When you’re planning a wedding, you tend to gravitate toward choices that help illustrate the personalities, tastes, and priorities of you and your spouse-to-be.
If lush greenery and flowers fill you with joy, you may opt for a garden wedding. If you’re all about showmanship and creating a spectacular day for your guests, you may decide to go all out with your entertainment.
And, if you’re passionate about protecting the planet, you may look for ways to throw an environmentally friendly wedding, beginning with the save-the-date and the invitations you send.
Eco-friendly invitations have been a strong trend during the last couple of years, and wedding industry experts expect them to remain in demand this year. That’s good news if this approach appeals to you because you can choose from a wealth of options.
Here are just a few of the ways you can invite people to your wedding in a way that’s kind to the earth.
Save the Date—And the Planet
Increasing numbers of invitation providers, including print-on-demand service, Zazzle, are offering creative, environmentally friendly save-the-date and invitation options.
For example, you can find plantable save-the-date invitations printed on paper embedded with seeds, usually wildflowers or herbs. After the recipients receive them and (hopefully) add your wedding to their calendar, they can plant them and grow something beautiful.
Along the same lines, more and more couples are making their save-the-dates that can serve as mementos of the bride and groom—including mugs, small, framed photos, and refrigerator magnets—so recipients can save them well into the future.
Whether you choose plantable or a different option, you can avoid waste by sending your save-the-dates to households instead of individuals. A good rule of thumb is to order save-the-dates for half the number of people on your guest list, possibly throwing in two or three extras for last-minute plan changes and a souvenir for you.
Another save-the-date trend gaining traction is skipping the paper altogether and creating an electronic message. E-invitations are a popular, user-friendly option, or you can take a more personal approach and send a video with your wedding location, date, and your wedding website.
It’s not necessary to engage a professional videographer to do this, but depending on your goals and standards for your final production, it can be a wise investment.
Alice Prendergast of WeddingWire Canada suggests injecting a sense of fun into your video and, if possible, working in footage that helps illustrate your relationship.
“Dig into your social media archive or check your computer for any clips the two of you have taken on nights out or on vacations past,” Prendergast wrote. “As an added bonus, that’ll give your guests a bit of insight into your love story before your big day rolls around.”
Going Green With Your Invitations
While the ideas above aren’t necessarily limited to save-the-dates, you also have eco-friendly options geared specifically for your invitations. And these creative innovations aren’t limited to wedding invitations, by the way, they also work for other celebrations, from your parents’ big anniversary party to your best friend’s bridal shower. They’re also a good fit if you want to send invitations to your wedding after-party.
Some companies, for example, provide invitations on 100% post-consumer recycled paper, plant a tree for each order, or donate a percentage of your purchase to an environmental cause. You also can find invitations that are printed sustainably, possibly with soy or vegetable ink.
If you don’t find a recycled paper option that speaks to you, you also can explore papers made from sustainably grown materials, possibly bamboo or hemp.
Here are a few more ideas to consider:
Send wedding postcards, which save paper, and refer people to your wedding website for more details. Another twist on this is to create a save-the-date that does double duty and encourages people to follow your website for wedding information.
Consider paying a professional calligrapher, which bypasses the chemicals and energy expenditures associated with printing. You’ll also have the benefit of gorgeous, elegant invitations.
You also can choose a printing service that offers carbon offsetting. This means it balances the activities involved in creating your final product, from paper milling and printing to shipping your invitations, with environmentally beneficial activities such as tree plantings.
Taking a few extra measures to make your invitations eco-friendly is definitely manageable, and if protecting the earth is a goal close to your heart, they’ll make your wedding (and bridal shower) preparations all the more satisfying.