Wedding Wednesday- Unique and Eco-Friendly Wedding Invites and Other Paper Goods

from Alison Kate Design in Missouri

I have strayed away from this topic before, because it seems like one of the more obvious choices for greening your wedding- if you care about the environment, you have probably thought about this. On the other hand, I know I thought that recycled invitations all have a very specific look. Like a mason jar wrapped in burlap, but in paper form. Like maybe some granola will fall out of the envelope.

What is surprising is that you can get recycled paper invitations in ANY style. No matter what kind of scene you want to set, you can do it on recycled paper.

Once you know recycled paper invites (and other wedding paper goods- save the dates, thank you cards, etc.) can come in as mainstream, traditional, quirky, indie, or whatever else style you want, it opens up the opportunity to do something good on the sly. You can find anything you need without one tree falling down, and in that way, your wedding is doing some real good.

Here are some of the best options I found for Eco-Friendly wedding invitations that can be as unique or mainstream as you want them to be. Even if this isn't something you ever considered, be sure to take a look, because your wedding is a step into your future, and we all want a future with clear air.

Let's do this!

 Forever Fiances

This ridiculously cool save the date and wedding invitation company gives you two eco-friendly options for your invites.First, you can buy plantable invitations! These are made of recycled paper with plants inbedded inside of them, so your guests can go plant them after the fact. If that feels a little too heavy-handed for your style, they have recycled paper options as well (they call them "new tree free- I love that!). I actually like the plantable designs better than the recycled ones, but there are so many options and you can probably find something that works for your plans.

This is so unique and cool, and I think it sets the stage for a great wedding, whether you want to foreground your eco-friendly choices or let the day be about something else. Their prices are almost identical to shops like Wedding Paper Divas, so you won't be breaking the bank, AND you will be saving trees and even starting new ones! Either way, incredibly exciting. Why don't all companies work this way?

Jealous you can't get married again to use this company? Me too! They also sell personalized business cards, invitations, and other stationary, so check them out.

Your Local Invitation Maker (this includes you)

Lots of communities and cities have local options for calligraphers. It may be easier to get something online, but be sure to look around and see what is available near you, because dealing with an actual person can be more satisfying. You are supporting a local business, cutting down your weddings carbon footprint, and you can get exactly what you want.

If you are particularly talented in this area (and you have a good chunk of time), you could totally make your invites yourself! It would be a special and memorable way to go about it, you could pick recycled paper and soy inks, and you will probably save oodles of money to spend elsewhere. You can find eco-friendly papers at lots of these stores, like Green Field Paper Co.

 If doing the invites sounds like a lot, you can also consider how to use those skills or that beautiful penmanship elsewhere in the events; make the menu (maybe do one standing card per table or a large sign to cut down on paper), make seating charts or placecards or your programs. Paper comes in so many places, and anywhere you can consolidate or do it yourself, you can save money and save trees.

If you are going local, which is awesome, be sure to ask them about recycled paper and soy-based inks. Part of the perk of dealing with a smaller company is that you can talk to them face to face and hopefully work out something that is perfect! This is a cool way to support your community and to help the environment.

Minted

We bought our save the dates from this company, and they looked beautiful and used recycled paper and envelopes. One of the best things about this company is that they have a wide variety of designs coming from many different American designers, so you know your cards will have a style that matches you perfectly. This company always stays just a little bit ahead of trends, and their cards seem cool without trying too hard. They have almost a thousand options, and you can order most with recycled paper for 15-35 dollars extra (pretty affordable). I love them, and I think they are a great option.

Bloomin

Bloomin also sells plantable wedding invites, save the dates, thank you's, seating cards. Basically the whole shebang. I love how broad their paper supplies are, And their designs are mostly simple and timeless (especially considering the whole thing will be buried in the dirt in no time). Waste free and really special, this might still be a great option for one of your other wedding paper needs outside of the invites themselves.

