Eco-friendly invites rule this season
Gone is the day when wedding invitations took up the entire mailbox and weighed as much as a magazine.
“Couples are looking for things to be a little simpler, a little bit more handcrafted and reflecting a greener sensibility,” said Paul Rubenstein, owner since 1976 of Northwest D.C.’s The Written Word paper store.
The trend toward simplicity has been happening for the past few years, he said, and has only picked up as the economy has turned down.
“Five or seven years ago, we were doing some really, really elaborate invites,” he said. “The issue of the budget was the smallest issue.”
Now, though, couples are both budget-conscious and Earth-conscious. Reply envelopes have been replaced by reply postcards, and invites have become one-card affairs, instead of a card and tissue paper and another card inside yet one more gold-lined envelope.
“No one wants to look profligate,” Rubenstein said.
Traditional card stock has been replaced by recycled card stock, or by paper made from sustainable resources such as bamboo. And more couples are requesting vegetable-based inks instead of eco-unfriendly chemical concoctions. A simpler look, though, doesn’t need to mean a less classy — or even less expensive — outcome.
“What’s really trendy right now is the letter press,” said Tracy Belle, creative director at See Lola Run event planning. It’s generally less expensive than traditional engraving but still requires special machinery.
Quality paper, too, still commands a price. With designers like Vera Wang and Kate Spade in the paper game, traditional suppliers such as Crane have been boosting their offering of unique options.
“A lot of people are trying to match wedding colors and invitation colors — I’ve seen a lot of orange, navy, chocolate brown and olive,” Belle said.
And if the break from your mother’s bright white wedding invitation makes her see red, Belle said to step back and remember that yes, your wedding is all about you.
“Don’t try to please anyone but yourself and your fiance,” she said.
But under no circumstance should the personal invite be ditched altogether, even as simplicity rules the day, Belle said. “Evites aren’t even cool for a happy hour anymore.”
