Wedding Crossword Generator

How to use the crossword generator

Type one answer and its clue per line, with a vertical bar between them:

Biscuit | The couple’s dog, named after a breakfast side

Add up to 12 lines, then press the button. The generator fits the words into a grid, numbers the squares, sorts your clues into Across and Down, and adds an answer key. Print it from your browser on Letter paper in the US and Canada, or A4 in the UK and Australia.

The box above starts with ten clues about Maya and Jordan, our sample couple. Make a puzzle with those first to see the layout, then clear the box and write your own.

Rules for answers

• 3 to 13 letters. Two-letter words don’t count, and anything longer than 13 needs trimming. TRIVIA NIGHT works; THE NIGHT WE MET AT TRIVIA does not.
• Names and two-word phrases are fine. Count the letters, not the space: FIRST DANCE is 10 letters, LAKE MENDOTA is 11.
• Letters only. Spell numbers out (SEVEN, not 7) and leave out apostrophes, hyphens and accents. Write JOSE for José and OBRIEN for O’Brien.
• Shared letters help words connect. Words cross where they have a letter in common, so answers full of everyday letters (E, A, R, S, T, N, I) slot together easily. A list where every word leans on J, Q, X or Z gives the grid very few places to cross.

If one word refuses to join the others, swap it for something with friendlier letters: the pet’s breed instead of its name, or the city instead of the restaurant.

How to write good wedding crossword clues

A good wedding clue is a small piece of the couple’s story. Guests should be able to work most answers out from the clue, the crossing letters and a bit of gossip from the next seat. The answer key should earn a laugh, not a shrug.

Point at the story, not the dictionary

“Small hound with long ears” is a dictionary clue. “What Biscuit is, according to the vet and everyone at the dog park” is a wedding clue. Same answer, BEAGLE, but now it tells guests something about Maya and Jordan.

Give everyone an easy way in

Open with two or three gimmes. “Maya’s other half” (JORDAN) and “Windy City where it all began” (CHICAGO) get people writing straight away, and every letter they fill in helps with the harder clues.

Save the inside stories for the crossings

The clues only close friends could answer cold, like what Jordan ordered on the first date, work best when they cross two or three easy words. Guests get the answer from the letters and the story from the clue.

Add enough context for an inside joke

“The incident” means something to four people. “What the wedding party still calls the camping trip when the tent floated away” gives everyone else a fighting chance. If a joke needs a paragraph to explain, put it in the love story instead.

Use fill-in-the-blanks and letter counts

Blanks are quick to write and quick to solve: “Lakeside ___, where the vows happen.” For two-word answers, put the word lengths in brackets, newspaper style: “Wisconsin lake that saw the proposal (4, 7).”

Play with the answer

A little wordplay goes a long way. KAYAK reads the same backwards, so “Palindromic boat where the big question was asked” is both a clue and a fun fact. SUNRISE could be “What Maya and Jordan got up before, for once” if they are famously late sleepers.

Check every spelling

The answer key prints exactly what you typed. Spell names the way the people themselves do (KATHRYN is not KATHERINE), and check the venue and city against the invitation.

Over 30 wedding crossword clue ideas by theme

Where an answer is in capitals, it belongs to Maya and Jordan. Where it is in italics, fill in your own.

How you met

• Windy City where it all began (CHICAGO)
• Pub-quiz night where Maya and Jordan first met (TRIVIA)
• What Maya’s team needed that night, and Jordan had: the right ___ (ANSWER)
• The friend who introduced you, or the app that did (name)

The first date

• Where you went on your first date (restaurant, bar or park)
• The dish one of you ordered and the other still teases about (dish)
• How many hours the first date lasted, spelled out (e.g. FIVE)
• The first film you saw together (title)

Pets

• The couple’s dog, named after a breakfast side (BISCUIT)
• Snoopy’s breed, and their dog’s too (BEAGLE)
• The pet’s favorite thing to chew (e.g. SLIPPERS)
• Who the pet secretly prefers (first name)

The proposal

• Palindromic boat where the big question was asked (KAYAK)
• Wisconsin lake that saw the proposal (MENDOTA)
• Time of day the ring came out (SUNRISE)
• Where the ring was hidden until the big moment (place)
• The first person you told (first name)

The wedding day

• Wisconsin’s capital, and today’s host city (MADISON)
• ___ Barn, where the vows happen (LAKESIDE)
• Artist behind the first-dance song (surname)
• Flavor of the cake (e.g. LEMON)

The honeymoon

• Where the newlyweds fly on Monday (destination)
• The one activity already booked there (e.g. SNORKELING)
• What one of them will definitely overpack (e.g. SHOES)

Inside jokes and habits

• The show you rewatch every winter (title)
• Who is always running late, according to the other one (first name)
• Your word for “goodnight” that nobody else uses (word)
• Signature Sunday breakfast (e.g. PANCAKES)

Family and wedding party

• First name of the best man or maid of honor (name)
• Number of siblings between you, spelled out (e.g. SIX)
• Hometown of the family member who traveled furthest (town)

Where to use a wedding crossword

• In a wedding newspaper. A puzzle page gives guests something to do while they wait for the ceremony to start, and it is the page people tend to take home half-finished. See more wedding newspaper ideas.
• On the back of the ceremony program. Ten to twelve clues fit comfortably on half a Letter or A4 sheet. Print the answer key somewhere else so nobody peeks during the vows.
• On reception tables. One copy per table turns it into a team game. A small prize for the first table to finish keeps it lively between courses.
• At the bridal shower. Guests here often know one half of the couple far better than the other, so mix clues about both and let the guest of honor give hints.
• At the rehearsal dinner. Family and the wedding party know the old stories, so this is the place for harder clues and deeper inside jokes.

For a table game, cut or fold the answer key off before you make copies, then read the answers out at the end. Pens are bold; pencils are kinder. Put a cup of them on each table.

A crossword inside a full wedding newspaper

If the crossword is going into a wedding newspaper, VowPress can make it for you. You answer questions about the two of you in a chat on the homepage (how you met, the proposal, your pets, the wedding party), which takes about ten minutes, and rough notes are fine. VowPress writes the crossword clues from those answers and builds the Puzzles page: a crossword and a word search made from your details, with the answers printed on the page.

The same rules apply as in the generator above: up to 12 clues, answers of 3 to 13 letters. The rest of the newspaper comes with it, including the front-page story, your love story and headlines. Previewing is free, and you can click any clue to reword it. You pay once only if you want the print files. Start your newspaper.