Backyard or Garden Weddings

For a backyard or garden wedding, the natural elements act as a lovely backdrop. The setting can not only be romantic, but also very green. You often need less decor to give the event style and color, and nature is right under your feet, so it's easier to pay attention to the effect your wedding has on it!

For an evening or night wedding reception, you'll probably need lighting, and I found some lovely eco-friendly lighting possibilities. They come from Allsop Home and Garden, a family business that is known for their solar technology and garden art. They have some really cool solar powered hand blown lanterns, both hanging and stakes, that would look great at an outdoor wedding venue.

Check out some of their designs:




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Eco Bridal Jewelry Contest

Just a quick note, my friend Katherine Dalpra at Green Diva jewelry is giving away a $250 shopping spree for eco-conscious bridal jewelry. To enter the contest go here and answer a few quick questions about eco accessories. 2nd place winner gets a copy of The Green Bride Guide by Kate Harrison.

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Vintage Dresses = Green Dresses

These lovely dresses are from a collection of vintage and restyled vintage dresses from Recapture, a couture bridal service that specializes in vintage gowns from Victorian times to the 70's.




These dresses are super cool and so great because they are made from reused fabrics and lace!

I had the pleasure of meeting Robin, the owner, after opening my boutique last month in Berkeley. Her salon is just a few minutes from me and I hope to work with her more in the future, since Vintage is often such a stylish way to go green.


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Go Vintage and Go Green

A lot of couples are choosing a vintage look for their wedding decor. From Damask prints to polka dots, 40's Hollywood or 20's Gatsby; what better way to achieve the look than with actual vintage and reused items? Use vintage for the wedding dress, suit, veil, floral containers, etc. With a little bit of research and work you can find the perfect vintage items to go with your scheme and style. And, you'll keep items out of the landfills and reduce your carbon footprint by reducing your dependence on newly manufactured items.

Talk with vendors and see if they can help support your mission to reduce and reuse vintage and antique materials. You might be able to find a dress maker who can use recycled fabrics and lace from other dresses.

Dress made with vintage materials, photo courtesy of heartstudios

Vintage dress and style, photo courtesy of Mock Photography

Or, you may find a florist or event designer (like me) who has a collection of vintage glass, decor or containers that you can rent for the event.

Milk and green glass available to rent from Gorgeous and Green

Vintage is very stylish and very green.

G&G

Earth and Budget Friendly Tip #1

On a budget these days? Looking for green decor options but want to stay friendly to your budget as well as the planet? For designs on a budget, use found containers for your flowers or other decor. Whether you use what you have at home or ask around from friends and family, you might be able to come up with a collection of vases or dishes that could work. Most florists or caterers would be willing to include those items in the day's festivities, as I did last year with Gorgeous and Green. Take a look:

Pictures courtesy of Heart Studios

We went with a cobalt blue glass theme, and incorporated used vases that I found on my end and that the bride and her family collected on their end. From round and tall, to small and narrow, the collection was varied but went together nicely.

And, after the event, they all went home with their original owners.

G&G

Local Sweet Favors

Why not go local for your wedding favors? Locally made and sold products cuts down on pollution and you'll know that your giving your guests a little bit of love that will benefit your local economic community as well. If you can, try sourcing organic or recycled products if possible, and add to the positive effect of your purchase.

Here in the Bay Area, we have a plethora of local craftspeople, artists, farmers and food artisans. But I'm sure every local community is known for local goods or art, you just have to do your homework.

I have become well acquainted with two Bay Area businesses who create sweet treats that can be used as wedding favors: Marshall's Farm and Coracao Confections. Both produce wonderful products.



Coracao Confections make lovely organic, vegan and raw chocolate confections. They use superfoods like acai, goji and maca and other tasty treats like almonds and coconut.




They have a two piece box that would act as wonderful treats for wedding guests:

Each box contains a superberry cup (antioxidants) and a caramel. Both look and taste delicious.






Marshall's Farm produces (with the help of local bees) natural and raw honey from various areas around the Bay. Not only is it delicious, but it has some natural allergy relief built in for those who live here. Check out their small 2 oz pots of honey that would look great on each guest's place setting:



They have several types of honey collected from local sites around the Bay, so depending on where you live or are having your event, you can get specific honey.

