Tuesday, September 14, 2010

How We're Doing It - The Paper


In a perfect world, we would have been able to harvest previously used paper for our invitations, programs, and thank you cards. In reality (especially with full time jobs and grad school) that just wasn't going to happen. Not to be dissuaded, we found what we considered the next best thing - both aesthetically and ethically: Greengrocer brown bag paper from Paperworks. It has the rustic, recycled, and familiar look of brown paper bags and, as the website illustrates, "Of course its 100% recycled."

To save money and use the resources we already had, we created our invitations using this brown paper bag paper, burlap (store-bought - but boy oh boy did we try everything we could to get previously used burlap bags from coffee roasters throughout the Chicago area. We even found one store that had a surplus...but wanted $20 per bag. Um, no.), ribbon, and wax seals. We knew we could save money by designing, printing, and hand-addressing the invitations themselves, but we also chose to make the invitations  so they could feel really personal. No two invitations are the same, and we got to have a lot a of fun coming up with the design.

Another way we saved paper was by forgoing the traditional RSVP card and asking our guests to RSVP to an email address. We set up an email account for all things wedding, and asked that they respond electronically. Obviously, this saves on postage too. :)

We plan on using the rest of the burlap for decorations, as well as repurposing it along with the left-over paper for the programs/menus, thank you cards, and favors (more on that after the wedding).

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