In fact, my favorite might be "Growfetti" which would be a perfect substitute for bubbles (that come in little plastic containers), confetti, or rice. Just make sure it is alright at the place where you are getting married! A church lawn might not be the place, but a country wedding in a big field, it might be just fine.

Green Field Paper

This store sells recycled paper, seeded/ plantable paper, and even paper made of hemp. Before you stick your nose up, be sure to check it out, because they have so many options you might actually find the perfect thing. They don't have a ton of options, and I am not in love with all of them, but some are great and might be just your style. Plus, you can choose which paper your design comes on, so you get to prioritize what matters most to you.

As a side note, this company also sells Christmas cards, including ones made out of 100% junk mail. God bless this company, because that is genius.

Zazzle 

Recycled wedding invitations are becoming common enough now that lots of more mainstream companies like zazzle offer a recycled paper option. Another great option to look through if you aren't finding what you are imagining!

Twisted Limb

This company is on the opposite end of the Zazzle spectrum. They make handmade recycled paper that is stitched into invitations. As someone who has handmade paper before, I can tell you a heck of a lot of time and love went into these beauties. You couldn't get something more precious and special unless you made it yourself. To be totally honest, I am not sure invitations need to be such precious objects; we have kept some wedding invites but they aren't particularly treasured. But if you are having a very small wedding, it might make a really cool splurge.

Wedding Websites

Ok, I am not suggesting you only use an e-invitation unless that suits you (or you are having a pretty informal or tech-savvy wedding), but skipping the rsvp and having people rsvp online is a super efficient and cost effective (see also- free!) way to help the environment. If you send 100 invitations, just skipping the RSVP saves 100 pieces of paper and 100 envelopes. If you skip the whole invite, that is even more. If you are going that route, you can always do something simple like The Knot or wedding Jojo, or if you have the skills, pick something more open-ended, you techie you.

Arbor Day Foundation

Maybe you can't get your invites in these cards, but you could get your thank you cards there! It would be a simple way to have your wedding do some good- every card you buy will pay for a tree. So if you send 50 thank you cards, you also plant 50 trees. That's pretty amazing when you consider how many trees come down a year for wedding invitations.

Etsy

 We all knew I was going to end on this note, but do you know how many gorgeous invitation options you can find there? You can find one made in America (shorter trip, less fossil fuels, lower carbon footprint) and on recycled paper. We bought our invites on Etsy from someone in our state. We loved them so much, and because we were dealing with a real person,  I could just write her and we worked out tablenumbers too!You can also get printables and pick your own recycled cardstock. Here are a few to lust over, but your best bet is to write in "recycled wedding invitations and get to browsing. These are my favorites:

from Cricket Printing

from AMG Design Co

from Casey Snyder Design

from vohandmade

from Eco Weddigs by Cc

This is the tip of the iceberg- be sure to explore the links. I know when I was shopping, I looked for the perfect style that perfectly matched our colors and style and theme, etc etc. I did it, but I still wish I had prioritized differently. You can find that thing that is exactly what you want aesthetically, but we are asking you to This blog is suggesting that if you narrow the field to be "new tree free," you will end up something that may not be "perfect," but you will love it just as much, and you can feel really good about it.

Want more unique and Earth-friendly wedding inspiration?  Check out my Giant List of Shopping Lists!

If you like this post, please share it! This blog is all about making small changes. The more people who make these small shifts, the better the Earth will be!

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Wedding Wednesday- How to Save on Wedding Decorations

Oy, wedding costs! You go into it with a vision, and then slowly, that vision can be chipped away just by the shrinking amount still left in the budget. Before you are really planning, you spend a lot of time plotting decorations and cool details, but those are often the things that get cut for the sake of the event as a whole. Some of that is inevitable, but I do think there are cool ways to approach decorations that can save you BIG money.

Even better, if you shift your approach to the stuff you buy for the wedding, you can save things from landfills and create less waste. So many of these decor pieces are used one night only, but if they are shared between many couples, they can have much longer and happier lives.

