A step-by-step guide to creating your own wedding newspaper (with LOTS of examples!)

Are you tired of the same old, one-size-fits-all wedding stationery? Ready to get creative and make something truly unique for your big day? Say hello to the wedding newspaper!

Since 2010, Newspaper Club has helped thousands of couples share their exceptional love stories with exceptional newspapers. There’s no minimum order, so they work for any wedding, no matter how big or small. 

Plus, it won't break the bank, so you can afford to splurge on other fun wedding details (a chocolate fountain, perhaps?)

“Making a newspaper was one of the most engaging and energising parts of wedding planning,” says Sarah Magnuson, who printed her wedding programmes with Newspaper Club. “There's so much you can do with the format. I can't tell you how big I smiled when the newspapers arrived!”

Newspaper credit: Jamie and Otis

In this guide, we'll walk you through everything you need to make your own wedding newspaper with easy-to-follow steps on how to design it, what to include, and how to print it. We've also got LOTS of examples of the different ways our customers have used newspapers to share their love stories.

So, let's get started and create a wedding newspaper your guests will be talking about for years! You can also use the links below to skip to a specific section of the guide:

•  Ways to use a wedding newspaper
•  Choose your size and paper (with help from free samples!)
•  How to design your wedding newspaper
•  What to include in your wedding newspaper
•  How to order your wedding newspaper
•  How to distribute your wedding newspaper

Ways to use a wedding newspaper

First things first: how do you want to use your wedding newspaper? The most popular uses are:

•  Save the dates. Catch your guests’ attention right from the start.
•  Invitations. Turn your invitation into a unique experience your guests won’t want to miss.
•  Orders of service. Tell your guests everything they need to know for your big day.
•  Thank yous. Turn favourite photos from the day into a keepsake your guests will treasure.

We’ve also seen them used for hen and stag party itineraries and vow renewals. You could even use one as part of a surprise proposal! So don’t be afraid to let your imagination run wild.

To see examples of different uses, check out our blog post: 6 ways to wow your wedding guests with a newspaper.

Newspaper credit: Sarah Magnuson and Ryan Kappmeyer

Choose your size and paper (with help from free samples!)

Next, you need to choose your newspaper size: mini, tabloid or broadsheet.

Tabloids are the most popular size for wedding newspapers, but couples have used all three sizes depending on their purpose. All of our sizes are available from 1 copy.

You can also choose from a range of different papers. All of our papers are FSC-certified and sourced from responsibly managed forests. What’s more, our newspapers are printed with energy generated by solar panels at our press and are completely recyclable. (You can read more on our Environment page.)

Our free sample packs can help you decide which size and paper to go for, and they’re packed with tips to get the best results in print. Order yours:

Get free samples

Newspaper credits: Allison Considine and Crosby Harbison (left) Liv Purvis and Joe Galvin (right)

How to design your wedding newspaper

Now, do you want to design your newspaper from scratch, use a customisable template or work with a professional designer?

If you want to design it yourself

The fastest way to design a newspaper yourself is to start with our free templates. Blank templates are available for all of our sizes and themed templates for Canva are available for our tabloid size.

Blank templates. We have free blank templates for InDesign, Scribus and Canva – they’re all set up to the correct size and include margins (for tabloids and broadsheets) or bleed (for minis).

You can find our blank template on the artwork guidelines for each of our formats:

See artwork guidelines

Themed template for Canva. To get a headstart with your layout, you can use our free, themed Canva template (pictured above). It's completely customisable – just swap in your own images and text.

The Big Day layout above was created with weddings in mind, but we have a few different designs and any of them can be adapted for a wedding. See them all:

See themed Canva templates

Our customer Alex Sall has also designed a Canva template for use with our digital tabloids (pictured below). "Designing this newspaper and surprising my fiancé and guests with it was one of the best parts of wedding planning," says Alex.

Newspaper credit: Alex Sall and Mosheh Oinounou

You can buy the template from Alex's Etsy shop. And you can read more about her experience making a wedding newspaper (and get tips for creating your own!) in her Ultimate Guide to Making a Wedding Newspaper.

