How to plan a "GREEN" wedding.

How to Plan a Green Wedding

Sure, green weddings are all the rage, but you'll need to go the extra mile to make yours stand apart from the rest.

Green Weddings – Things to Consider:
Simplify
The overarching theme here should be simplification. There are eco-friendly versions of most wedding products, but the best option is usually to forego the items altogether. Reuse wherever possible - and save not only resources, but cash too.

Weigh the expenses
That said, some items you just can't live without, and usually the green version is more expensive than the original. You'll need to factor this into your wedding budget. To keep your budget in check, determine which areas you're willing to spend more on for a good cause (i.e. organic cuisine), and where you can save to make up for that added expense (i.e. forego the wedding dress or favors). This wedding budget guide offers even more budgeting advice

Patronize
Many new companies have entered the growing green weddings market. Before booking your vendors, check out businesses that claim to provide green services and confirm that they really do.

Inform
One green turn deserves another. Let your guests know the steps you've taken to plan your green wedding, and show them that an elegant event doesn't have to be harmful to the environment. Who knows, many of your guests may be inspired to do the same.

All in the Details – Green Wedding Ideas
Invitations & Stationery
1. Recycle - use recycled paper or paper made from alternative fiber – such as hemp or bamboo. Check out these resources for an array of custom, recycled papers: Custompaper.com or JamPaper.com
2. Splurge on calligraphy – calligraphy may cost more, but it saves inks, toners, solvents and chemicals involved in printing.
3. Condense – save trees by minimizing inserts and other paper products. Always print on front and back, and try to fit it all on one sheet.
4. Go completely green – send all correspondence via email. The etiquette gods may swoon – but if you're dead set on being green, electronic mailings are the most earth friendly way to go.

Location
1. Rent for a cause - find a venue that will benefit from your site rental fee – such as a museum, gallery or other cultural organization. Confirm how that venue will use your fee.
2. Go outside - a beach, the woods, gardens – they all make an ideal setting for a green wedding (just be sure to leave it as you found it).
3. Find a green venue - some venues are demonstrating a commitment to saving water and energy, reducing waste, or serving locally grown/organic menus. Check out these resources for green minded venues:
- Green Hotels Association (www.greenhotels.com)
- Green Seal (www.greenseal.com)

Décor Elements
1. Use candlelight – not only are candles energy efficient, they also create a soft romantic glow for an elegant reception. Better yet, look for soy candles - they're cleaner and longer burning since they're made from a renewable resource.
2. Use bamboo – one of the most sustainable materials on earth, bamboo is an eco-friendly décor option with an organic, modern feel. Use bamboo stalks for centerpieces or other décor elements.

Flowers
1. Think double duty – invite your ceremony arrangements to the reception! You can use them to decorate your cake or gift table – you'll waste less and save money doing it.
2. Buy organic, locally grown blooms – organic flowers are grown in an environmentally friendly way, without pesticides.
Getting locally grown ones will save the fuel burned from transporting the flowers. If you can't find a local florist who can provide organic blooms, order yours from OrganicBouquet.com
3. Conserve cut flowers – using cut flowers just once is a waste. See if you can share yours with another wedding taking place on the same day.
4. Skip cut flowers altogether – top your tables with potted arrangements for guests to take and plant in their yards after the wedding.

Menu
1. Think organic – ensure that you, your guests and the staff won't be exposed to pesticides. Many caterers specialize in organic foods, and almost any caterer can provide an organic menu if you ask them.
2. Think local – if you're concerned about the cost involved in a completely organic menu, go local instead. Serving locally grown food eliminates fuel reliance and supports local farmers. Check out Localharvest.org or Localfoodworks.org to find farmers markets, farms and other sources of local food.
3. Reuse utensils – find a caterer who recycles materials and/or uses linen and china instead of disposables.
4. Donate the leftovers – work with your caterer to send leftovers to a food shelter or other organization.

Cake
1. Sub ingredients – have your baker use organic and/or local sugar, flour, butter and eggs. Some bakers even specialize in organic cakes.