1. Let the Space do the Work- You picked your venues for a reason. Start with that premise and just let the beauty of your wedding and reception spaces shine through. If it's already a good-looking spot, you may not need much. Don't pick a theme that doesn't fit the room, and you have already saved yourself tons of money.

2. Focus on Lighting (and someone can always lend you lights)- If I had to decorate a whole reception with one item, it would be white twinkly lights. Lighting sets the mood, makes everything look intentional (even when it isn't), and adds that magical thing. Even better, you can almost always find lighting as a rental or used. Twice this summer, I have seen brides gifted tons of Christmas lights for their weddings on Buy Nothing. If you do get lights lent to you, be sure to mark who each strand belongs to. Otherwise, you can get this high impact item for very cheap or even free.

3. DIY it- I love browsing the decoration ideas on Etsy, but I am often struck how many of the things on there can just be made- you don't need to buy them! Sparkly branches? Glue, glitter, and a walk in the woods. Tissue paper flowers? Buy some bulk tissue paper and wire. Peg doll cake topper? Paint that business yourself. We made our escort cards from paint swatches- it doesn't have to be expensive to be memorable and fun.

 When you buy decor, you are paying for time and skill. Work ahead so you have the time, and you can self-assess which skills are within your wheelhouse. You can a little bit of money go a lot further this way! Only trick is to plan ahead!

4. Focal Points over Details- I have seen so many weddings where there were fussy centerpiece things at the table but nowhere to look in the room. Make a few spots really worth looking at and don't bother trying to make every corner beautiful. People will only remember a handful of things anyway.

5. Multi-task- Use your favors or cake or guests as decor. You have millions of choices dependent on your favor, but it's a nice way to have something do double duty. I went to a wedding last year where the cakes were the centerpieces, which saves tons of money on flowers, and you get more time with cake, so who can complain? Stepping out of the box even a little might help you figure out how to make what you are already paying for a key part of the room.

6. Everything Doesn't Have to Match Perfectly- Matchy matchy can be great if you are meticulous, but a little variation never hurt anyone. One of my best friends is very detail-oriented and got all the colors to match perfectly at her wedding. And it looked amazing, but it doesn't have to go that way. If you can find 40 free plates that look one way and 50 that look another, and they both fit, just use them both. It's more important to have a set sense of style than an overly particular matching set mentality. That sense of style and vision for the big picture is what will have the impact in the end.

7. And Please Don't Monogram your Napkins- Why. Why. Why. Why is this even still a thing? If you are doing the little cocktail napkins, by all means, get them in a color that resonates with your scheme (even better, get them recycled from a company like Susty). But why is this insta-garbage a good time to remind people whose wedding they are attending? No one has forgotten, and honestly, it is never all that classy. Put your money into other details, and then whatever you don't use can be for another couple or your dinner parties. Put the date on your favors, and skip the rest.

8. Get It Used- This is the most cost-effective AND eco-friendly thing you can do for your wedding decorations. So many wedding decorations become one time use things, and I hate to think of all the perfectly useful objects that get thrown out. But the bright side is you can find so much out there if you just know where to look and don't mind some browsing.

You can find great used decorations:

Newlyweds- We all know these big life events happen in waves. If you have friends getting married before you, check and see what you can get off their hands once they are hitched. We definitely gave decorations away to the Boy's beloved cousin, and our lights to the high school for dances. Your friends will have stuff they are happy to part with. Doesn't perfectly match? Get creative about what you can stretch to fit or change the color of and then offer the rest to others. After your hitched you can pay the favor forward!

On Buy Nothing- Have you joined your local Buy Nothing Project yet? I have seen it all on there- people offering their table runners to other asking for (and receiving) tons of glass vases for their center pieces. Check with your Buy Nothing and you could save 100's of dollars.

Goodwill and other Consignment Stores- Sometimes, this kind of shopping is a bust, but if you know what you need, you might find a steal. Also, lots of cities have craft consignment stores that might sell the ribbon or fabric you need as well.

