Green Wedding Experts Blog

Announcing Your Engagement Gracefully
Invitations
Tuesday, January 11, 2011 - 11:14

Engagement season is officially upon us and there are thousands of brides-to-be racing to their nearest laptop or iPhone to spread the news. If you’re sporting some new bling (or anticipating it’s pending arrival), congrats! But before you change your relationship status on Facebook (more on this later) read through these quick etiquette tips that will help you start this new season of life on the right track. 


+ Parents +

They gave you life, went to all of your dance concerts and co-signed on your first car loan. They’ve officially earned the “first to know” right. Traditionally the brides’ parents are told first then the grooms’. I think that tradition started when mail was still delivered on horse back and in today’s world of warp speed communication, I think this can be left up to your discretion. The most important thing to keep in mind here is that your parents need to hear the news from you directly, preferably in person or over the phone. Email or texting should be reserved for those whose parents are undercover CIA agents and you have no other means of communication.

+ Immediate Family & Close Friends +
Next in line are those who are related to you by blood and your best friends since kindergarten. How close you are to the people in this group geographically and emotionally should determine how you spread the news. If your sister who is also your bestie lives two miles away, you’ll likely stop over to show off your new rock. If she lives two time zones away Skype or Facetime might have to suffice. If you know your cousin will be hurt that he found out via Twitter, give him a call. Use your best judgement to decide how to tell all of these dear people, but always default to the most personal form of communication possible.

+ Everyone Else +
After your parents, family, college roommates and your husband-to-be’s fraternity brothers have all heard the news, you’re now free to tell the world. Most likely this will take the form of a mass email, your blog, Facebook, Twitter and whatever other forms of social networking you use. Until the birth of the internet, announcing your engagement through the local newspaper was a popular method of spreading the word. Today, this seems like an unnecessary, eco-un-friendly and costly step to take. Another option that is slightly more formal than a status update and much greener than a newspaper ad is an e-card. Pick a cute design, add a picture or two of you and the fiancé and viola. I like using pingg for these types of digital cards because they’re free and you can send it to contacts via email, Facebook, and Twitter. You can also consider more traditional mailed announcements made using eco-friendly materials and practices.

Paper Mango

(Note: For the fellow social media addicts in the crowd, consider this true story before plastering your wall with DIY wedding ideas. As my dear friend announced her engagement and planned her wedding she used Facebook to share her excitement with friends and family. She was tactful and not by any means over the top about it. A few weeks before the blessed event, a former co-worker of hers who had lived out of state for quite some time and hadn’t seen my friend for years, but was friends with her on Facebook, announced that she had made her travel and accommodation arrangements for the wedding. Problem was, she wasn’t invited. Difficult conversations followed and all ended amicably, but if you want to avoid awkward situations and wedding crashers, use this story as a filter before your step by step wedding day plans go public.)

Consider the juggling of your engagement announcement calendar a trial run for the insane amount of details you’ll be handling while planning your wedding over the next few months. Yes, it’s a lot to remember, yes some of it seems archaic and unnecessary, yes you’re bound to upset someone, and yes, there is no one “right way” for every couple. Make an effort to share your exciting news with the important people in your life first,  strive to use the most personal forms of communication possible, use tact and grace when talking with your single friends or those who you know might not be thrilled for you, and remember to occasionally take a deep breath and relish the moment for yourself.

 

Melanie

 

 

Bio:

Melanie Little is the owner and designer behind Paper Mango, where she creates affordable, fresh wedding invitations with an eco-friendly flair! She’s also a social media addict and you can find her tweeting away as @papermango.

Photo Credit: Jasmine Amber Photography

Tweedle Press: "Zero Paper Waste Weddings"
Invitations
Friday, September 17, 2010 - 10:07

When I got married almost 4 years ago, I wasn't exactly the "eco warrior" that I am today. Sure I sought out a park district venue, had all sorts of earthy decorations, and hand made my programs, menus, and place cards. I've always been woodsy and crafty. Having my invitations letterpress printed inspired me to learn the craft and start my own business, but it has taken several years of dedicated work to arrive at my current level of eco-insanity. Brides these days have far more resources to help them plan a green wedding (The Green Bride Guide is a great place to start), and far more vendors of all types are promoting green choices. More and more paper manufacturers are recognizing the importance of sustainability and are offering a wider variety of options, so just because your wedding paper products are eco-friendly doesn't have to mean they're drab or made of hemp. In fact, Tweedle Press can turn your own junk mail and scrap papers into beautiful, hand recycled and custom tinted papers for all your wedding goodies.

