When it comes to your dream wedding, when does the dream start to feel like reality? Is it when you say “yes?” When you see how your engagement ring fits? When you tell your closest friends and family? Or is it when you send invitations to those so important to you that you want them to share one of the best days of your life? If it’s the last one, selecting your perfect wedding invitation is no easy task. The first decision you have to make is a big one: traditional or paperless? Each choice carries its own positives and negatives and can set the tone for what kind of wedding you’re having.
Let’s break them down in two-word pros and cons.
Traditional Invitations
Pros:
Posterity & Sentimentality
Are you a sentimentalist? If you have your prom corsage tucked inside your high school yearbook or the ticket stub from your first date, and scrapbook in your free time, paperless invitations may not stand the test of time for you.
Tradition & Elegance
There are a lot of traditions and pomp and circumstance in weddings, from flower girls and ring bearers to the father-daughter dance and garter toss. If these traditions are important to you and your groom (or your families), classic paper invites will be just as important.
Cons:
Carbon Footprint
In a world where plastic bags and straws are being banned and “going green” is the standard, traditional wedding invitations may be considered an unnecessary waste of paper. While you can mitigate your carbon footprint with recycled paper, think of how many invites, RSVP cards, and envelopes you’ll be putting out into the world.
Budget Killer
OK, traditional invitations may not break your wedding budget, but it will certainly take a big bite out of it. When comparing the low cost of paperless invites versus up to $8,000 per 100 guests for traditional ones, ask yourself if there’s something else you’d rather spend that money on.
Digital Invitations
Pros:
Mother Earth
Paperless invitations are the least wasteful way to ask others to share your big day. They also still allow for customizability and give an air of formality, unlike a simple email invite. With today’s technology, you can still design an invitation that symbolizes you as a couple–without it ending up in a landfill.
Budget Friendly
Whether you’re on a tight budget or are just a thrifty bride, paperless invitations add some cushion to your overall budget. Rather than spending up to $8,000 per 100 wedding guests, you’ll get your invite budget down to as little as $100.
Cons:
Spam Filters
Have you ever missed a promotion, coupon, job interview, or birthday party to your spam filter’s appetite? Now imagine half of your guests missing your wedding for the same reason. While there is always a small chance a traditional invitation won’t find its way home, the likelihood that a paperless one can end up in spam or be accidentally deleted is far higher.
Mixed Messages
What kind of wedding are you having? A traditional chapel ceremony? Elegant black-tie only? Paperless wedding invitations may send a much more relaxed message than you planned on. Now, if your dream wedding takes place in a romantic English garden or has a relaxing South Beach vibe, paperless invites may be more your style.
Whether you’ve decided to ask others to share your big day with a traditional paper invitation or an eco- (and budget-) friendly paperless one, the thing that matters most is that you’ll be surrounded by the people who mean the most to you on a day that means so much. Before you actually send the invites, you’ll have to decide where they’ll be surrounding you. Contact the experts at Crest Hollow Country Club and start planning today.
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