Digital invitations are easy, simple, eco-friendly, cost friendly, time-saving, and cute.
E-vites are especially good if you're doing everything you can to go green as the invitations are paperless- no waste, no killing of trees, no use of toxic inks... E-vites also enable you to include links to registries and directions to the event without trying to cram everything on a handwritten invitation or using both sides of the paper or even two pages. Digital invitations are easy, simple, eco-friendly, cost friendly, time-saving, and cute. However...
Older friends/family members may not be familiar with how to manipulate an e-vite.
How many people on your list are maybe a bit older and perhaps not quite tech savvy? When we sent out e-vites for Birdie's baby shower I discovered many of our older friends/family members were not familiar with how to manipulate a digital shower invitation. For example, they had no idea they needed to scroll down for links to the registry or scroll even further for a map and directions to the venue. We should have considered paper invitations for quite a few guests.
How personal do you want the invitations to be?
Before deciding whether to choose digital vs paper invitations, ask yourself how personal you want the invitations to be. If you want casual, impersonal, and your guests are trendy 20- 30 something-year-old go-getters then, by all means, go digital. This is a group that understands the need for spending time on things other than the invitations. Not to mention it's totally hip (does anyone use 'hip' anymore except when talking about hip replacements?) to use the e-vites with this group. These kids are not only trendy and busy, they're also modern and environmentally conscious and they don't tend to stand on ceremony.
What about keepsakes or reminders?
Another thing to ask yourself is, do you or will someone want to frame the invitation or have it to use as a keepsake for the baby book or scrapbook it? Do people scrapbook anymore? Or am I dating myself, again? Do people like to put paper invitations on their fridge as a reminder? Of course, the e-vites are nice because of access. We may or may not remember to bring the paper copy with us if we need the registry info or directions or have a question but we always have our phones with us making the e-vite easily accessible. If we need a reminder we can set our phone calendar to notify us. And let's not forget that with some e-vites, the guests can interact with one another to go in on a more expensive gift or set up carpooling. Plus, I feel e-vites make the RSVP much easier as I tend to put it off with a paper invitation.
What's the bottom line, then?
The bottom line is, I like both the digital and paper invitations. Helpful, right? In my opinion, my choice will depend on the occasion first and foremost. If we're having a formal affair such as a wedding in the family, I prefer paper invitations. If the event is more casual, I will use digital and paper invitations. The digital option will be sent out to those tech-savvy guests while the paper ones will be sent out to those who are less knowledgeable about such things as e-vites as well as those (and we have a couple) who would be highly offended by us even thinking of not sending out paper invitations. If I'm unsure of the guest, he/she will receive a paper invitation. Don't worry, our gatherings aren't huge enough to make categorizing guests a daunting task. If we do happen to have a huge event, casual or not, I'll send paper.
What do y'all prefer, paper or digital invitations?
I think that a paper invitation is needed for something like a wedding or a wedding tea (bigger than a shower and decorations are usually more formal -- usually held on a Sunday afternoon - these are the "local" rules! Hosted by friends of the family - NEVER by family). I received a fun evite recently for a friend's retirement party. You have to remember that I live in Alabama and we do many things the old fashioned way :-)
ReplyDeleteI live in Charleston, SC so tradition is a way of life. I agree with you on the wedding invitations needing to be paper. Though I do believe some people go overboard on those. We're going with paper for the shower we're hosting in July. Of course, we created them online. LOL Thanks!
DeleteI've never received a digital invitation, but I think I would really like it a lot. I just received a snail mail wedding invitation yesterday and I didn't see anything about registries. That makes gift buying a little more difficult. Hopefully, I just missed it.
ReplyDeleteThey are pretty nice, or they can be. You just have to remember to scroll down and read everything and click the links. I hope you just missed it because that will make gift buying interesting. :)
DeletePaper all the way!
ReplyDeleteWe went the paper route for the shower in July. I do like the digital ones, though. They're so pretty. But they are tricky. And not for the older members of our family. Some of them don't even have computers. LOL
DeleteYou make a great argument, Pam. Thanks for sharing this #BloggingGrandmothersLinkParty.
ReplyDeleteDonna
Thanks for commenting on and sharing this post!
DeleteI answered on FB that I don't mind a digital invite as long as it is more personalized and not just a blanket blast for anyone. The paper invites and date savers are nice to stick to the fridge as a reminder (there are two on ours right now). I think paper is best.
ReplyDeleteWe went with paper this time. The last time, the older folks had no idea how to even open the digital ones. LOL
DeleteI agree with all of your pros and cons, Pam. My niece is getting married soon. She used a digital announcement as a save-the-date and to help collect addresses. Formal paper invites are forthcoming. I like that approach. I am totally fine with evites for more casual events. Thanks for linking up at #BloggingGrandmothersLinkParty.
ReplyDeleteI love that! What a great way to get it out there and get everyone's address correctly. Thanks for commenting!
DeletePersonally, I like getting a paper invitation (although I like e-invites and e-stuff, especially animated animal cutesy things). I do like Christie's idea. And even though I like the paper invitations, I always mark down what I need to and pitch the paper (unless it's a birthday or Mother's Day card from the kids or grands.) xoxo
ReplyDeleteI like them, too. But then I think about the trees because of all the destruction around here and by destruction I mean, development. I liked Christie's idea, too!
DeleteDigital is certainly convenient but I also love the surprise of receiving a paper invitation in the mail. I suppose it also depends on how formal the event is. It is great to have you link up with us at #BloggingGrandmothersLinkParty and hope to see you next time. I've shared on social media.
ReplyDeleteSue from Sizzling Towards 60 & Beyond
I agree with you on that. Formal sort of dictates paper, doesn't it? :) Thank you for commenting and sharing!
DeleteI love receiving a paper invitations too. Digital is fine but it's nice to receive a surprise every once in awhile. Thanks for sharing this #BloggingGrandmothersLinkParty. I will share on social media.
ReplyDeleteThey are a nice surprise for sure! Thank you for hosting, commenting, and sharing! Y'all are fantastic!
DeleteGreat points! Thank you for sharing at #BloggingGrandmothersLinkParty
ReplyDeleteThank you for commenting and sharing!
DeleteI suppose either way is ok with me :) Thanks Pam for linking up at the #BloggingGrandmothersLinkParty. I shared this post.
ReplyDeleteI agree. I think it depends on the event and how formal it is. And maybe, how old the guests are. LOL Thank you!
DeleteI agree with you Pam, I'll probably be using both depending upon the event and guest list. Thank you for sharing at the #BloggingGrandmothersLinkParty!
ReplyDeleteThank you!
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