Online Resale sites- Thank goodness for the internet, because you can now find everything you would ever want to decorate with used. Cheaper, convenient, and keeping things out of landfills? Amazing.

Ruffled is an absolute treasure, and you can find so many gorgeous things on their "Recycle your Wedding" pages. They have at least a thousand items, so it's a lot to go through, but you are sure to find something.  Make sure to check the price against the brand new cost, and don't be afraid to ask them to lower it a little (I mean, what else are they going to do with 100 extra mason jars?) Browse often, because things are going up all the time! You can find a steal on beautiful decorations.I may actually buy some things from them for a non-matrimonial party.

Tradesy- Tradesy started as wedding only, but they have had enough success to branch out. They have all kinds of wedding stuff, from bridesmaid dresses to wedding papers, but their decorations section is especially amazing and well-organized. They have 5,500+ items up right now! Easier to browse than most of the other sites as well. Be sure to join their mailing list so you get even more money off.

Wedding Recycle- This website also has lots of selection (about 3000 items) and they are connected to the Can't Buy me Love Project, where you donate wedding dresses that can be given away to brides who otherwise couldn't afford them. Pretty cool.

So you may be overwhelmed with the amount of money you have already spent nailing down the DJ and planning with the caterer. I don't blame you- weddings are expensive! But decorations is an area that with a little creativity, you can make huge impact with a little bit of money.

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Tips for Keeping a Family or Couple's Yearbook

One of my favorite parts of our anniversary is pulling out our photo books from previous years and reflecting on the year we have just had. I think we will always look at the one I made for our wedding on our wedding anniversary, but that whole week (our wedding anniversary is the 25th and our anniversary is the 29th), we pull out old books to reflect. A few weeks later, our new book will come in that orange shutterfly box  (I know other people use Blurb, but my Shutterfly loyalty currently runs pretty deep).

I started making us year books as an anniversary gift way back around year 4 of our relationship (I don't count it as a gift anymore, because it is as much for me as for the Boy). For me, these books are a huge part of maintaining our own little family culture and preserving our history in a way we can manage, much easier to navigate than the THOUSANDS of pictures I take every year.

 As I look at them lined up like that, it seems narcissistic, and honestly, maybe it is, but I think it will continue to transform as our immediate family grows, and I am glad the early years of our relationship are captured for us to remember. The books serve as a good reminder that the years or days don't always have to be the most exciting or eventful to be important to you. It just goes back to treating your life and your relationship like they are meaningful, and that attitude encourages more meaningful events. It's true!

I know people have the intention to do this kind of thing, but sometimes it can be hard to keep up with. After seven years of doing it, I have a few tips that may help:

-Take pictures! Not just with your phone! Though the convenience of camera phones certainly appeals, the problem is you end up with relatively low quality images that don't print that well. They drive me crazy when I have to use them for family calendars, because no matter how great they are, they have to be teeny tiny.

You don't have to have a massive camera, just keep a point and shoot with you when you go out and (maybe more important) out and available when you are home! It can be hard to make it part of your routine, but the more everyone gets on board with it, the more you will be glad you did.

-Steal other people's pictures of the memories you share with them- I have mostly stopped posting our personal pictures on facebook, but I still try to post our times with family in case family members want that picture as well. Stealing others pictures can give you a more full picture of holidays (and if you are like me, might be the only chance to prove you were actually there!) Repeat after me; Right click- Save Picture As- Put a Date as the title- Save.

- Organize your photographs (by Date and Subject) as you upload them- I don't have a good reputation for being organized (and rightly so) but I keep my photo archive meticulous. When I upload my pictures, I label them like this: "7-4-2014 Fourth of July" or "4-25-2014 Boring Week with Hats." Go through them right away and throw away anything that is blurry/ not great.

