Eco-Friendly Wedding Invitations: Going Green with Style
As a Greensboro wedding planner with a passion for creating beautifully curated and sustainable weddings, I know firsthand that eco-friendly wedding invitations are important. My goal is to help couples plan meaningful, stress-free celebrations while incorporating intentional details that align with their values. Sustainability is an important part of what I do, and I love working with like-minded vendors who share that commitment.
I loved recently collaborating with Elyse of E Stokes Creations for a recent Wish Upon a Wedding event! Elyse is a wedding artist who brings couples’ visions to life through custom wedding stationery and live wedding painting. She has been creating stunning, thoughtful wedding designs since 2018, and I love her creativity, attention to detail, and ability to make each piece feel so personal.
I’m thrilled to have Elyse here as a guest blogger to share her expertise on eco-friendly wedding invitations. If you’re looking for ways to incorporate sustainability into your wedding while keeping everything stylish and unique, you’re in for a treat. Take it away, Elyse!
Why are eco-friendly wedding invitations important? Well, while weddings are so incredibly exciting, they can also create a lot of waste. Many things are used once and thrown away. One way to make your wedding more earth-friendly is by choosing sustainable wedding invitations. But don’t worry—being eco-friendly doesn’t mean your invitations have to be boring!
I would love to discuss with you all of the beautiful and stylish ways to have wedding invitations that are better for the planet. In this guide, I plan to show you different materials, designs, and ideas that help reduce waste while still looking amazing! Consider this your one-stop-shop to making sure that your invites align with your principles, and allow me to be your tour guide!
Allow me a moment to introduce myself!
Surprise! Today you actually aren’t hearing from Katie!
I'm Elyse, the wedding artist behind E Stokes Creations.
Since 2018, I've been helping couples bring their wedding visions to life with custom wedding stationery and live wedding paintings. My absolute passion is crafting beautiful and intentional designs that help reflect each couple's unique love story.
I’m so excited to collaborate with Katie from K.S. Otter Events on this blog post! Katie and I recently had the privilege of working together on a Wish Upon a Wedding event, where we provided a dream wedding for a couple facing serious illness. You can read more about that heartwarming experience here. This collaboration reinforced our shared belief that thoughtful planning and intentional design can make such a big impact.
Now, let's talk about how you can make eco-friendly wedding invitations that are stylish, unique, and better for the planet!
So… What Makes a Wedding Invitation Eco-Friendly?
Let’s start by getting one thing clear. Not all paper is the same! As a wedding stationer, I know that there are so many different styles of paper - there are different textures, weights, even getting as nitty-gritty as the grain of the paper. It’s a lot to take into consideration when you’re wanting to invest in more unique wedding invitations than the standard run-of-the-mill options.
So, if you’re looking for eco-friendly wedding invitations, here are a feature features and ideas to look into:
✅ Recycled or tree-free paper – Paper made from old paper, cotton, wood, or bamboo instead of cutting down new trees.
✅ Digital or hybrid invitations – Sending invitations online or using a mix of digital and paper options helps to reduce waste.
✅ Using less paper – Simple designs that don’t use extra paper help cut down waste.
✅ Biodegradable materials – Inquire about having invitations that can be planted and to become flowers or herbs!
✅ Sustainable printing methods – Some printers use less energy or plant trees to balance their impact on the environment.
I know, I know. Lots of options and words that maybe you aren’t quite familiar with. But never fear, I’m here to hold your hand and walk you through exactly what I’m talking about. And if you have more questions, you can always feel free to reach out to me to get more information about these more sustainable options directly!
Best Eco-Friendly Papers & Printing Methods
So, we have some general ideas about the various options to make your wedding invitations more sustainable, so now let’s dive head first and get our hands dirty (perhaps with the soil we are planting your invites into after the wedding 😉)
The kind of paper and printing you choose can make a big difference in how eco-friendly your invitations are. Here are some great choices:
Recycled paper is paper is made from old paper instead of cutting down new trees. It comes in many colors and textures, and can be digitally printed on or used for services like letterpress or embossing. Pretty straightforward, right? If you’re interested in a cost-effective option while promoting sustainability, this is probably the first recommendation I would encourage you to discuss with your wedding stationer or planner! This is a super easy option and most stationers will either already be equipped to provide this paper, or can very easily source it on your behalf!
One of my personal favorite options is handmade paper. Some small businesses and stationers can actually create beautiful handmade paper from recycled scraps. It has a unique and artistic feel, full of texture and usually has raw, organic edges. It feels a bit more weighty than standard wedding paper, and you can feel the luxury and intentionality of the piece. While this will be more of an investment than simply recycled paper, this is an extra touch that gears into luxury and will definitely leave a major impression on your wedding guests. The other cool thing about handmade paper? You can get your stationer to create matching handmade envelopes. Like… An actual dream.
Seed paper is probably going to be fairly self explanatory. This type of paper has tiny seeds embedded inside! This is another really incredible and intentional way to really highlight your passion for sustainability. By including a small note on one of your cards with instructions, your guests can plant the invitation straight into some soil and grow flowers or herbs instead of throwing it away. I want to grab some gardening tools just thinking about it!
Cotton and bamboo paper is another sustainable option. Made from plants instead of trees, these papers are soft, sturdy, and feel fancy! This will feel somewhat similar to the handmade paper, and is another incredible investment style.
💡 Tip: Ask your wedding stationer (the person making your invitations) if they have eco-friendly materials and printing options! If there’s a particular option above that really spoke to you, inquire about it and see what ways your stationer can make those dreams a reality!