Supporting local businesses and craftspeople is not only sustainable for the environment, but for your community. The more we learn to depend and thrive on what is in our neighborhood, the healthy our communities will become.

G&G

Organic Cakes

Most weddings I have ever been to have a cake. It's sort of the frosting on the wedding if you can handle that pun. For just one item, it tends to take up quite a bit of the wedding budget. So why not make it sustainable and organic? Your tummy and your planet will thank you.

Organic cake bakers are few and far between, but I bet you can find someone in your local area who can make your cake organic. I had the pleasure of interviewing a local organic baker for my Gorgeous and Green blog. Her name is Edith Meyer and I would like to share their story here to give you an idea of what it might mean to be an organic baker:

1. Why did you start your business and how did you decide to get involved in making organic/sustainable cakes?

One of my best friends who knew I liked to bake asked me to make her wedding cake. And it turned out to be a five-tiered, hand-painted, fondant-covered, crazy-elaborate undertaking. But I LOVED it. And it turns out that most wedding cakes actually aren't good - all the focus is on the design.

So I started the business to provide great-tasting cakes and desserts for weddings. An organic focus is honestly just a part of my lifestyle, which happens to translate very organically (pardon the pun) into the best-tasting products. You want your guests to enjoy every aspect of the wedding, and the dessert should be a part of that!

2. How would you define sustainable living?

In the most simple of terms, we need to be conscious of the impact that we have on the world around us, and take steps in as many areas of our lives as we can to reduce our negative impact.

3. What do you think is the biggest barrier in getting couples to choose a green/sustainable wedding?

Hm. My first instinct is to say cost, but I don't think that is really it. People see weddings as the one day when it IS about them, and when they CAN splurge, so they often don't want to make compromises like wearing a recycled dress or having a few less pieces of beautiful paper in the invitations. And I can understand that. (Although I think hemp silk dresses like those at conscious clothing should change EVERYONE'S mind!! )

Maybe choose SOME sustainable elements, like centerpieces, flowers, favors, and feel really good about those choices. Lack of education is a barrier - people are still learning what "green" really means with respect to weddings. And there are some murky areas, like carbon offsets for your traveling guests. I don't think I'd recommend them until there is more transparency about where the money goes. Luckily, as the green movement gathers steam there is a cache in identifying with it, and couples who live sustainably clearly want that reflected in their weddings. So I think the barriers are getting smaller.

There is NO barrier when it comes to edibles, I think (lucky for me!). Organic just tastes better, period. So spending a little more on food and dessert that tastes AMAZING is worth it to most people - they want to honor the guests who have come to honor the two of THEM, and serving a great meal is the best way to do that. I honestly cannot tell you the number of clients who have been to a number of cake tastings, and after one bite they're sold. It is THAT different.

4. How is your business green/sustinable?

What do you wish you could do or >have to make it more green or better for people and the planet? Since day one, all of our cakes' ingredients are organic, and we source locally whenever possible. We work with local farmers to source everything from eggs and butter to berries and vegetables. Even our chocolates and coffee beans are organic and fair-trade. My office is completely solar-powered; we recycle and compost everything we can - I even have a recycled-bottle cover for my iPhone (thank you, Agent 18! ).

My transportation is NOT hybrid, because a) it's older and paid for and I don't want to scrap it until it's necessary, and b) because the battery issues with hybrids still aren't ideal, I think. So I guess I wish I could have a teleportation device to just magically appear at far-away venues, cakes in hand. :)

5. What is the most un-green or unsustainable wedding practice that you can think of or have seen in your experience?

As cool as they are, I think destination weddings to remote islands are pretty consumptive. Luckily they're also usually pretty small, so let's hope that helps offset the impact.

6. Let's pretend for a moment that you could create one green invention in your life (that worked) what would it be?

Hm - what a difficult, broad question. Tiny, incredibly efficient, non-polluting, affordable power sources for everyone? Tricky! In the meantime, we can all just manage ourselves as thoughtfully as possible.

Thanks Edith for your answers and artistic talent!

G&G