Ceremony programs for non-jewish guests?

How many is a "handful"? Ceremony programs are usually an unnecessary expense, but you could have your officiant briefly explain the meaning of each event as it happens. Many Jewish wedding traditions are familiar even to non-Jews because they have seen it on TV, so your guests probably won't be as lost as you think.

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We're expecting 120 guests, about 25 of whom are not Jewish.

Many people might recognize a hora, or know that someone steps on a glass at the end of the ceremony, but I imagine my non-Jewish guests don't know what a ketubah is, won't understand sheva brachot, etc.

View Quoted Comment If you print programs, you'd have to print them for all 120 people. I think having your officiant explain each tradition as you go along would be easiest. I've seen officiants do this even at super religious weddings where everyone knows the drill. Rabbis like to talk 😆

If you don't want a handout, you could put up some info on your wedding website.

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You're right about that! And I trust our rabbi to make it flow naturally.

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That's a really good idea!

View Quoted Comment You could do this but there's no guarantee everyone will read the website. If most of your ceremony is in English, I don't think it's necessary for those guests to know everything about everything that happens.

This is exactly why we had programs. We even had the same numbers as you! We had a Jewish ceremony and 120 guests, with probably 25 people in attendance who weren't Jewish. We printed programs for everyone. Our programs briefly explained some of the rituals and had the order of events so that people could follow along.

I’ve been to a number of Jewish weddings where the rabbi explains the meaning of the tradition before doing it. It may be kind of redundant to the majority of your guests, but sometimes the refresher is nice just to really highlight the sentimentality of the moment. More of a gentle reminder of why we do this than anything else.

Maybe you could post one somewhere as people walk in rather than printing a lot. However, since the majority is able to understand I would not worry. I am not familiar with the tradition.

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Thank you all for the great replies and ideas! I'm definitely going to include some info on our wedding website, which I do hope people will read... if they don't, oh well, lol.