A Green and Vegetable August Wedding

Over the Summer I had the pleasure of working with Meredith and Ben for their Wedding in Kensington, CA. Many of the elements were green and the decor was not only sustainable, but also very unique. Meredith chose vegetable and fruit centerpieces in lieu of floral designs; which played double duty as party favors for guests.

I asked Meredith to share some of the ways in which her and Ben acted green so that others could learn from their choices and plan sustainably in future weddings.

Bridesmaid's flowers
(seandonnellyphotography.com)

Why was being green important to you for your wedding?

My husband and I try to be conscientious of how our choices might impact the world in which we live. From the food we buy and eat, the clothing and products we purchase, to what we choose to throw away. We make every attempt to be conscientious in our parenting, eating, living, and consuming. We wanted our wedding to be a reflection of our lifestyle.


What green and sustainable items and decisions did you include?

The attire.
My wedding gown is a Nicole Miller and she only uses natural fibers in her dresses; I also chose a style that is (hopefully) not dated and can be passed on to a younger family member for her future wedding. My husband chose to wear a tan suit, which he will be able to wear time and again. And the wedding party was asked to choose any dress within the color scheme that they felt they would wear again (one bridesmaid has already worn her dress again!). Everyone was beautiful and unique in his/her chosen attire.

The wedding party.
(seandonnellyphotography.com)

The décor.
The amount of flowers that can be thrown away after a wedding saddens me, so I had the idea to use locally grown fruit and vegetables as centerpieces, which could also double as the take-home gift. A friend of mine works at a restaurant and gave me a stack of the little, green fruit baskets, one of which was at each place setting so guests could fill the basket with produce from the centerpieces.

Vegetable and fruit centerpieces.
(seandonnellyphotography.com)

A main component of the décor were the paper lanterns, which can be used again.

Lanterns.
(seandonnellyphotography.com)

My husband is an artist and he installed a piece of his art as the backdrop, along with the lanterns, during our ceremony. The flowers in the bouquets and boutonnieres were all local and in season.

Local flowers.
(seandonnellyphotography.com)

I specifically found flower girl baskets that were made of paper mache and that will biodegrade. Pilar did an amazing job, and the décor was festive and colorful.

The food.
The food was delicious! We chose a caterer who uses only high-quality, ethically and sustainable raised and grown food.

The cake.
The gal who created the cake for our wedding used only high-quality, organic ingredients and purchased as many of these ingredients at a farmer’s market as she could. The icing did not have the chemical fondant in it.

The Invitations.
My husband researched a local artist whom we asked to create a caricature of our family, so we used a local artist. She provided envelopes made of recycled paper.

The Guestbook and Favors.
I found a used photograph book of special places in the region and asked people to sign a photograph of their choosing. My mom poured some colorful soaps and placed them in clear compostable bags for guests to take home.

The Programs.
In lieu of individual programs for the ceremony, we created a single poster that sat right by the entrance stairs.

The Save-the-Dates.
We used email instead of mailing out ‘save the dates’ and set up a website for additional information that is often sent on separate pieces of paper with the invitation.

The Party.
(seandonnellyphotography.com)

What would be your advice to a green bride or groom planning their own wedding?

Question every little component of your wedding: think how you can make every detail unique in your own style and question how those details can create the least amount of waste.

More Lanterns.
(seandonnellyphotography.com)

What was the most enjoyably part of your wedding?

We both agree that our favorite part of the wedding was the ceremony. Our friend wrote the wording of the ceremony and my husband wrote the vows. We also really enjoyed the gathering of our family and friends. And finally, the décor and the food were amazing. We had a lot of fun on our wedding day!

Many of the lanterns ended up with second uses too, as fun kids toys.
(seandonnellyphotography.com)

Thanks so much Meredith and Ben for sharing your wedding and the steps that you made towards a greener wedding. All photos courtesy of Sean Donnelly Photography: seandonnellyphotography.com


G&G

Green your Wedding Registry

Before your big day, you've probably got a lot of things to do. You've got to order the cake, get the dress/suit, find a DJ, get your hair cut, etc, etc. It can seem like the list is nonstop. One item on your list that can either be exciting, overwhelming, or both, is your registry.

It's pretty standard and almost expected that you make a list of the things you would like to receive as gifts for your wedding. Most guests are pretty familiar with registries, and some may even start asking for them as soon as you pop the question. Whether or not they actually choose a gift from that registry, is another conversation. But in the case that they do, it's better to be prepared. Of course, as a green bride or groom, you probably also want to register for items or actions that reflect your mindset. There are a few online resources that can help you set up registries that reflect your tastes and your green practices and ideals.

There are a number of eco-friendly and sustainable stores online that offer registries. There are also some registry services that allow you to register for non-tangible gifts like car washes or donations, for example. I've taken the liberty of doing my own "shopping" at some of these sites so you can see what they have to offer. Take a look:

1. Handmade ceramic pottery and dinnerware:

The handmade ceramics above are from www.dodgestationpottery.com. It's not only made by a person's hands, but it is also art. The website offers a wedding registry that allows you to choose the pieces you want so that your guests can order them for you. They have dinnerware(photo at top) as well as kitchen items like these cute ramekins just above.

2. Dining, Bedding, Bath, Children's, Gifts and Garden products:

These super cute "bird" measuring spoons are found on www.arenaturals.com
and go well with a trendsetting couple's kitchen or just someone who likes birds. They are handmade in the US and are food safe.

These lovely spa towels are made of organic cotton can be found on www.vivaterra.com. They are free of chlorine bleach and synthetic finishing agents and are 100% organic.



