I mentioned in a previous post that we're making our invitations green. Steve and I always do what we can to be friendly to the environment, so it only makes sense that we continue that trend in planning our wedding. One major way we're doing this is with our paper products. We made our save-the-dates green by sending emails to half our guests (the tech-savvy ones) and mailing 100% recycled cards (that we conveniently won from minted.com) to the other half. We were able to tell our guests about our wedding and feel good that we hadn't harmed any trees in the process.
We've taken a similar approach with our invitations. We're not emailing anything this time, but we're limiting the amount of paper we're using. This means no inner envelopes, belly bands or even envelope liners. (I know.) The card stock we picked for the invitation and RSVP card is the 100% recycled eco-white Paper Source card stock. The RSVP envelope is from the same line. (We could do RSVP postcards, but we decided against it because I was concerned about the cards holding up in the mail.) If we print a directions card, we'll probably only send it to the out of town guests, and it'll also be on the recycled card stock.
To hold our invitations together, instead of making a belly band, I got some cotton yellow-and-white baker's twine from this Etsy shop. And I got these recycled wrap-around labels for our envelopes.
The only piece of our invitation suite that isn't recycled is our main envelope, which we got in a cranberry color from Cards & Pockets. I guess the name of this post should be few trees were harmed...These envelopes came in the exact color we wanted so I had to go for it. Sorry, trees!
I'm happy that by making our own invitations, they will completely reflect us. The colors, the text and the materials used will all say something about the two of us, and will be pretty at the same time!
So, something I was really bummed to learn about after I stressed about getting 100% recycled paper invites was that the number that matters is the PCW content - apparently it is standard practice to recycle paper in the plant, therefore it's nothing new and most paper that you buy is somewhat "recycled" anyway. I'll write more about this after the bar.
ReplyDeleteAlso it irritates me that PS says "an impressive 30% PCW content". My not-billed-as-recycled cardstock was 30% PCW. But I have a beef with PS anyway.
Although I will say that I printed my graduation party invites on PS paper and they were super easy since they were already cut to size - I think you made the right choice. Oh, and I lined the envelopes for those and it was a PITA and that was for 20 invites. And ONE person commented on them. Not worth it.
Good for you! I love the idea of using twine to tie everything together. We skipped inner envelopes, too. Less stress and less wasted paper!
ReplyDeleteThat's great that you're having green invitations :)
ReplyDeleteI don't know if it's too late for you, but in regards to not having envelope liners, have you thought about using a fancy stamp on the inside of the envelope instead?
Great suggestions and I love the twine idea. We only had 1 sheet and an online RSVP (of course people called as well). Easy, green, and less stressful!
ReplyDeleteGood for you! I really wish we had been a little greener with our invites. Our envelopes are 100% recycled and we tried to eliminate unnecessary paper elements like inner envelopes, but the actual paper we ended up buying wasn't recycled.
ReplyDeleteI love the idea. I absolutely hate waste of any kind. I only went with our main invite and an rsvp card. I figured in this age of map quest and GPS, people can find their way there and since we have no OOT guests, except his parents who have a house here, no accommodation info was needed.
ReplyDeleteI can't wait to see your invites.
@Ellie: Interesting. I didn't know that. Well, we're trying, right? To be honest, the only reason we went with PS was because their paper is cut to size. We liked the linen paper you chose from paper and more but didn't want to deal with the cutting part. Either way, getting paper that's at least somewhat recycled is good, and hopefully more REAL 100% recycled options will be available from vendors like PS. Thanks for the info!
ReplyDelete@Amberdawn: It's definitely not too late and I welcome the suggestion! I actually considered this so we'll see...I think I'm going to like the look of the plain cranberry envelopes because they're really pretty and are a great contrast against the invites themselves.
@Erica: It's all good! They say "reduce" first so cutting out unnecessary paper is definitely being environmentally friendly :o)
Good for you! Our invites are certainly not eco-friendly, but you have inspired me to look into this for our wedding programs. Paper Source is on the expensive side, but it's worth it to take steps not to harm the environment, especially for us since we are having so many guests.
ReplyDelete@PartyPlannerGal: Check out paperandmore.com! You can get 100 sheets of recycled card stock for pretty cheap. We might go that route for the programs.
ReplyDeleteGood for you. I am having a 4x8 tall invite with a RSVP postcard and a directions sheet that I plan to have printing on cream paper with brown lettering. That's it. Cream envelopes. Address labels. All that extra is certainly pretty but not necessary.
ReplyDeleteway to be eco-friendly!! We are lessening our carbon footprint by using as much recycled (repurposed) fabric as possible for the bouquets...it's def neat knowing someone elses waste will become a life long treasure!
ReplyDeleteI love you're using recycled paper.
ReplyDeleteFor anyone else looking at recycled paper products, check out Green Earth Supplies shop on Etsy. We're looking at ordering from here for our programs. If anyone's had any experience with them, please let me know!
ReplyDeleteI love Cards & Pockets! I used them for our Save the Dates and will totally recommend them to others.
ReplyDeleteGood for you for being so conscious of how you put together your invitation suite.