Invitations: Paper Choices

Now that you've seen all there is to see of our invitation suite, and you're probably sick of it, there is one last thing I want to talk about.

(Just in case you needed a refresher - photo sent to me by Kristin at Twin Ravens Press)

We were pretty set on using certain paper, and I think you'll be interested to hear about it. In case you've forgotten, here's the whole suite. The booklet almost contained one final page that would have read the following:

About these booklets

The interior pages of this wedding invitation booklet were letterpress printed on post-consumer recycled, cotton fiber blend paper that has been embedded with wildflower seeds that will grow almost anywhere. If you don't wish to retain this wedding invitation, simply moisten its pages and plant just under the surface of some soil in a sunny spot. Water regularly until seeds germinate and watch them grow!

This cover of this booklet and lining of the envelopes are made from handmade lotka paper imported from Nepal. This paper is made using centuries-old traditions with fibrous bark from the daphne cannabina shrub, which grows at high altitudes in the Himalayas. Because these papers are handmade and hand-dyed in Nepal, they are subject to slight variation in color and thickness, making each and every piece unique.

Not only was it important to us that these invitations be unique, but we tried to be eco-conscious. I don't think that everyone is going to plant our invitations, but if they throw them away, (they are not! they will save them forever!) they will at least be totally biodegradeable. (I do realize, of course, how much paper this used, but we tried where we could!)

Speaking of plantable invitations, remember our save the dates? Some people have planted them and they are really beginning to sprout! So exciting!

So that concludes the invitations saga. I am so enjoying getting the rsvps back - I especially love when people write little notes, or how a couple of people have actually used the drawing and colored it in or added their own flowers!

Did you try to make eco-friendly choices throughout your planning? Share your eco-conscious secrets!

Save the date!

About 8 months out from the wedding, we decided to order and send the save the dates. We had chosen a date and booked the venue, and we wanted to make sure that our guests marked it down on their calendars! I thought for sure that I wanted to send an adorable save the date magnet from VistaPrint like the one below:

(source)

I even went so far as to actually design and fill out the whole save the date. I was a day away from ordering. And then...I found Mrs. Bear Cub right here on Weddingbee and her amazing invitations. I just fell in love with the sustainability and the creativity that she used on her invitations. Her inspiration was very similar to the vision that I had in mind for my own invitations, so I checked out Twin Ravens Press to see what they had going on. And I fell in love. I called Kristin and thus began an epic journey of creating custom letterpress save the dates and invitations!

Save the dates were up first. I knew I wanted to use plantable seeded paper, but I wanted to keep them simple and straightforward, since the invitation was going to be much more elaborate. Here is what we came up with:

You can see more pictures and a blog post over at Twin Ravens Press

The paper is wonderfully textured with the seeds, and the letterpress printing. The colors came out great, and everyone loved the tiny picture of us.

I included a little note with them that explained that the paper was embedded with seeds, and all you need to do it lay it under a bit of soil, water, and watch it grow. Many of our guests have already done this and told me that they are sprouting. A word of advice: you may want to suggest that you guests plant it after they receive your invitation (as was our intention). Many of family members were so excited by the idea that they planted it right away and then had to call my mom and ask for the date...oy!

Coming soon - invitations! Kristin and I went back and forth for months to create a unique (and totally inspired by Mrs. Bear Cub) invitation that I cannot wait to show you!

Did you make save the dates? Did they come out the way you originally planned?