If you want to work with a designer

If you’d rather leave design to the pros, you can work with a creative agency or freelance graphic designer. Make sure your designer gets our free sample pack and reads our artwork guidelines before they get started.

Below are a few companies that specialise in wedding newspaper design and regularly print with Newspaper Club (so they’re already familiar with our process and best practices!)

•  The Occasional Press (UK-based)
•  The Ceremony Club (US-based)
•  Made by Wood & Wood (UK-based)
•  Scripted Ever After (US-based)

Newspaper credits:  Chelsea Trout and Arpan Somani (left) Alysia Alex and Kadrian Alvarenga (right)

What to include in your wedding newspaper

This is the really fun part! It’s time to make your newspaper your own, by filling it your one-of-a-kind love story. Need inspiration? Here are some ideas to get the ball rolling.

The basics

•  Welcome note to your guests
•  Photos from your engagement shoot
•  Schedule for the day (the example below uses our wedding Canva template):

Newspaper credit: Rachel Luff and Simon Stevens

•  Directions to the venue(s):

Newspaper credit: Caroline Czajkowski and Christopher Young

•  Engagement story or the story of how you met:

Newspaper credit: Alexa McDonald and Woody King. Designed by The Ceremony Club.

•  Meet the wedding party (the example below uses our celebration Canva template):

Newspaper credit: Rachel Luff and Simon Stevens

•  Meet the parents (and grandparents):

Newspaper credit: Sarah Magnuson and Ryan Kappmeyer

•  Menus with a note of which options are vegetarian or vegan-friendly:

Newspaper credit: Adam Cole and Agniya Dremach

•  Map of the area where you’re getting married
•  Wedding website URL or QR code

The fun extras

•  Interviews with parents, grandparents or other family members:

•  Playlist from your reception or other special songs – use a QR code to link to a Spotify playlist!
•  Games like a crossword puzzle or word search:

Newspaper credit: Maya Peraza-Baker and Cody Kestigian

•  Packing list if your guests will be traveling
•  Behind-the-scenes details about your cake, rings, flowers, dress or other special details:

Newspaper credit: Pim Kang and Cullen O'Keefe

•  History of your wedding venue and/or why you chose it
•  Timeline of your relationship:

Newspaper credit: Maya Ealey and Ian Okonski-Fernandes

•  Map pinpointing places that are significant to you and your partner, e.g. where your families live, where you took your first trip together, where you got engaged or your honeymoon destination

•  Baby photos of you and your partner:

Newspaper credit: Hannah and Joel Avery

•  Text of readings from your ceremony (one couple printed a cherished poem in 3D - with glasses included!)
•  Cultural traditions and customs that will be part of your ceremony:

Newspaper credit: Adam Cole and Agniya Dremach

•  Guest map showing where guests are coming from (and shouting out the person who is traveling the furthest!)
•  Poster that your guests can keep as a souvenir. We love this one created by illustrator-design couple Cydney Cherepak and Noah Kinney:

Newspaper credit: Cydney Cherepak and Noah Kinney

Newspaper credit: Kara Caradas and Josh Michael

How to order your wedding newspaper

To print your newspaper, we need a PDF. If you've created your design in Canva, follow their instructions to save your design as a PDF.

Check your PDF closely after downloading to make sure the final PDF matches up with your design in Canva. In some cases, the Canva export process can produce unexpected changes to the PDF. We print the PDF that you upload, so always double-check your PDF before ordering.

When you're ready to order, click the blue 'upload PDF' button at the top right of our website. You'll be able to create a Newspaper Club account and upload your PDF.

Our automatic PDF checker will flag up anything that may cause printing issues, like low-resolution images or content in the margins. If you need any help with your PDF, just write to our friendly team at support@newspaperclub.com

Newspaper credit: Emma Wiseman and Josh Rice

Want to order a test copy? For digitally printed orders, it’s easy to print one copy to test your design and images. If you’re planning a bigger order, get in touch with our team about a free or discounted test copy.

When will your newspapers arrive? Delivery takes 1 - 7 working days in the UK, and slightly longer for overseas. Check our delivery calculator to see when to expect your order to arrive.

