Wedding Blog
When it comes to planning your wedding, a lot of women tend to have some driving ideal behind the details - be it money (the lack or abundance thereof), crafting, traditions, etc.
While there are definitely several factors I keep in mind in planning our wedding, the one I think of the most often has been the environmental impact.
Obviously “being green” is becoming more and more a popular aspect of wedding planning (frogs are such trend-setters, eh Kermie?). It seems to me, however, that one’s wedding gets the Green Stamp of Approval if you do anything that’s considered environmental - get local flowers, carpool, throw money at carbon offsets, etc. And with that Green Stamp of Approval we can all rest easy that our wedding didn’t have too negative an impact on the environment.
The fact of the matter is that no matter what, your wedding will negatively impact the environment. You can’t get around it. Maybe a little less than others, but it will have an impact.
You might be thinking now, ‘Well, hey! But you live in South America! And your wedding’s going to be in Oregon! Isn’t that a little hypocritical?’
Well - I guess. I don’t know.
We figured it would be the lesser of two evils if the two of us flew to Oregon as opposed to if all our families flew down to Chile (plus, Oregon’s rad).
One of the things I absolutely wanted to include in our wedding was biodegradable seed-paper for our invitations. The thought of all those beautiful letterpressed wedding invitations in the world being jettisoned into the trash can makes me really depressed. The artists, whose work is going to the dump! The trees, whose fleeting life turned into beautiful, beautiful letter pressed cardstock, only to be tossed with the junk mail!
Don’t get me wrong - I really really like the paper arts. I just figure, why not have your cake and eat it, too? Have your letterpressed invites! I’d just prefer if mine could turn into wildflowers at the dump.
So this is great and all (yay environment, right?), but there’s another little issue about being an expat: customs.
The government of Chile is incredibly strict about not letting biological objects (including seeds) into the country. I’m serious - when we moved here, they sifted through our spice rack and threw out our mustard seeds.
If, by some miracle, I could get seed-paper (or at least recycled paper) here, how could I be sure that my seed-infested invites would make it through US customs? I can’t.
I’ve wanted so badly to just make the invitations myself. If I were living in Oregon right now, I’d buy the flippin’ seed-paper, print everything out on my computer at home, and hand-press wildflowers onto each invitation with books. Simple, cost-effective, and enviro-friendly.
But not realistic - at least not from Chile.
So Mr. Cubbie and I decided to think outside the box. We looked into having local artists design our invitations. After all, we’d be supporting the developing economy (and our neighbors!) and would get personalized invitations, to boot!
I went to look at the sample invitation this week, and it is pretty…
pretty, pretty poppies
… but they can’t find any papel artesanal (seed-paper/handmade paper). Nowhere! And they are the artists in town!
Suffice it to say, I’m pretty bummed. I feel like my hands are tied! I’d love to think that our guests, upon receiving these hand-made invitations, will treasure them forever, but I know that’s just not going to happen. I know they’re going to go in the trash (after a few months of honor on the fridge, perhaps), and then they’ll die at the dump. I’m seriously considering just having someone in the States make our invitations - then at least it could be on biodegradable paper.
Do you think I should bite the bullet and have our invitations made in the States? If the environment has been a factor in your planning process, what steps have you taken to lessen the impact of your wedding?
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Share this post: My Hands Are Tied…
Since the environmental impact is so important to you, I would just hire someone in the States to do them for you on the paper you want. It seems that you already have a good handle on what they could look like so with some good photos you wouldn’t even need to hold one before sending them out! good luck!
I agree with rhodegirl. I would just order something up in the states- and use your parents address to help you out, if you really want seeded paper.
It seems like it would be a nice touch though if you helped the local economy in Chile by purchasing a unique wedding invite from a local artisan. And I bet your guests would enjoy the significance as well?
I remember a post (I would NOT know where to find it though) where a simple hand written invite which was personable and lovely was shown. Maybe you can make the paper yourself in Chile and send it out in an envelope?
There are lots of other ways to incorporate the seeded paper in the wedding without it being in the invitation. Like for the programs, the guests assignment seat cards… or even the thank you cards.
Don’t focus on the challenge. Now you have to think outside of the box which might lead to something interesting & meaningful too.
I think, if it means that much to you, which is does, obviously, you should comission them in the states..maybe via etsy? Maybe you could still support the local economy and use the handmade cards for something else wedidng related — so you can pack them and take them with you?
Commission them in the States, and have your family mail them from there. Less chance of having the invitations lost in the mail, besides!
You could also make the paper yourself. Tutorials are easy to come by on the web! Then you could give it to your local artisan to use for the invites.
Support your local economy! Their artwork is beautiful and it will be so special to have them handmade in Chile.
I think you should try to have them made in the states. Just find someone you trust to have LOTS of communication with so that you remain somewhat in control of the design and final product. Not only can you have your invites created on wonderful seeded paper but they will have a smaller carbon footprint. Flying invitations from Chile to various places in the United States is costly for the environment. Having them driven (or even flown) from someplace in the U.S. to another place in the U.S. (preferably driven from within the same city) takes a smaller toll on the ozone.
I can see why you’re having a tough time deciding :-/ I really wanted the use the seed paper as well, but I also wanted to employ a friend and give him something for his portfolio. In the end, the seed paper was too pricey so I’m trying to use paper w/ a high post consumer recycled content.