Attire
1. Go secondhand – a used gown reduces fuels used in creating a new one.
2. Get green fibers – natural fibers like silk and organic cotton are better for the environment than synthetic ones.
3. Go couture – if your wallet can afford it, couture gowns are usually made from natural fabrics.
4. Donate – provide a green gown decision for another bride when you give or sell yours after the wedding.

Favors
Avoid wasteful trinkets - donate to a charity in the name of your guests

Transportation
1. Limit long distance travel – have the wedding in a location where few guests will have to fly to get there.
2.Walk - host your room block, ceremony and reception at the same site – or within walking distance
3. Carpool – organize car pools for your guests in hybrid vehicles
4. Getaway in low emission style – get creative and use a non-motorized vehicle for your final sendoff – bikes, horseback, sleds, skates, wagons, or any old school conveyance will do.

Other Green Ideas
The truth is – no matter how great your green intentions are, most weddings have a huge environmental impact from the fuel used transporting your guests – via car or plane – to your wedding. Since this is extremely difficult to avoid, the "greenest" brides are purchasing carbon offsets to reduce their wedding's footprint.

How it works: calculate the mileage guests will travel, and offset their carbon dioxide emissions by donating to programs that plant trees or preserve rain forests. TerraPass.com is a website that does this for you – you enter your wedding details, and the site calculates your footprint, charges you accordingly, and then invests the money for you in energy saving technologies.
Article Author:
Cori Russell of Elegala.com and Gala Weddings Magazine

Wedding Candles!

Wedding Candles
by: Michael Kabel

Wedding candles symbolize hope, romance, tradition, and spirituality. The flame of a candle represents passion, loyalty, and devotion. A lit candle in a window denotes home and homecomings; two candles lit together signify unity.



During the wedding ceremony, a lighted candle represents the bond between two people, the enduring flame shining as an example to others. Such symbols have for thousands of years been part of the marriage ritual, and are found across virtually all cultures. The use of tapers – slim, individual candles – to light a single unity candles is also a popular ritual, and retailers are beginning to stock such items in a variety of shapes and themes.



Modern wedding candles often reflect something important to the couple’s values. For example, at one recent wedding, a couple with Irish heritage chose to light a unity candle with an Irish wedding blessing inscribed on its side. At another, a deeply religious man and woman lighted a candle with a verse from the book of Corinthians printed along its stem. The verse included special words about the joining of man and woman, words they felt especially pertinent to their faith and marriage.



In wedding receptions, candles are increasingly popular as wedding favors, given to guests as a kind of symbolic thank you and reproduction of the ceremony’s significance. With the gift of a candle, guests feel part of the ceremony and take their favor away as a kind of souvenir of the reception itself. There are several different kinds of candles used as favors available. One recent trend is giving a candle personalized with the couple’s name and the date of the ceremony on the base or stem. Another is giving candles shaped like wedding elements – a wedding cake candle, for example, or candles shaped like coffee cups and saucers.



Candles might also highlight an event’s theme. Receptions with a beach theme might order candles with seashell decorations; fall-themed weddings might include gel candles with leaves pressed inside. One couple, whose groom was a career Navy officer, gave candles with sculpted anchors to each of their guests. The candles were lit at the beginning at the dinner, and flooded the reception hall with quiet elegance.



Some experts point to the recent popularity of candles as a resurgence in attention to tradition. “People ask for candles, because they want that classic touch of elegance,” one Atlanta-based wedding planner said. “You hear about a candlelit dinner, it impresses immediately. I think, especially for larger receptions, the candles encourage a sense of intimacy that maybe you wouldn’t otherwise have in a room full of people. It’s hard to find fault with the sight of dozens of candles burning, anyway.”



There are candles available for any number of themes, and most are reasonably priced and can be ordered in volume.



My Wedding Favors.com has a complete selection of both unity candles and candle favors, many of which may be personalized and order in volume. For a complete listing of the company’s products, please visit their website here: www.myweddingfavors.com.