Newspaper credit: Sarah Magnuson and Ryan Kappmeyer

How to distribute your wedding newspaper

From doorstep deliveries to pre-ceremony paper boys, there are all sorts of ways you can share your wedding newspapers with your guests. Below are some ideas for distributing them before, during and after your ceremony.

Before the ceremony

For save-the-dates and invites, you'll likely be sending your newspapers by post. Check out our guide to packaging your newspaper for an overview of different envelope sizes and styles.

Black or vellum envelopes (shown below) are especially popular for wedding newspapers. If you're feeling fancy, you can even seal your envelopes with a custom sticker or wax seal!

If you have guests who live nearby, maybe you want to deliver the newspaper the old fashioned way? Bride-to-be Cynthia shared her plans to do just that on TikTok: "For my friends who live locally, I'm going to roll the newspaper up with a ribbon and hand it to them!" she says.

Newspaper credit: Maggie Serkes and Heath Anderson 

During the ceremony

If your newspapers include your order of service, it makes sense to give them to guests when they arrive for the ceremony. The simplest way to do this is to put them in a basket near the entry or leave a copy on each chair - then there's no chance your guests will miss them!

Newspaper credit: Sam and Jenna 

To kick off their wedding ceremony, Jemma and Sam surprised guests with a sing-along to Fleetwood Mac's "Everywhere" – the lyrics were printed in the tabloids (shown above) left out on all the chairs.

"Nobody was expecting it until they sat down and saw the running order in the newspapers," says Jemma. (Another unexpected element: the paper airplanes that guests threw in the air at the end of the ceremony!)

Newspaper credit: Adele Tate and Steve Leatham

For a more interactive approach, you could assign a young guest the role of paperboy/girl as Adele and Steven did for their wedding (shown above). Don't forget the messenger bag!

Photo credit: PapaKata and Ruth Atkinson Photography

After the ceremony

Finally, you can distribute your newspapers at the reception after your ceremony. This is a great idea if you've included a menu or wine list, as guests will be able to reference it during the meal. You can have guests pick them up as they arrive or incorporate them into your table setting.

"I had a short and sweet ceremony, so I wanted our newspapers to be at the reception venue," says bride Kara Caradas. "I folded them in half to look like real newspapers and put them on a table where guests arrived. I also included a pot of eco-friendly pens for anyone who wanted to complete the crossword!"

Newspaper credit: Alexa McDonald and Woody King. Designed by The Ceremony Club.

What couples say about their wedding newspapers

We think wedding newspapers are brilliant, but don’t just take our word for it! Below, read what some of the hundreds of customers who have printed wedding newspapers with us have to say about them.

(And you can read more reviews of Newspaper Club on Trustpilot, where we have a rating of 4.9/5 stars)

"One of my favorite parts of wedding planning was making our newspaper. It gave me the chance to be creative and it was so fun to design. My husband’s face when I surprised him with the newspaper says it all. He was absolutely blown away and couldn't stop smiling!"
- Alex Sall

"Once people received it we were flooded with texts and notifications on Instagram. People have mentioned it was such a unique correspondence and that they'll hold onto it forever!"
- Ritzelle Clarke

"Our wedding was three months ago and I still get comments from guests about how much they loved the newspaper invite! When I mailed them out I kept getting texts and photos of my friends posing with the newspaper, taking it with them to brunch or to the beach, etc. The newspaper was definitely one of my favorite parts of wedding planning and it will be one of our most cherished keepsakes for years to come."
- Elisa and Nicolás

"The newspaper is one of our most cherished pieces of memorabilia from our wedding. We like to think that one day our children will flip through it and learn about their parents and grandparents — and how cool we used to be!"
- Lauren and Rajiv

"A newspaper was the perfect way to display everything from our ceremony and throw a bit of fun in, too — like a ‘Meet the Parents’ page and a crossword. It was one of the most perfect touches on the day and I couldn’t have been happier with the end result. I can’t recommend Newspaper Club enough!"
- Live Purvis

Any questions?

If you have any questions about making your own wedding newspaper, we're here to help! Just write to our team at support@newspaperclub.com.