“The fact of the matter is that no matter what, your wedding will negatively impact the environment. You can’t get around it. Maybe a little less than others, but it will have an impact.”
I love this paragraph. I like to think of myself as an enviro-realist, which I define as doing my best for the environment but not getting caught up in the hype or swallowing everything that is popular wisdom (like I have heard things from friends who own a family paper company that often paper recycling has more of an impact on the environment than making new paper.. huh.). Thank you for your realism — everything we do has an impact, it’s just up to us to be responsible and not stress out over keeping carbon completely zero-sum (no offense to those who are into it, but I always thought offsetting one’s footprint was a little like environmental bulimia. :))
As to your invites, I would say go American — if you commission with an Etsy seller or something like that you’re still supporting small business and as mentioned before, the invites will have a lot less far to travel, cutting down on their impact. It sucks to not be able to do them yourself, but coming from someone who DIYed her invites, HOLY COW is it a headache. I think you’ll win back in time, sanity, and “green points” what you spend in the emotional loss of giving up first-hand involvement in making them. Good luck!
How about the fact that paper is recyclable by standard curbside recycling in most of the states? You could print a little reminder on the back or the bottom of the invitation saying “please remember to recycle your invitation” or something like that… then at least they wouldn’t all end up in a landfill, right?
If you like the ones made by your artist friends, then I say have them made in Chile where you will support your neighbors and the developing economy where you live. You can cut down on the amount of paper you use by having your directions and even RSVP online.
If you have them done in the states there is the added bonus that they have less distance to travel to the invitees!
I love seed paper… such a fun idea!
I always just remind myself that anything I do can never even start, in the tiniest way, to counteract the pollution explosion that is currently happening (and will continue to happen) in India and China. But maybe you could drive or take a boat instead of flying to your wedding.
Or better yet, why send paper invites at all? The transportation of those invites all over the country — major carbon footprint. Send an email!!!
@chicagowife: that’s an interesting idea of driving or boating to north america, but we don’t have enough vacation time to do that.
I do like your poppies. I tried to reduce the overall “stuff” at my wedding, like centerpieces and disposable dishes, but I just bit the bullet with the invitations. I figured it’s almost necessary to do them on paper… even if it’s basically trash.
On that note, I also wonder what happened to the stamps on the reply envelopes from the people who never replied by mail? Did they use it — tape it on another envelope? Or was that trashed too?
@December: My two cents on offsetting is this, no matter how much a person can reduce their impact, the vast majority of people will still be emitting carbon. Such a high percentage of one’s carbon emissions come from the products they purchase, not just their transportation. That’s why I personally feel it’s important to reduce as much as you can and offset what you can’t. It’s not to say, stay the course, pollute away, then offset - that would be “environmental bulimia”. I think carbon offsets are a positive piece of solving the climate change problem, and one of the few things we can do now to make a difference - though, if i could I’d be all over some public transportation or a plug in hyrbrid electric car.
@Miss Bear Cub: It seems like it would be easier to commission them via etsy. Is there a large price difference?
@Miss D’orsay: actually, yes!! WAY cheaper to do it in the states. (hence my drool-worthy paper inspiration post yesterday…)
It’s so great that you’re being environmentally conscious about your wedding! I would say, though, that the good you would do by supporting local artists in Chile would outweigh the bad done by the extra paper in landfills. Also, have you looked for recycled paper in Chile yet? That would mitigate the damage somewhat. Or if someone who lives in a place where they can get non-seeded biodegradable paper is coming to visit soon, perhaps they can bring paper with them. Or you could somehow figure out a way to make your invitations double as something so they won’t end up in the trash (for example, perhaps you could request that your guests write something on the back and bring them to the reception, like an alternative guest book).
I really don’t think it matters what kind of paper you use. I would hope that your guests would recycle the invitations instead of throwing them in the trash can. That is still being green friendly– recycling.
Support the Chilean artists!!!
Hi There — I felt very strongly about eco-friendly, socially conscious paper items. A friend recommended Woman Craft (a non-profit in Chicago). I did everything over the phone for handmade, plantable card-like invites (you can see the final product on our blog kenandanna.blogspot.com). They were also $2.10 an invite (not counting envelopes, postage, response cards (we made them on vistaprint.com), etc.).
I encourage you to check them out womancraft.net
Good luck!
@Annalisa: Thanks for the tip! That paper is beautiful!!
[...] mentioned how we’re trying to cut down on paper usage for our wedding by including the use of plantable paper. Another major source of needless paper [...]
I would go with the local option. I really wanted seed paper as well, but then got to thinking about how invasive some of the species of plant embedded in the paper can be, and decided on 100% recycled paper from a local printer instead.
Good luck with the decision!
[...] only problem is that now I live in Chile, and as we already know, there’s not a whole lot in the way of crafting supplies here. No Goccos, no PaperSource, no [...]
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Mrs. Cub, Chile/Portland
Age and Occupation: 26, Astronomer
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 28, Astronomer
Engagement Date: May 10, 2008
Wedding Date: September 2009
Venue: Westwind YWCA camp
About Me: I'm a small-town girl who's making a living in Chile, with her heart in the Pacific Northwest. I grew up in Southern California, went to high school in Texas, grad school in New Mexico, and now I can't wait to settle down in Oregon! I love pears, hazelnuts,
knitting, traveling, running, baking, and long talks on the phone with
good friends. I'm planning my Oregon coast summer camp wedding while
abroad with my best friend - I'm always at home when I'm with him!
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