get the word out
it’s so easy to get excited about greened invitations these days. no longer are you stuck in the petal/seed papers too thick to feed thru your printer at home. while these lovely papers do have their purpose, stylistically they ain’t for everyone. dynamic papers, inks & designs are all out there waiting for your inspiration. you can get beautifully detailed pre-made cards & envelopes at places like paper presentation and kate’s paperie.
local printers like rolling press can roll with any design you might have in mind. seriously, the possibilities are endless with papers like bamboo, hemp and too many to mention, other tree-free & recycled varieties. veggie-based inks are becoming more available and saavy printers know this is the future.
arthur’s invitations, just down the block from kate’s on 13th street, does in-house printing & handfinishes details like bows, rounded corners etc…seriously, you can walk in there anytime and see the ladies spread out at tables making pretties.
if you go the paper invite route, kinko’s has lots of recycled content papers including several from neenah. for office supply giant, staples, recycled paper is now standard for all of it’s black-n-white printing & copying. if you’re printing invitations from home, there’s no way around using crummy ink cartridges–the industry has not made the leap to sustainable inks for consumers, yet. this may change, but until it does just remember to recycle your empties and buy refilled cartridges. you can even donate them to help fund schools.
if you are a hardcore DIYer, break out the gocco and print them yourself! otherwise, rubber stamps are an awesome tool for your arsenal. get yourself a “logo” stamp for the party and stamp out invites, save the dates, thank you cards–you can customize anything really–even glass. most ink pads are non-toxic, but to be sure, follow this easy recipe for waterproof ink. if it’s for your wedding, consider having one made with your return address. you can use it on the envelopes and for “happily-ever-after.”
or check out the new evite competitor, pingg. while both are the greenest invite options you can have, pingg is wonderfully adaptable to your own unique style–be it a photo or something original you’ve designed. they’ve also sweetened up the kitty with hi-tech features allowing you to host event websites, integrate a registry, collect money (ticketing/donation), and (yes–there is more) using the “surroundsend” feature, they can text, email, facebook invites. they can even print and send thank-you notes for you the day after. whew!