tweedle press invite

You may have read Amanda from Spilled Ink Press' blog entry a little while ago on how naming a "Recycling Ambassador" can help you make sure your wedding paper products don't get thrown in the regular trash. If you want to take the idea a little further, think about the idea of a "Zero Paper Waste Wedding." Commercial recycling (what happens when you throw paper into a blue bin) is great and your paper products should absolutely end up there eventually. However, a lot of energy and (sometimes) nasty chemicals get used by commercial paper recyclers to create new paper, so the best thing to do is get a few more uses out of your paper before turning it in. No, I'm not talking about writing your invitations on the back of store receipts. What you can do is collect your junk mail, office scrap papers, even old gift wrap, and hand it over to Tweedle Press for Personal Recycling. Not only do we poo-poo the use of chemicals, but we can tint your custom paper to your specifications, add floral elements, or even some symbolic shreds of a love letter from your old highschool boyfriend.

tweedle press paper shreds

Your new (old) paper can be used to print your invitations, programs, menus, place cards, and anything else you can think of. Then, after your handy Recycling Ambassador collects all the material after your wedding, you can bring it back to us again to be turned into Thank You cards for wedding gifts or personal stationery! Sending notes to the people on paper made from what the gifts were wrapped in? Now that's what I call Zero Paper Waste.

tweedle press thank you

While I'm obviously interested in the paper side of things, there are other aspects of your wedding that you can apply the Zero Waste idea to. Investigate having leftover food donated or composted, consider passing once used items like centerpieces along to other brides on CraigsList, plant trees in your guests' names instead of handing out souveniers. If I had it to do again, there are lots of things about my wedding that I'd reconsider. It was a perfect day in pretty much every way, but I know now that there was probably a lot of unnecessary waste that could have been prevented with a little thoughtful planning. These days I'm trying to make amends by inspiring couples I work with to think sustainably about their big day, and you can start by imagining new life for those takeout menus collecting dust in a drawer.

tweedle press paper

Tweedle Press, located in Chicago, uses earth-happy materials to create stylish, unique paper goods: a full-service design, papermaking, and letterpress print shop. Yay!

tweedle press logo

 

Nina Interlandi Bell

Beyond the Invitations: Don't Let Your Accessories Go To Waste
Invitations
Thursday, July 29, 2010 - 10:28

So you’ve received the responses back, have the menu figured out, the flowers on order, and the DJ loading up the playlist.  The details are falling into place!  “Day of” stationery needs are next on your to-do list.  But if taking a look at this step with your green goggles on, you may hesitate at the amount of “extra” paper today’s bride could possibly divulge in.  Just to start the list, you’ve got programs, place cards, menu cards, table numbers, favor tags… oh my!

church-wedding-program

Don’t fret, green bride.  Verify that your printed products are at the very least printed on 30% post-consumer waste paper.  This is the paper industry’s minimum to qualify for “recycled content” labels, so getting to 30% of the good recycled stuff shouldn’t be hard.  The next question should be, “Is the paper recyclable?” (because not all papers are). In any papers that are “shiny” and metallic, the shiny content must be made of organic materials in order to be recycled. You can’t stick the glossy, coated, or otherwise “sparkly” papers into ye old recycle bin.

name-cards-candles-wedding-reception

Ok, your paper is recycled, recyclable, and the next and final step is making sure you actually recycle it!  Now this may take some creative thinking.  How many weddings have you been to where, as you’re wiping your eyes and walking away from the ceremony, you look back and oh the horror!  Programs are strewn all about!  What do you think that wonderful church janitor is going to do with those?  (Hint: Compost them to the parish worm bin is NOT the answer.)  And the bride, of course, is thinking about other things.  Like, “Oh my god- I just got married, where’s the photographer, is my grandma doing ok, how’s my lipstick look?”  So put some time into the recycling thought process before the big day.  And the answer is… a Recycling Ambassador!  Ladies, let’s retire the useless “guest book attendant” role and start adopting the Recycling Ambassador.  Be bold (and a tad bit ironic, I might add) and put the title and credit right on the programs. Say it proud!

wedding-reception-table-cards-bridal-party

What is a Recycling Ambassador, you ask?  This person’s mission, shall they choose to accept, is to follow behind at each step of the ceremony and reception and gather up the paper products.  The programs are distributed, and then immediately following the ceremony scooped up.  Give them a decorated bin (most likely the same bin you brought them to the ceremony site in, no doubt) for depositing recyclables.  After the meal, the menus can be collected, and toward the end of the night, the table numbers, place cards, etc. etc.  At Spilled Ink Press, we always offer to take back the paper products from our clients and recycle them on their behalf. You know, so they can enjoy their honeymoon without recycling remorse. 

