Green Themed Weddings are really popular these days.
How can we be eco friendly with our weddings and still make it our own.
I was thinking maybe the decorations, like live plants or favors?
Any sugguestions.
It's great that you desire to be eco friendly! Believe it or not, but some places are offering "green" wedding packages where every aspect of your wedding is "green" from the fresh, local wild flowers to the farm raised organic beef/chicken that is served. The most popular ways couples have been going "green" is using recycled paper for invites, thank you notes, place cards, table numbers etc., using fresh ingredients for centerpieces, including local flowers and incorporating basil or mint. Wedding favors are another big area where couples are going green. They are choosing to donate to a charity in lieu of buying gifts or are giving coffee, tea, stainless steel water bottles, or plants as favors.
One new trend is to have a green save the date or thank you cards. We all love wedding invitations and save the dates and personalized thank you cards, but how many of us recycle those cherished pieces of tree? So a great way to share your love and personality with others is a customized video to share your date or gratitude with guests. We are newly offering this service and are super excited about it. Just put up a video of my husband and I that shows just how cute these little videos can be.
One other good way is to buy a wedding gown from a bridal consignment store. You can even find new dresses that have never been worn there. It saves on having to make a whole new dress and you pay a fraction of the original price.
Vendors are offering more and more green ideas with the increased demand. Our store, Favours by Gorgeous Moments offers some great favor ideas that allow you to give your guests a lovely thank you and at the same time keep it green!
Please join us at our Eco-Bridal Event Wednesday, May 26 5-8:30 p.m. at the Hotel Seven 4 One in Laguna Beach!
Renée Strauss, Beverly Hills is hosting the event followed by a 3 Day Trunk Show of Katerina Bocci Couture, in the Beverly Hills, showroom.
As a green wedding photographer, this is a question that comes up for me a lot! The key to an eco-friendly wedding is all in the simple choices you make as you plan your day. Choose sustainable materials, and select wedding vendors who are committed to green practices. Portland @StyleUnveiled offers this great link with 101 tips for making your wedding eco-chic and sustainable: http://portlandstyleunveiled.com/ecochic/
You can ask your caterer to source from local farmers. This is at least as green as ordering organic, which is hard to do anyway unless you have a Hollywood budget. Flowers are another great opp to go green. See if you can rent pretty live flowers and trees for your tables and room decor instead of using a trillion cut flowers, or even worse, flowers in Oasis foam (very ungreen). Fair trade favors like chocolate and/or coffee are very green, saplings or seeds are good if your guests are the type to plant them (e.g., not all 500 square foot apartment dwellers).
There are many things that can be done to have a Green wedding including buying a previously worn wedding gown, holding the reception in a place that doesn't require additional decorations, and purchasing wedding bands made from stainless steel (a largely recycled metal). Also, instead of passing out favors, consider placing a sign that you donated money to a human rights organization as opposed to buying favors. Have fun!
I too have just posted on the topic, based on a note sent to me by Lucy Thomason who posts articles for the event planning careers blog at http://www.eventplanningcareers.net/. This is her personal hobby blog, focused on tips to help people organize a green event, use less energy and reduce their carbon footprint.
The best way to scale back on an event's carbon footprint is to cut back on the number of guests. Fewer guests mean fewer meals, fewer needs for centerpieces and other decor and fewer miles travelled to reach the marriage.
Next step to reduce the impact of your event is to look at the life cycle of the various elements you use: how far does the food have to be transported, how much energy is expended to produce it, how does it get to your plate and where do the leftovers go?
We had one of our first "Green" weddings at Pine River Ranch this summer... http://prranchwedding.blogspot.com/2010/07/real-weddings-michelle-a...
They used all local sustainable produce, made sure all the decorations were biodegradable and recyclable and gave mugs as party favors so people weren't throwing reusable cups away all night!
I also love the idea of using invitations that are made from plant seeds that your guests can plant!