Creative & Sustainable Invitation Ideas
Now you know which paper/printing method you’re most drawn to and you’re ready to figure out how to make the actual design of your invitation both unique and eco-friendly. Let’s chat through some different ideas that could really set your wedding invitations apart while also maintaining sustainability!
One of the easiest ways to create sustainability within your wedding invites is by opting for an all-in-one design. To do this, discuss with your stationer about having a gatefold invitation card instead of having several inserts within your suite. This way, the invite will be printed on a single piece of paper and folded intentionally so that your information is all easy to access. Some invitations fold up into their own envelope, which means we can further decrease waste! And—you guessed it! This is something to chat with your stationery designer about to make this dream a total reality!
Another idea that is actually becoming increasingly popular with my wedding stationer clients is using a QR Code for RSVPs. Instead of sending a separate RSVP card and envelope, simply add a QR code to your details card that links guests directly to your wedding website. It’s not only super convenient for your guests, but it completely eliminates extra paper and envelopes, as well as omitting the need for your RSVP envelopes to be mailed back through USPS, cutting down on fuel consumption, emissions, and the overall environmental impact of postal processing. Win-win-win!
You could also opt for eco-friendly envelope options! Look for envelopes made from recycled paper or biodegradable materials. Here’s another plug for those gorgeous hand-made envelopes I mentioned earlier! Envelopes like these are an incredible way to create an eye-catching experience for your guests from the moment they even open up their mailboxes!
Some invitations can be designed to be kept as keepsakes, like ones that double as art prints. This is one of my personal favorite ways to personalize my clients’ wedding invitations. My entire goal when working with my clients is that they send out such uniquely beautiful invites, their weddings are completely set apart from normal and basic weddings (let’s be honest, we all know what I’m talking about here), but that guests actually want to keep the invites they receive even beyond the wedding! One way I make that happen is by creating full art watercolor portraits on the back of the cards. It could be a venue illustration or a pet portrait, or a watercolor painting for your wedding flowers. But those could easily be used as a keepsake and celebration of your wedding, doubling as intentional and meaningful home decor.
Fully Digital & Hybrid Invitations
If you want to reduce paper waste but still love the idea of printed invitations, here are some… let’s call them hybrid options:
Perhaps you want to send out e-invites to your guests, but you still want a physical keepsake for yourself and your family or close friends. This is absolutely an option! You could work with a wedding stationer to create the full design of your cards and help you set everything up to be emailed to your guests in a beautiful, interactive email. Then, because you didn’t just do everything online solo, your stationer will also have access to the high-quality files (not just a screenshot that’s going to be super pixelated and blurry. No thank you, we don’t want that as a keepsake) and can professionally print a few invitations just for you. These can be mailed in a package to protect them from getting dirty or bent through postal service, and then you can cherish your invites for a lifetime!
Another option could be to have a single card that you mail out, like a formal invitation only with a QR code on the back to invite your guests to view the other details and to RSVP online. Again, less paper = less waste! You could also have a QR code that links to a personalized video that you and your fiancé record to give your guests special info or a fun greeting and to share excitement about your wedding. (Maybe that video could also be put on your website! TBH, that would be sooo cute!)
Finally, you could always inquire with your stationer about whether they offer eco-friendly wedding invitation printing services. Some companies plant a tree for every order or use recycled packaging! See what your stationer does or could do to help make a sustainable choice for your wedding invites!
Where to Get Eco-Friendly Wedding Invitations
This is where custom wedding stationers like me can help!
Big companies often mass-produce invitations without thinking about the environment. If you work with a custom stationer, you can get invitations that are beautiful, high-quality, and sustainable.
💡 Tips for Finding an Eco-Friendly Stationer:
Chat with your wedding planner! Wedding planners like Katie can give you tons of helpful information and resources when it comes to sustainability!
Ask about materials: Do they use recycled or tree-free paper?
Talk about budget: Handmade paper may cost more, but there are affordable eco-friendly options too!
Consider digital elements: Do they offer QR codes or wedding websites to reduce paper use?
Look for sustainability programs: Like I mentioned earlier, some businesses donate to environmental causes or use eco-friendly packaging!
Conclusion: Your Small Choices Make a Big Difference
Your wedding invitations are the first impression of your big day, so why not make them beautiful AND kind to the earth? Whether you go fully digital, use recycled paper, or add small eco-friendly details, every little choice makes an impact!
If you want invitations that match your wedding style while protecting the planet, I would be absolutely honored to work together to create something special!
Thank you so much for having me as a guest blogger! I’ve loved sharing ideas and insight about sustainable wedding invitation options with you! If you’re curious about where you can find me in the future, feel free to head over to estokescreations.com to learn more about me and my services for custom wedding invitations or live wedding painting (because yeahhhhh I travel and I love working with couples in person on their big day just as much as I love creating invites)!
Or feel free to follow along over on Instagram! Feel free to shoot me a DM and let me know what you’re going to do for your wedding invites! I would love to hear! 🥳
Until next time,
Elyse
Elyse has shared some incredible ideas for making your wedding invitations more sustainable without compromising on style. Every little choice you make—from the type of paper to how you RSVP—can have a positive impact on the environment while also adding a meaningful touch to your wedding.
If you’re a couple who values intentional design and sustainability, we would love to work with you! When you book with both me and Elyse, you’ll get to choose between 100 free customized thank-you notes or custom stickers for your wedding favors as a special gift from us.
Let’s create something beautiful, personal, and sustainable together! Reach out today to start planning your dream wedding.