Check out this composter I found on www.greenfeet.com, very useful for the green couple who has a yard. Sounds like making rich compost from your yard trimmings and food scraps can be pretty easy with this device.

3. Fair trade & Sustainable home, jewelry, clothing and gifts:

Look at this spacious fair trade hammock made of reclaimed cotton by a family owned workshop in El Salvador. The workers are paid above standard wages and receive benefits. Available on www.globalexchangestore.org

4. Non-material, secondhand and homemade registry:

This registry allows you to create a wishlist of items that you'd like people to give you, and can be both material and non-material. A sample item might be: a freshly baked pie, or maybe some homemade pancakes?



Once someone selects that gift to give you, the registry notes that your wish has been fulfilled.
www.alternativegiftregistry.org

5. Donation registry:

This registry allows couples to register for charities, so guests can donate using their credit card or write a check to your favorite cause in place of a tangible gift. From The Global Fund for Women to Amazon Watch, they probably have a charity you support on their list.

www.idofoundation.org

Whatever registry you choose, remember that some guests may be unfamiliar with some of these green online stores or non-material registries. It may be important to explain them on your wedding website or by teaching family and friends who can act as registry guides. Most of these registries however, try to make it easy for both the couple and their friends and family to use their registries.

G&G

Eco-friendly Weddings can be Classy Too

"Green and Glamour"

One of the most recent green weddings I was involved with this summer was a wonderful event in San Francisco, atop Nob Hill. The view of the City skyline was amazing, as was the old-world charm of the University Club where the event took place. Just look at that old gold elevator! The whole event was classic and glamorous. You wouldn't know it, but it was also very green!

The Bride and Groom held their ceremony at St. Patrick's Church in SoMa, not far from the club. The bulk of the partying however, took place at the University Club, on two separate floors. Guests mingled and socialized in the bar, game room and lounge area on the 4th floor, while Kelly and Mark took their wedding photos.

After cocktail hour, guests were invited downstairs to dine with the wedding party and make toasts to the new couple.

From the looks of things, Kelly and Mark's wedding was super elegant, but not without a lot of green and sustainable influence. I asked Kelly to tell us about the green decisions she made:

The Gown

"My dress was a sample gown from encorebridal.com. Instead of purchasing a brand new gown (and probably made of synthetic fibers in my price range), I was able to attain a somewhat used gown that had outlived its use for the showroom, but was great for me! I would highly recommend this to any bride looking for a designer gown on a budget. I really didn't care that it was used. In fact, I preferred it used because I was one less bride demanding the production of another gown. I will wear the gown only once, anyway.

The Invitations

The wedding invitations were made from recycled paper. The invitations were a HUGE concern of mine. I didn't want to waste so many trees and ink on wedding invitations, with the inserts and all, that would eventually be thrown out (I actually just recycled someone's invite tonight). I could have done better with the paper and ink choice, but not on my budget. I wanted invitations sent out (I don't like e-vites for weddings), but I did not want to use a lot of paper. I searched for weeks for invitations that I could afford and were at least, at the VERY least recycled. I finally found them at weddingpaperdivas.com.

Transportation

We provided transportation for guests from selected hotels to reduce the amount of cars on the road. This also doubled for ease of the wedding guests navigating San Francisco and not worrying about parking in such a busy part of town.

Favors

Instead of handing out favors to guests, we donated to charity. Mark and I donated the amount of money we budgeted for wedding favors to one of my favorite charities, The Square Peg Foundation (everyonefits.org). This issue again touches on the paper/plastic dilemma. I really didn't want to contribute to the demand for mass production of more 'stuff' that would most likely be thrown out anyway. Any amount of money, in my opinion, spent on wedding favors would go so much further donated to a charity, especially in this economy. I think its also a great way to personalize the wedding and show others what causes really move you, and promote awareness.

Floral and Event Design

And finally, we had absolutely beautiful flowers and decorations! :) Finding sustainable flowers for the wedding was extremely important to me. As I began looking into floral designs, I started to wonder about these flowers that seemed so easy to obtain, though I knew that a lot of them were out of season. That snowballed into research on flower growing, labor involvement in other countries (South America particularly), pesticide use, the amount of fuel required to transport out of season flowers from a country in South America to a wedding in San Francisco. None of this made sense to me. To use so much fuel transporting flowers, chemical pesticides (that are not regulated in other countries) that put the environment and people at risk, just for my wedding, didn't sit well. I really hoped that the 'green movement' had already extended to florists, but it really hasn't yet, though its starting to, which is awesome. I was so happy to find Pilar online. I had talked to other florists who were willing to find organic and local flowers for me, but I really wanted to work with someone who was absolutely committed to the idea, not just a bride's wish.

For eco-friendly flower design we use vases made of recycled glass for the centerpieces and large arrangements, locally grown flowers and greens, biodegradable ribbons made of cotton and hemp, we totally avoided floral foam, composted all leftovers, recycled and used rented and reusable vases and hurricanes.

Advice for the Green Bride or Groom:

My advice to other brides interested in planning a 'greener' wedding is to do your research. It can be done, and it doesn't have to cost more or detract from the beauty of the wedding. Instead, I think it adds to the personality of the event. Our wedding was fun, elegant, and everything we wanted, and I'm happier now knowing that that our one day didn't do quite as much damage to the earth and its inhabitants as it could have!

The vendors who helped make this event possible included:

The University Club

Gorgeous and Green Events

LucieXYZ Photography

Jean Marks

Copenhagen Bakery

If you too are interested in greening your wedding, but are unsure how it will affect the look and feel of your event, now you know even the greenest brides can have grand and gorgeous weddings!

G&G