How to Word Wedding Invitations For Non-Traditional Families

If you want to put your own personal stamp on your wedding invitations but want your invitations to be eco-friendly, read on for some great DIY ideas.

Eco-Friendly Materials

The most obvious way to make your wedding invitations eco-friendly is by using recycled paper. There are many reasons to go this route, including the fact that recycled paper has greatly improved in durability and quality. When one ton of 100 percent recycled paper is used, it saves 7,000 gallons of water and enough energy to power an average home for six months. It also saves about 17 trees from being cut down to make paper. When choosing recycled paper, try to buy paper that has 100 percent PCC (Post Consumer Content), meaning it’s made from all recycled material. The paper should also be PCF, or Processed Chlorine Free, meaning harmful bleach wasn’t used to produce the paper.

Seeded paper is the latest trend in eco-friendly paper products and makes unique wedding invitations that guests will love. Instead of throwing away your wedding invitation, guests can plant it and get wildflowers like snap dragon and poppy. Seeded paper is handmade and contains a mix of wildflower seeds. Pressure is carefully controlled during production to help guarantee seed germination. Once you’re ready to plant, simply plant the wedding invitation directly into a pot or in a sunny spot in your garden, keep soil moist, and watch wildflowers grow.

Finally, you can purchase tree-free paper, which is made without using wood. Tree-free paper, according to the U.N., now accounts for one third of paper produced in developing countries. Plants like the African kenaf, hemp, flax and cotton are all used to make this paper. Crop leftovers like rice and banana stalk fibers, as well as cotton rags, are also used.

DIY Wedding Invitation Ideas

All of the above mentioned types of paper come in a wide variety of colors and textures, are compatible with most printing techniques (including ink jet and laser), and are durable enough to become wedding invitations. Once you choose which type of eco-friendly paper you want to use, you’ll need a simple yet attractive invitation design.

Even though you’re using eco-friendly materials, using a simple design on a single panel is your “greenest” option since it uses the least amount of paper. You can choose a 5 by 8 inch rectangle or a 5 by 5 square, for example. These shapes can be modern or traditional, casual or formal, based upon what your wedding requires.

You could easily glue a dried flower or several onto your invitation, creating a central embellishment at the top or a border. You could even incorporate a sepia or black and white photo into your invitation for a casual wedding. Either print your wording directly onto the paper or print onto a piece of vellum. If you choose to print on vellum for a layered look, consider using your dried flower embellishment to attach the vellum, or consider a wax stamp containing your monogram.