Photo Credit: Robert Garey (Me in the Dominican Republic)
Your wedding is perhaps the foremost opportunity to express your uniqueness to the world, and for many, this uniqueness includes a passion for justice, sustainability, and humanitarianism. Defying much of the culturally-accepted self-indulgence that saturates most weddings, increasingly couples are choosing to use their wedding to change the world; after all, anytime you get a large group of people together, there is inherently an opportunity to bring increased awareness, fundraising potential, and a moment to demonstrate sustainability. Consider your wedding as an opportunity to change the world!
Photo Credit: Natalie Maynor
Food
Accessibility to local, organic, and even vegan or kosher menus for your wedding is practically universal today regardless of where you might be having your wedding. In fact, the degree at which you want to bring organic anything into your wedding often depends simply upon how deep your pocketbook is. Currently, the ability to have virtually everything in your wedding as local and organic is fully possible– everything from food, to makeup, to fabrics.
Invitations
WeddingWindow’s RSVP feature makes it easy to send eco-friendly, electronic wedding invitations via email to your wedding attendees, thus eliminating the need for elaborate paper invitations as well as return RSVP notes and postage. It’s a simple, affordable, and efficient way to save some trees and still have a reliable invitation list from which to plan from.
Reduce, Recycle, & Reuse
New doesn’t necessarily mean better! Resist the temptation to buy that new designer dress and liven up your grandma’s classic gown or purchase a (slightly) used dress from sites such as smartbride.com and oncewed.com. Search Craigslist or Ebay for used wedding decor rather than purchasing new. Also, place recycle bins adjacent to the garbage cans at your reception and get your wedding guests in on making your wedding green.
Photo Credit: NeatoRama.com
Diamonds & Rings
Purchasing a diamond and other jewelry and knowing that some poor soul wasn’t exploited for the sake of it’s discovery is increasingly becoming of the utmost importance to socially-aware brides and grooms. Awareness of such injustices has been made mainstream by Hollywood (see Blood Diamond), but manufacturers and vendors are taking action to ensure that diamonds and precious metals are being brought to market in ethical and humane ways. Some of these committed jewelers include:
- Green Karat
- Aid Through Trade
- Fair Trade Gems
- Costello International
- Global Handcrafters
- Junk to Jewels
- Kazuri America
- Leber Jeweler
- Make Piece/Peace Inc.
- Peter Stone Co.
- WorldFinds
Favors & Gifts
This is where you can get as creative as your humanitarian ambitions lies. For example, my bride and I decided that instead of giving out party favors to our guests, we invited everyone to “Help Us Start Our Family” by helping us sponsor four orphans in India. Other ideas that we considered were building a well through Charity:Water and funding International Justice Mission’s ongoing work to fight human trafficking. The opportunities for creative awareness and fundraising are endless!
How will your wedding change the world?
Healing the World … One Wedding at a Time
Fall is in full swing here in Boston and the leaves are just beautiful! I’ve been lucky to get an amazing view of the changing seasons each weekend while running along the Charles River. A recent drive to a friend’s wedding provided hours of gorgeous scenery along the Connecticut and New York highways. So with all this natural beauty surrounding us, this seems like a perfect time to look at weddings that celebrate the majesty of our environment and respect the world around us.
Ideas for an Environmentally Friendly Wedding
Now let’s be honest, a lot of attention has been paid lately to weddings that are “environmentally friendly,” “sustainable” and my personal favorite, “eco-chic.” But what does this really mean? And how does the savvy bride work this into the overall look and feel of her wedding while making sure her personal style shines through? The good news is … however she wants! There’s no need to feel that, in order to bring an eco-conscious feel to your wedding, you need to transport the entire affair to a barn situated on an organic farm and dress your bridesmaids in dresses woven from hemp cloth. There are many ways to keep your wedding stylish and down-to-earth (pun totally intended) at the same time!
Photo Credit: TheAdmiralsInn.com
Your reception location will provide the greatest opportunity to green your wedding. When checking out your list of banquet halls, hotels and other locales, ask your guide what efforts they’re making to reduce carbon emissions, recycle and conserve water. Larger hotels will almost certainly have programs in place; we’ve all seen the cards by the bed encouraging guests not to change the linens daily. Other locations may be known for their responsibility programs; for instance, my sister’s wedding took place at a beautiful Inn powered entirely by wind!
Of course, my favorite means of upping a wedding’s eco-chic factor is by incorporating local and organic food. It’s clear that natural and organic foods taste better and are better for you. As an added bonus, incorporating local foods to your wedding menu can introduce guests to the local bounty of your wedding location. Who wouldn’t love lobster at a summer wedding in Maine, or some Creole delicacies at a wedding in the Louisiana bayou?
Photo Credit: Boston.com
In other good news, many bridal designers are using organic fabrics and other environmentally friendly elements in their wedding gown designs. Check out these gorgeous styles from Adele Wechsler who designed a line “for the bride who cares about the world in which she lives.”
Photo Credit: Brides.com
Photo Credit: Brides.com
Photo Credit: Brides.com
photo Credit: Brides.com
And it’s almost too easy to use cotton, recycled paper or vegetable inks for your invitations. Many stationers are offering greener choices for notifying your guests about the festivities ahead. Here’s a beautiful choice from Hoot Studios; they’re made of 100% post-consumer recycled paper, and save paper by having your guests reply via postcard.
Photo Credit: FineStationery.com
Photo Credit: FineStationery.com
I hope I’ve given you a few ideas for adding a little “green” to your wedding – no matter what your color scheme!