Planning a Green Wedding

The Sustainable Wedding

An exquisite white dress, fragrant pink roses, ivory satin ribbons – the traditional colors that come to mind when we think of a wedding celebration.

But, there’s a hot new color on the wedding palette. Eco-conscious couples are adding a big splash of green to their wedding plans. It’s a great way to begin a sustainable lifestyle together and encourage friends and loved ones to do the same.

Here are some tips for planning your romantic, eco-friendly wedding:

Invitations

Cordially invite your guests on unique papers made from Kenaf, rice or recycled papers. Another option is to go all digital. Send invitations out via email (save paper invitations for those who do not have Internet access) and set up a website where your guests can find all of the pertinent information, including directions and gift registry items. Don’t forget to select a website host who is eco-friendly. Thinkhost.com is a hosting service powered solely by renewable energy.

Rings

Engagement and wedding rings represent your commitment to each other, but they can also reflect your commitment to a sustainable lifestyle.

Shop for eco-friendly, fair trade gold and platinum. 18 carat gold and platinum from reprocessed sources is also an option. If purchasing diamonds, make sure they are conflict free diamonds. Diamonds grown in a laboratory are a stunning alternative.

If diamonds really aren’t your best friend, check out unique rings made from wood or coconut, crafted by fair trade artisans with proceeds supporting life-sustaining projects in their area of the world.

Wedding Attire

Your wedding dress is your chance to dress the part! The growing eco-friendly industry has widened the choice for wedding attire. Regardless of your taste – fancy or simple – hemp and organic cotton dresses are available. Select a dress or suit you can wear again or have dyed after the wedding. The same ideas apply to your bridesmaid dresses.

Opt for a family tradition, wear your mother or grandmother’s wedding dress. If grandma was not quite your size, shop vintage stores for just the right fit.

After your wedding, donate your dress to the idoroundation.org and help a future bride go green on her wedding day.

Buds, Blooms and Candles

The flowers and plants that adorn your wedding venue should be organic, and preferably locally grown.

Use potted plants when possible, especially for reception centerpieces, and allow guests to take them home as a reminder of the important role we all play in preserving our natural resources. Plants and flowers can also be donated to nursing homes or Hospice facilities after your ceremony.

Philodendrons are a top choice because studies have shown they remove formaldehyde from the air.

Candles add a romantic air to your wedding, but select environmentally friendly unscented or candles made with 100% nontoxic essential oils for your wedding day. Scented candles can create airborne toxins that are especially dangerous to young children. Plus, imported candles may contain lead wicks, again a concern because of the airborne particles they might produce.

Reception

Your vows have been exchanged and the stress of pre-wedding day planning is over, it’s time to enjoy the company of your guests, along with good food, drink and, perhaps music.

Arrive in style at your reception in a hybrid car or limo.

Select an eco-friendly venue, such as a green hotel, a farm or a lush backyard. The number of earth friendly hotels and bed and breakfast establishments that have adopted sustainable practices is growing.

For example, Fairmont Hotels has been green since 1990. They have check-in computers that are generated by wind-power. You can find a list of eco-conscious hotels at www.GreenHotels.com.

Ask your reception venue about their recycling policies, whether they service organic foods and fair trade coffee and tea. Don’t forget to select fair trade and organic wines. Ask that leftover food be donated to a local shelter.

Even the tableware used can have a dramatic impact on the eco-footprint left by your event. For a truly unique and green table setting, consider biodegradable and compostable plates made from sugar cane.

In addition, if out of town guests need accommodations, check out the hotel rooms. Do they use water and energy saving devices? Can guests opt to use linens for several days, rather than changing everyday and which waste additional laundry water and soaps.

Rather than throw rice, consider releasing monarch butterflies. In recent years there has been a major effort to increase the monarch butterfly population, if weather conditions are appropriate, consider this dramatic touch to your wedding.

Don’t forget the music! If your reception is a daytime event, consider a solar-powered sound system.

Gifts and Favors

You can creatively gift the sustainable lifestyle to your guests and attendants! These gifts can range from the traditional to the practical.

Pamper your bridesmaids with a vegan skin care gift basket or treat them to a handcrafted bracelets made from tagua nuts, a harvestable rainforest nut.. Parade Magazine featured these unique creations in their May 2007 edition. These gifts also help support fair-trade artisans and their villages. Other ideas: vegan cookbooks, a piece of artwork crafted by you or your partner, journals made from 100% wood free paper, or yoga products.

Wedding favors are an opportunity to send guests home with a sustainable lifestyle reminder than can last years. A poem scribed onto seed paper can be planted and enjoyed for many growing seasons. Or, brighten their lives with a compact fluorescent bulb! Adorn tables with potted bamboo plants that guests can also take home as a wedding favor. One company even offers fair trade olive oil in eco-friendly packaging, complete with a wedding poem on the label.

GREEN WEDDINGS can make a difference

Your eco-friendly efforts do not have to bring additional stress to the planning process. Determine ahead of time how much help you need. Are family members willing to support your commitment to a green wedding and are they able to help? Green wedding planners are also available.

As a couple, planning a Green Wedding is a heartfelt way to express your own concerns for the earth's environment, allowing you the opportunity to provide those creative touches that will truly make a positive, lasting impression with family and guests, well after your wedding day is over.

Editor-in-Chief, Michelle Eichhorn, Affluent Bride

©2007 AffluentBride.com.

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