Weddingbee Blog

Choosing our wedding invitations was a really difficult task. I wanted something that was eco-friendly, simple and affordable. To me, eco-friendly meant finding an invitation that was made of recycled or tree-free paper, used soy ink and was produced by a small business (or some combination of the three).

Here are some beautiful, earth friendly invites:

Sylvan by Bella Figura

Invitation + Envelope = $570 for 50
Reply Postcard = $330 for 50
Total: $900 ($18 each)

From their website:

“Bella Figura is a passionate artisan letterpress shop based in Central New York. We print the old-fashioned way, using antique cast-iron letterpresses, the best paper, time, patience, perfection, and a whole lot of love. Because we want to make the world a better place, we’re a wind-powered, carbon neutral print shop, and we donate 1% of sales to environmental causes. We print only on 100% cotton (tree-free) paper that’s made exclusively for us in a historic European paper mill.”

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Alcazar by Earthly Affairs
Invite w/envelope: $2.48
Response Card w/envelope: $1.78
$213 for 50 ($4.26 each)

Click here to read more about Earthly Affairs’ environmental commitment.

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Botanical Paperworks

Monogram Seed Wedding Invitations: $4.65 each each
Monogram Reply Cards: $1.45 each
Total: $305 for 50 ($6.10 each)

“The base fiber is cotton or 100% post-consumer waste. And the paper is made with pure North American wildflower seeds by skilled papermakers paid a living wage in Winnipeg, Manitoba.”

I found many beautiful eco-friendly invitations and I found a lot of affordable invitations but it was more difficult to find both eco-friendly and affordable invites.

I had designated a very small portion of our budget to invitations and stationery because I wanted to spend more money on day-of elements like food and flowers. Our solution? DIY! Neither I nor Mr. Pinot Noir are very creative or artsy so we needed to stick to something simple.

Then I discovered Invitesite! This California-based company makes invites with tree-free paper or 100% post consumer papers. They have a large selection of save-the-dates, invitations, programs and thank you cards. The best part about Invitesite is that you can print and assemble your own invitations (thus saving money) or they will do the work for you!

I learned a lot about paper while reading their site. They include an interesting segment on ‘A Very Brief History of Paper.’ Did you know that paper wasn’t made out of wood pulp until 1872? Before then, paper was made of pulp from products like cotton rags & agricultural waste. They also have a great explanation of what makes their paper ‘eco’ paper:

“The more we can all use 100% post consumer recycled paper, the more giant paper mills will make it. Right now, about 55% of paper still goes to landfill. Much of the remaining reclaimed fiber gets shipped to other countries. One of the tasks at hand is to make markets for post consumer recycled paper. Right now, it is an extremely tiny market segment.”

Okay, after that brief history lesson, let’s get back to the invitations. We narrowed down the choices to two options from Invitesite:

Orla

50 - 99 invitation sets: $3 each
Add $0.50 for RSVP set

- OR -

Angelica

50 - 99 invitation sets: $2.25 each
Add $0.50 for RSVP set

I will reveal which invitation we picked in the next post!

What’s your favorite source for eco-friendly wedding related products?