Throw a party without the paper using a “virtual”  invitation

In a world of email and text messaging is there an appropriate, “virtual” replacement for the old fashioned formal invitation? 

A new company believes they may have the answer.

26 year old Ani Mezerhane just had a 4th of July party, designing her own invitations and sending them out on-line using a single website.

“It had fireworks, it was red and blue, like festive, without being over the top, I guess we can say. And just really simple, the website is really simple to use,“ says Mezerhane.

A newlywed, Mezerhane also used PaperlessPost.com to announce her bridal shower last April.

“It’s nice to send something that is going to reflect all the effort and energy that you put into the party.“

PaperlessPost.com lets you design, deliver and monitor invitations that have the look and feel of paper stationary.

“I think people really, really liked the look and style of it!  That’s what I liked about it,“ recalls Mezerhane.

In New York, PaperlessPost.com is a venture of Alexa Hirschfeld and her brother James. 

The siblings have handled 150,000 invitations since starting up last fall. 

Their creation is an environmentally friendly alternative to traditional invitations.

“The impact is meaningful in almost every case when you think about not only the trees that are cut down or the cotton that is used to create the paper, but also the energy used in transportation, the creation of the envelopes, the shipping of the invitations from the stationary to your house,“ James Hirschfeld says.

It is also more affordable than paper stationary. 

It’s free to join and costs $5 for 60 stamps.  One stamp to send each invitation, less than 10 cents apiece.

The first 25 are free.

Once signed in the user selects the style, font, and add a message to your invite. 

You can change color and texture, even add design elements to fit the party. 

The invitee clicks on the envelope and their invitation pops open. 

They may even RSVP, and add an additional message.

The sender can easily monitor who is coming.

“If you click on a paper, a piece of paperless card stock initially and then you add a motif, let’s say a barbecue, you can add, say a grill.  And then you chose a type of font and color.  It’s as much as you need, but not more, and everybody seems to know how to do it,“ says PaperlessPost.com’s Alexa Hirschfeld.
Even Condoleeza Rice used the service for her farewell party.

“You’re not wasting anything, if anything you are just saving so much paper, time and money,“ says user Ani Mezerhane.