Sustainable Wedding Stationery - both beautiful and kind to the environment
This weeks guest blog has been written by Simone from Ellie and Liv, a sustainable wedding stationery company in Nottinghamshire. Ellie and Liv is a wedding stationery and design studio specialising in delicate and considered designs blended with sustainable and eco-friendly materials. Creating designs for mindful couples who want beautiful personalised wedding stationery that is a little bit kinder to the planet. So grab cuppa and enjoy. Sam x
Named after my beautiful twin daughters Ellie and Liv was founded in 2013 when I started designing invitations for friends and family in my spare time. I’ve worked as a graphic designer for over 20 years and was inspired by beautiful papers and delicate typography but often felt creatively trapped by corporate guidelines. Creating wedding stationery allowed me to combine my passion for botanical illustrations and clean Scandinavian designs with bringing joy and happiness into peoples lives.
Inspired by my own sustainable living journey in 2020 I relaunched my business with sustainability at the heart of Ellie and Liv.
Whilst making swaps in our home life, I soon became aware of ways I could bring this ethos into my business. Wedding stationery can be a paper-heavy industry, so I started to look into ways I could make things more sustainable, from the papers, how I use them, my suppliers, to the packaging I send out.
I love seeing that sustainability is becoming more important in the wedding industry and that couples are discovering that eco-friendly products don’t have to just have one look. Using sustainable materials can be applied to all styles of wedding.
It is important to me that all my suppliers share my eco-ethos, I have carefully selected suppliers and printers that also put sustainability at the centre of their businesses. I offer my couples a wide selection of beautiful recycled, FSC certified (sustainably sourced) and seeded papers.
I take great care in selecting finishings such as ribbons, I favour using hand-dyed silks or bamboo silks for a vegan option that have been dyed naturally with plant-based inks. I love to use finishings that guests adore so much they want to reuse them.
The most important element with my stationery is that every part is recyclable or reusable so no waste is left behind. People are often surprised that many finishings can make paper and card items unrecyclable.
I pride myself on offering every couple the personal touch to all their stationery, whether they chose a bespoke design or one of my customisable house designs I will give their stationery the same love and attention.
With my bespoke designs, I will work closely with a couple to discuss their wedding vision, get to know them and discover what makes their heart sing. I love to capture their personalities, it’s such a privilege to see their excitement when they send their invitations out, it's the first glimpse guests get of their wedding day.
If a couple falls in love with one of my house designs I like to give them the flexibility to create a design that works for them. Many designs have the option to change colours, choose final finishings and envelope colours, use their own words and even alter sizings if they wish. I like to feel my house designs are just a starting point and couples can still make them their own, not just a generic template.
For both bespoke and house designs I offer the full range of products from 'Save the Date', 'Invitations', 'On The Day Items' to the 'Thank You' cards you send out after your wedding.
I like to limit the number of stationery designs I book into my diary each month to ensure my couples never feel rushed, it's important to me that I have the time to care for each wedding stationery set as if it's my own.
It’s important to me that my business also gives back to our environment and helps towards reducing our carbon emissions. For every couple that works with me on their full wedding stationery suite, I will plant and dedicate a tree in honour of their wedding day with the National Trust Tree Pledge of planting 20 million trees before 2030. Nothing is more joyful than to think your wedding will help with climate change, provide new habitats for our wildlife and create a place for future generation to enjoy.
If you would like to know more about Ellie and Liv or would like to order a sample you can find Simone’s full range of house collection and bespoke wedding stationery services at www.ellieandliv.com For Ellie and Liv’s weekly musings and wedding tips you can follow @ellie_and_liv_weddings on Instagram or @ellieandlivweddings on Facebook.