History of Sending Messages
Sending invitations and cards is a customary way to help celebrate the occasion and to convey feelings with messages to family, friends and love ones for all imaginable reasons. Whether it is to celebrate a wedding, birthday, graduation, Christmas, Easter, Valentine’s day, Mother’s day, Father’s day, any other holidays, or to commemorate any noteworthy events, the practice of sending invites and cards has a long history dated all the way back to ancient times. The evolution of communication by sending messages has been an interesting one especially over long distances, from smoking signals to homing or carrier pigeons, then message in a bottle transported by sea, balloon mails by air, followed by telegrams or telegraphs, fax machines, pagers, mobile texting and emails today. Whilst greeting cards stems from prehistoric Chinese who swapped Chinese New Year greetings with hand written paper messages, frequently ornamented lavishly and created with dainty handmade and hand painted papers. Similarly, the ancient Egyptians communicated greetings on papyrus scrolls. The history of invitations is similar to the history of wedding invitations. Historically, a “town crier” will announce special events like a wedding and anyone who overheard the announcement was invited. However, handmade cards were a luxury item available only to the wealthy folks not to the common people. Eventually, from the creation of lithography and ultimately the printing press, it became more affordable and popular to print and send high volume of special cards and invitations. Subsequently, alternative and more creative cards with humours, music, pop-ups, animations and uniqueness were created.
With the invention of the internet, our mode of communication has moved to digital online media. First came the Ecards in the form of electronic postcards followed by e-Commerce websites that offer a big selection of creative Ecards. Using the internet, the tasks of selecting, arranging, ordering and sending invitations, cards and stationery, have been made easier than ever. Customers has limitless number of options to choose from and they can order from anywhere across the world.
Paperless Post Website
About Paperless Post
Paperless Post is an e-commerce company that provide digital platform for customizable invitations cards, greeting cards and stationery that can be sent and received via emails. The company was founded in 2008 by brother and sister entrepreneurs James and Alexa Hirschfeld when they were in their mid-twenties. James came up with the idea when searching for invitations for his 21st birthday party and found a gap in the market for trendy online digital communication and utilizing technology to help connect people in person in the real world. It started out as an online only company and commenced printed stationery in 2012 due to many requests from customers. Users can choose to send invites, cards by emails or traditional snail mails. Paperless Post has propagated from a light bulb moment into a company that has sent out 85 million cards with 100 million users since its inception. In June 2018, Paperless Post introduced its new mobile friendly product called Flyers for more casual events invites and currently free of charge, with paid premium features launching in the future. Flyers works with a web address, enable users to send via text or email, post on social media, or send by means of other messaging client.
What Is On Offer?
While navigating through their website, Paperless Post offers a wide range of customizable invitations, cards, save the dates, announcements, thank you notes and get-together under the categories of Holidays, Birthdays, Weddings, Parties, Professionals, Cards only and their new and free Flyers. You also have the option to upload your personal photo or your own design. Furthermore, by partnering with world famous designers, fashion houses, lifestyle brands and independent stationers, Paperless Post is able to create exquisite designs for many different events. They have up to 27 designer collections for users to choose from and up to 50 designers in total for all their products, they have definitely differentiated themselves from other competitor platforms in the prestigious end of the market. Looking at their website, I found Brock Collection, famous for their fashion floral designs, Ashley G’s range of colour adventure, Kate Spate New York’s signature polka dots, Rifle Paper Co with signature hand-painted botanicals and doll-faced figures, Oscar de la Renta, iconic fashion house with its exquisite laces, prints, and embroideries, Sesame Street, and many more. With thousands of customizable online invitations, cards and stationery to choose from, you will be spoilt for choice.
Some of Paperless Post Designer Collections Online Invitations & Cards
How it works!
Step 1: To get started, you need to create an account as a user. Coins are Paperless Post’s online currency. Pricing starts with 10 coins for USD8 up to 1000 coins for USD130. The more coins you purchase the cheaper the pricing. Coin packages can be purchased upfront or once you are ready to send.
Step 2: Simply click on the image of the invite or card that you want to purchase. All drafts are automatically saved.
Step 3: Click Customize, choose backdrop. Then click Next.
Step 4: Customize Text Formats, Fonts and Colour.
Step 5: Click Next to view Envelope Liner. Then click Next again.
Step 6: Customize Envelope Front by choosing Stamp and Post mark.
Step 7: Click on the Envelope image to select colour of envelope.
Step 8: Click on Reply Card then click on the image and choose a design.
Step 9: Click on Add Recipient. You can also preview the Envelope here. You can Send a free test to yourself by clicking “Send me a free test” next to the Send Now button before sending. The card has cost me 8 coins per recipient.
Step 10: Click on View the Card and hit SEND when you are happy with the card. When your email recipients click on View the Card on the envelope, the card will automatically pop-out with stunning visual effects.
Elf Assembly Required Rifle Paper Co.
Tracking and Follow Up
After you have sent a card via Paperless Post, you are able to view and keep track of when recipients receive, view and reply by checking the recipient statuses on the Tracking page. Statuses include: sending, sent, opened, attending, regrets, bounced and unsubscribed. This feature is extremely useful for RSVP events like weddings and big parties for keep track of your guests.
Conclusion
Paperless Post has an awe-inspiring selection of beautiful, creative and chic online invitations, cards and stationery. I am really captivated by their wide ranging and unique online stationery. Above all, I am totally mesmerized by their designer collections. During customization of the Christmas card I selected, I find their user interface straight forward, very easy and enjoyable to use, you do not have to be very tech savvy to use their online system. If you use Paperless Post’s high quality online invitations and cards, you will definitely leave a good impression with your recipients and online invites and cards are environmentally friendly too! I look forward to ordering more of their invitations (especially the ones with GIF) and cards for this coming holiday season for parties and for sending Christmas and New Year cards to friends and family. And of course, I will also check out their newly launched free Flyers for more casual events like a get together. I would highly recommend using Paperless Post as a one stop online shop for all your customizable invitations, cards and stationery, no matter what the occasion is, big or small.
Disclaimer: Paperless Post has provided free digital Coins to me to try their online service and write about my opinion.
