Papercraft Miracles makes magic out of paper with her sustainable bouquets. Owner Janna Willoughby-Lohr started the business 18 years ago when she was forced to find a positive from a negative. During her junior year, she received a phone call that her mother passed. Her mother was a poet at heart and by five years old, Janna was writing her own poetry. With her mom close to her heart, she returned to college with a renewed purpose to create art.
A color assortment on display of custom sustainable paper created by Papercraft Miracles
The eco-friendly company offers a variety of custom paper options
Centerpiece created with Papercraft Miracles’ sustainable bouquets and arrangements
Sustainability at its core
Papercraft Miracles seeks to make one of the most magical moments in your life everlasting with sustainable bouquets and other options made from handmade paper. A lot of the wedding industry is centered around just one day of the celebration, and not much thought goes into how wasteful weddings typically are. Papercraft Miracles is different. With sustainability at the core, they have a robust green initiative to help clients reduce their carbon footprint while still creating the wedding of their dreams.
For starters, the studio is solar-powered, and the team makes papers out of plants and recycled materials to reduce waste. They also source other materials to upcycle from local companies to keep those items out of the landfill. In addition, all of the packagings are compostable! Many of the items also contain seeds to be planted to grow flowers, herbs or veggies to give life after the party is over.
The entire team lives locally and they create customized, handmade paper flowers that look so real, people don’t know the difference. Aside from sustainable bouquets, Papercraft Miracles also creates handbound books for guest books and photo albums, as well as all types of gifts and favors!
Make it personal
Their entire service is specialized. They know every couple has a different story, so consultations revolve around clients telling them who they are and what matters most to them. From there, they walk them through every aspect of their invitations, flowers, day-of stationery, and more to craft the perfect way to share with those who matter the most. One year, Janna had one couple who had their first date at a pizza place, so she made their invitations with basil seeds embedded inside so they could literally show people where they came from!
Very often during the consults or at special events, people will question her saying, “You MADE this?? I don’t even understand how that is possible!”
At a reception, a custom paper floral bouquet & vow book are on display | Photo cred: Wandering Way
Papercraft Miracles also makes boutonnieres and custom floral accessories to enhance the decor | Photo cred: Wandering Way
The sustainable decor make for amazing photo opportunities for photographers, too!
Papercraft Miracles will tie everything together to match your wedding theme | Photo cred: Seventh Arrow
Why stop at flowers?
Um, exactly. Why stop at Papercraft Miracles’ sustainable bouquets? These guys get so incredibly creative with their services and products. Perhaps the happy couple needs a vow book to store the precious words they’ll say to each other when they face each other. Or, maybe sustainable invitations to send out to guests since they’re a one time use only. Papercraft can create beautiful signage for the big day like dinner menus or place card holders, there are unlimited possibilities! The products made are everlasting like the love the couple shares.
The products are not only high-quality and handcrafted with care, but also unique and meaningful. Each item is made one at a time, with love and attention to detail. They coordinate papers and materials to match the wedding colors and themes. Since they make their papers and books from scratch, they have the liberty to use the same papers and colors across all of the items. Janna and her team match save-the-dates, invites, flowers, guestbook, photo albums, favors and thank you notes altogether, maintaining a beautiful theme.
Everyone is welcome
Papercraft Miracles advocates for diversity, equity and inclusion across other businesses in the Buffalo community. Janna’s also on the board and chairs the membership committee for the National Association of Women Business Owners Buffalo/Niagara Chapter. She’s also a founding member of their Diversity and Inclusion Task Force, actively working to ensure equity and fair representation of all women-owned businesses in the area.
There are many aspects of a wedding that are temporary and wasteful. Why not extend the lifespan of a bouquet or guestbook and give back to the planet at the same time? At Papercraft Miracles, people don’t need to sacrifice taste for sustainability.
Couples can also have paper floral arrangements as centerpieces for their receptions
The flowers also make for exquisite wedding cake toppers
Say hi
Check out Papercraft Miracles’ directory listing for their socials and contact information!
If you’re a creative small business owner who wants to join the Upstate Indie Wedding family, find more information here!
Special thanks to Jillian Barrile Photography, Wandering Way, and Seventh Arrow Studio of Photography