Brook Photography

Mr. Sea Monkey wanted the design to be similar to our invites, so he made the base the same, but then he looked up a couple of Hawaiian phrases to go with the honeymoon to add to the bottom of each side and then added one for the sand ceremony, as well as made one up for the tissues part. Funny thing, Mrs. Border Collie and I were discussing how the men are the ones who are good with words. 

The phrases were:

• “E Hoomau Maua Kealoha!”: “May our love last forever!” (Front of program)
• “Ma’ane’i No Ke Aloha!”: “For is here and now!” (Back)
• For the sand ceremony: “Just as these grains of sand can never be separated, so  shall your marriage be.”
• For the tissues: “A tissue for the ladies to dry their tears of joy and for the gentlemen who “get sand in their eyes”.

I’ve talked about my best friend for life and how we’ve been friends since we were like, five or six. What I haven’t talked about is how amazing she is. We live in different cities, but text everyday. She’s always there for me when I need to vent, or to give me awesome ideas when I’m stuck. This is why there was no doubt she was coming to the wedding.

W and her mom found these gems the other day.

Rockin’ those ’90s outfits.

W is able to print things at her work, so she saved me big time on this one. Since we got the file to her right before the wedding, she printed them out and brought them to me a couple of days before we left. She and her fiancé were coming to visit Mr. SM and I and see our new house. Thank you so much W!

They turned out beautifully (Photos by W).

Our envelopes wouldn’t fit on the paper when they were turned the right way, because of how we designed them (our brains were exhausted), but they fit perfectly when we turned them sideways. We managed to stuff a couple tissues in each one.

Personal Photo

Are any of you guys adding unique design elements to your stationary?