- Pick a start date that is meaningful to you. January is actually a tough place to start because you have just established a bunch of new goals plus not much is going on. December is an even more difficult time to finish, because life is crazy around the holidays (not to mention, if you are like me, you have a bunch of other photo gifts to make that time of year).

 I love using our anniversary as a start and end date. I love it even more as our family starts to expand, because I don't want to forget that our relationship was the start and should remain one of the centers of our family. If you have kids, you could also do it around the school year. Or start it at the beginning of every summer? Don't feel tied to the calendar year.

-Pick your photos at least once a month- I make a new folder "Year # Book", and I put my favorite pictures from each event, the ones I would want in our book, into that folder. Even if I don't make the actual pages until weeks or months after the event, it is so much simpler than trying to make those choices and upload at the same time.

-And while you are at it, just make the book as you go- I love Shutterfly because you can save your projects on their website and just keep coming back to it. This can be a big project, but I think it is better to think of it as a long commitment. You put a little bit of time in a couple of times over 12 months rather than trying to organize your whole life once a year. Plus, if you do it as you go, you don't have trouble remembering why you took that picture.

I usually dig in to making pages after big events. I usually do the majority of the fall before Thanksgiving, because I know I will have a lot more pictures to go through after the holidays, and I tackle all of that later in January when things calm down. Doing it all at once would be a daunting task, but if you start putting things together as you go, it becomes a half hour- hour commitment every so often instead. 

-Pick a style that feels good at the time- The choices you make, no matter what they are, will be fine as long as you are telling your story. As you go, you will come up with strategies you like, and your style will change a lot (for us, the pages are more complex, and the book is both bigger and longer than when we started)! The first book is from 2009, and the second is 2013, so you can see how much I have changed. I think my books are getting better, but not really that much better, just different. I can't imagine how many styles we will go though by 20 years or 50!

-If you love the picture, make it big! Even if you don't have tons of pictures, you can still fill up a book with a few key pictures. Christmas can be a 2 page spread, or it can take up 10 pages. It doesn't even have to be chronological! No one makes the rules but you. Shutterfly standard books are 20 pages long, but you can add up to 90 pages. I usually use almost all of them, but you should pace it however makes sense for you.

-Remember to capture everyday life too- I saw this great idea on someone else's blog. Crown one day a "regular day" and capture it from start to finish, so you can give a more clear picture of what life looked like when it wasn't a holiday or special event. It can be easy to forget that low key times matter too, but sometimes the best moments happen when life is a little more laid back!

-Write some text to explain what is going on, what was said, what the joke is- I see lots of these books on pinterest that look really design-y and cool, but I just think that you may be forfeiting more than you realize. You don't think you will forget now, but you will. Write the stories. I use three fonts- a 30-60 size fonts for headings, a 20-30 size font for sub-headings, and usually something around 12 for captions (because I figure our eyes will get worse). Shutterfly and other stores have pre-set styles if you want to just pick one and keep it simple. But trust me, you want text.

-Pick your favorite moments- One of my favorite pages is the very last one I make, where the Boy and I talk about our favorite moments from the year. We just started doing this since we got married. We list 10-12 times that were especially meaningful or fun, and I think it will bring a lot of joy in the future to go just through those pages.

- Enjoy it- This is a task that should be fun, so don't agonize over it. After all, I think it is so fun and exciting to reflect. It's a great exercise in gratitude!

- Wait for sales! If you are going to use Shutterfly, know that they put everything on sale OFTEN, so you don't have to order it the second you finish it. Keep an eye out for a good sale on photobooks AND extra pages (if you are like me and end up using a ton), and order it once you find a price you like.

I hope this helps you feel like this is a totally achievable goal! If you have any advice or questions for me, feel free to ask!

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Fourth Anniversary Inspiration- Fruit and Flower Inspiration and Fun

By your fourth anniversary, it sure can be easy to phone it in. Just head out to dinner and call it a day. I know we did that here way more than I would have liked, but we are also 9 months into a pregnancy, so I forgive us. Some years you just aren't going to nail it.

