The Perks of Paperless Invitations and Which Websites to Use
Source: Paperless Post
From save the dates to wedding invitations and everything in between, the rather important stationery section of wedding planning can quickly add up. This, paired with how far invitations have come digitally, is why so many couples are now going paperless.
However if you’re not quite ready to part ways with the paper form – which we do love too – why not consider doing a combination of the two? Whether it be sending the save the dates digitally and the invites physically, or picking and choosing who would really appreciate a paper version, paperless invitation websites offer you the opportunity to really tailor the process to you.
If you still need some more convincing, here’s just some of the reasons why paperless invites are worth embracing.
Number one: It makes the RSVP process so much easier
When your guests receive paper copies, they’ll often be pinned somewhere nice in their house and quickly become part of the furniture. Whilst this is great to know they cherish your invitation dearly, it often means the process of RSVP-ing becomes forgotten about. In fact, whilst I write this, I realise I have done exactly the same thing myself… sorry Matt and Sarah! By sending your invitations digitally, it means you take away that hurdle and guests are far more likely to RSVP when the invitation pops into their inbox.
From your side, you’ll have an easy to use digital log of who can and can’t come and those people who may need a little friendly nudge. The paperless platforms can even send automated emails after a certain period of time to those who haven’t replied to shimmy them along.
Number two: Less stress and more time saved
If you find wedding planning a bit of a slog or are very limited on time outside of work, then paperless invites are likely to be the perfect solution for you. Most paperless invitation websites give you the ability to pick a beautiful suite of stationery, from save the dates right through to physically printed table cards and menus, so once you’ve picked your design of choice, you should find all the steps that follow pretty easy. Plus, you can get right to it there and then rather than picking the design, waiting for them to arrive and then organising posting them out or hand delivering them to friends.
Number three: The design options are vast and often have designer collaborations
Companies such as Paperless Post often collaborate with designers, independent artists and notable people, so if there’s an aesthetic you’ve seen on Instagram and loved, you’ll be able to embrace this through your stationery for a fraction of the price. You may even find the design you end up choosing can influence the rest of your wedding styling too, and is the ideal way to set the tone for the day itself.
Number four: It’s a lot more affordable than paper invitations
For example, a very pretty invitation design on Paperless Post can be sent to 100 of your guests for around £30. If you compare this to the general rule of thumb that you should put aside 5% of your wedding budget for physical wedding stationery, and you’re having a £30k wedding, that’s £1,500 with around £100 of that being spent on stamps alone. Quite a big difference. However if you’re still attached to the idea of physical invites, why not decrease that £1,500 spend by doing some parts of the stationery virtual, and some of it physical?
Another thing to bear in mind is that if you can save this money on stationery, you can reallocate that part of the budget elsewhere. That champagne tower you thought you couldn’t have? Think again…
Number five: It’s sustainable and eco-friendly
Quite simply, by sending no paper invitations it means no trees need to be used.
Number six: You can do a hybrid of paper and virtual invitations
Finally, if you’re still attached to the tradition of sending paper invitations, we reckon a hybrid of the two is the way to go. For us, we think the best combination is to send a pretty, physical save the date that they can pin to their fridge as a nice reminder, followed by a paperless invitation and wedding website with all the details and ability to RSVP. This’ll mean RSVPs will be simpler to collect and you can easily change any wedding details here as you go along – things aren’t set in stone like they can be with paper formats.
So who should you use to send your paperless invitations?
If you’re on board with paperless stationery or the idea of a hybrid of the two, here’s some of our favourite companies who make the process simple.
Paperless Post
With premium collaborations with the likes of Rifle Paper Co, Oscar de la Renta and Kate Spade and the option to send virtual and paper invitations, Paperless Post is one of our favourites.
You can send everything from invitations and wedding party requests to thank you notes after the big day, all whilst easily monitoring response via their online portal. - Visit Paperless Post
Greenvelope
Greenvelope provides you with the opportunity to upload custom designs, along with adding cool features such as accompanying music, Google maps, calendar links, integrated photos and gift list information.
Focusing on the sustainable element of sending paperless invitations, they donate a percentage of every sale to Mountains to Sound, a not for profit organisation that works to preserve forests.
Joy
Joy offers a great platform where you can plan your wedding with their free tools, create your wedding website and send online invitations and save the dates all from one place.
You can also keep all the photos from before, during and after the wedding here, by uploading your professional photos and encouraging your guests to use their photo collection app.
