Eco Friendly Wedding

I found this article in a newsletter from eart911.com. This is a great website to learn about eco friendly products. I was pleasantly surprised to see that they did a piece on Eco Friendly Weddings. What a great way to help educate others on how easy this process can be. Being eco friendly is almost always better for our personal health so if you don’t care about the environment you should at least do it for your own health. It just feels good to do the right thing and can often save you money.

Here are the hightlight from the article.

1. Put your research hat on, browse the internet, read “The Green Bride Guide” and talk to your vendors for suggestion.

2. Invitations that leave no trace.

a. 100 percent post-consumer recycled paper.

3. Location, Location, Location

a. When choosing a site look for a place that requires the fewest number of people to travel long distances. If the guest list is primary local than stay local.

b. You can also consider eco-friendly lodges or an organic restaurant.

c. You may not find all of these in one local, review which one will make the biggest impact on the environment and go with that as your priority.

d. Where ever you choose embrace the local fair with organic food. Although this may cause you to reconsider the time of year you plan your wedding in the north to get the best options on local produce.

4. The Dress

a. Consider a consignment shop or if Mom still has her dress hidden in a trunk dig it out and try it on, vintage themes can be a big hit at any wedding. If you’re not going with a formal wedding theme and going casual wearing something you already own is just fine.

b. There are also many eco-friendly designers who make wedding and bridesmaid dresses including Conscious Elegance, Conscious Clothing, Gwendolyn Gleason, and Chrissy Wai-ching.

c. Choose a color for your brides maids and let them pick a dress that looks great on them that they can where after your big day.

5. The Flowers & Center Pieces

a. Most Florists will assist you in creating arrangements form local plants and flowers.

b. Also consider plants for table center pieces that your guest can take home as favors.

c. Soy candles are another great option and great to set the mood for a night of love. If your hall restrict candles than consider LED string lights for decoration which use almost no energy and can be reused after the wedding for parties and holiday décor.

6. Gifts Registry

a. Consider “The Green Bride Guide,” it’s an eco-friendly place, but do register for gifts so you’re getting only items you can use.

7. The Honeymoon

a. Check with your travel agent for eco friendly packages,

b. Or plan a trip on your bike with a small back pack traveling across Europe or the US going from inn to inn and seeing the local sites. Or maybe a hiking and some camping. This is good for both you and the environment.

For the complete article go to: http://earth911.com/news/2010/05/31/green-wedding-101/