On the other hand, I think this anniversary (and it's fruity theme) actually lends itself to TONS of cool and fun ideas for activiities and decorations. You can do this one WELL, my friends. Do better than we did.

 Make this year a fun memory, not just a throwaway.

What to Do

The ideas on Pinterest for this anniversary are particularly lame. Basically, just fruit puns. I have nothing against fruit puns, but its no inside tent or leather den or really anything fun. But clearly, they have missed the boat here, because I think so many great ideas are waiting to happen!

1. Berry-picking- I know it sounds cheesy, but we have had the best time doing this. Living in Northern California, we could actually go pick strawberries right by the beach. Can you hear the sea lions when you look at this picture? Needless to say, it was cool. Lots of areas, rural and urban have picking farms nearby, and dependent on your anniversary date, you could do whatever is seasonal and available. Then go home and make something with it. It's an activity that is out of the ordinary, but it won't break the bank either.

2. Start a garden- Are you a late-spring/ early-summer couple? You got this. Plant something. Plant a bush or a tree in the anniversary's honor, and every year you can see how much it grows. Don't have a yard? Plant an herb garden you can use at home OR look and see if there is any planting that needs done in your neighborhood. You could even volunteer together for replanting somewhere or to work for a day in a community garden. It can be so fun to get your hands dirty, and isn't it always somehow better to do this kind of thing for someone else?

A good way to revise the flower/ fruit theme is "Growing." Your marriage isn't new anymore, but now we all know the secret that things don't stop growing just because they aren't saplings. Think about things that grow in your life and build your anniversary plans around keeping things growing.

3. Go to (or Make) Dinner Together- We went out for a fancy dinner this year, and when food is part of the theme, a dinner makes sense (otherwise, it can feel a little bit like the easiest possible answer).But I do think food in general makes sense, and if you have a fruit that especially resonates, you could pick it as a theme for food for the week!

Do a fun fruit salad. Or carve something out of fruit? I want to see some anniversary- themed watermelon sculptures!

I mean, come on. From Seasons of Joy

Maybe try a whole week of new recipes? Could you make a whole week of mango meals? Or try all the weird fruits in the grocery store you never go near? I think there is a fun adventure here waiting to happen. On that note...

What to Eat

This anniversary screams cake, so I am kind of freaking out that I haven't picked a cake (or its toppers yet). How do you pick when there are so many good options? Two years ago I made a lemon cake, and I will be honest with you, it wasn't that good. I obviously didn't pick the right thing. So this year I am looking for some fruity inspiration:

from Design Sponge

Pie! I love this anniversary pie from Design Sponge. So simple and chic, and it might be a good choice if you aren't a cake couple. I love this heart pie crust as well.

from Eat Spin Run Repeat

Fruit Cake. You can do an actual fruitcake for a Christmas anniversary, but how cool is this for summer anniversaries? I love Eat Spin Run Repeat's step by step tutorial, but you really could make an amazing cake with whatever fruit you like (or matches your wedding colors).

Just a Regular Old Amazing Cake. There is infinite pinteresty goodness around cakes with fruit. This is a goldmine, so you only have to find what idea fits you best. I had all sorts of ideas, and our cake was jank. I mean, really jank. Such a mess that I won't even put it up here, which I am never above doing. So let's look at other people's successes and ignore my 4th year failure:

from Baker by Nature

Baker by Nature has a recipe for a seriously beautiful lemon and blueberry cake. So nice, and it looks so pretty.

from Dagmar's Kitchen

This chocolate cake by Dagmar's Kitchen was the vision I had in my head when I thought about the cake. So pretty with the chocolate and the berries. Someday later I will make this cake. This one from Tastes Better from Scratch looks like a nice combination of the two.

from Plain Chicken

Lemon Sour Cream Pound Cake from Plain Chicken looks less fussy but still very pretty. Might be a good route if you don't have a ton of time.

Ok, these are my best fruit and flower ideas! What did you do for your 4th anniversary?

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