dinner-menu-wedding-reception

If your stationer hasn’t offered this service and you don’t want to worry about it yourself, make sure your Ambassador has access to a paper recycle program- perhaps your venue even has a receptacle in the building.  If this same person is going to the post-wedding brunch, where perhaps gifts will be opened and cards read- be sure those now disposed of envelopes and cards end up in the bin as well!  How many showers have you been to after all where the little wide-eyed ones circle around the bride on the floor and want nothing more than to snatch up the ribbons and wrapping paper and be the “helper” of the day. Imagine granting your niece--who was too old for the flower girl gig, but too young to be a bridesmaid--the “Recycle Maid” position!  Your wedding day will be that much more green, and your friends and family will be happy to fill this special role.  Done and done!

spilled-ink-press-logo

Written By Amanda Eich of Spilled Ink Press

Amanda Eich is half of Spilled Ink Press, a husband and wife team of former architects with green hearts that now design custom wedding invitations, party invitations, stationery of all kinds, and greeting cards.  It’s a long story that she’d be happy to tell you over a cup of coffee. Spilled Ink Press is located in Chicago, Illinois.

Photos By Gerber + Scarpelli Wedding Photography

Eco-Chic Engagement Announcements
Invitations
Tuesday, January 19, 2010 - 17:03

It's that time of year again! The holidays are over...so what am I talking about? Engagement season! Most guys (about 40%) propose from November through February, and that's good because once January hits, nothing else exciting is happening.
 
As a new bride-to-be, of course, you want to shout this news from the rooftops.

This is where an engagement announcement comes in (and changing your Facebook relationship status doesn't count!) There are a number of ways to make your news public: you can publish an announcement in your local newspaper or mail a printed card to your friends and family. But...really? Mailing a formal, paper engagement announcement often requires too much patience for someone used to sharing all news instantly and electronically. Recently, I have been receiving this type of information from friends in the form of an email or text which, while instantaneous, is neither chic nor seems to communicate the importance of my friends' news. How then does the modern bride announce her engagement with the style and importance it deserves, but the instant gratification she desires? Enter Paperless Post.
 
Paperless Post is an online stationer where a bride can design an engagement announcement (or a save the date or invitation, for that matter) that achieves the look, texture and experience of custom printed stationery - but can be delivered to her loved ones all around the world electronically. Not only are they eco-friendly and chic, but Paperless Post announcements also save time and money. For a busy bride-to-be, all of this essentially means that Paperless Post announcements are stress and hassle-free - they offer all the good qualities of paper, with all the good qualities of email. As an added bonus, recipients can reply instantly with private messages, wishing the happy couple well!
 
Keep in mind, there are a few rules of etiquette (because it's good to be aware of rules, then you can bend them to your liking).

Traditionally, someone other than the happy couple sends engagement announcements, usually the parents of the bride-to-be. These days, however, there are no hard and fast rules about that. Couples should choose to do what best reflects them. Additionally, for traditional announcements, the basic wording includes full names with the courtesy of professional titles, city and state of residence. Again however, as traditions relax, a less formal announcement conveying the sender's enthusiasm for the news can be appropriate to send to close friends and family.  Here are some examples:

formal blue engagement announcement

informal pink engagement announcement

red engagement announcement

 
Etiquette aside, this is your moment and you should announce it in a way that best expresses you and your fiancé. With Paperless Post you have the option to be green, chic and sophisticated.
 
I am so thrilled to be guest blogging on Green Bride Guide, so stay tuned for my upcoming posts covering the other types of wedding-related correspondence. This will include Save the Dates, invitations for bridal showers, bachelorette parties, rehearsal dinners and the wedding itself! And if you think you're off the hook after the big day, then think again. That's when it's time for thank you notes, and I'll be covering those too.

alexa_hirschfeld

Written by Alexa Hirschfeld, Co-founder of Paperless Post

Alexa Hirschfeld is co-founder of Paperless Post, an online stationer that offers digital Invitations, Save the Dates, and Announcements that achieve the look, texture adn experience of receiving custom-printed stationery...without the environmental damage. The company launched in April '09 and in only a few months, users have send over 1 million pieces of Paperless Post mail. The company seeks to redefine the tradition of stationary by combining the best of paper (aesthetics) with the best of email (efficiency in terms of cost, time and the environment.)