http://www.lime.com/planet/story/2860/something_borrowed_somethinggreen

Another good article LIME posted regarding green weddings.  I think it is a noble thought to have a eco-friendly wedding.  Just know that you are going to be stressed to begin with and trying to make things green will probably take a little more time.  However, there a many sites out there can help and the article above gives some good suggestions.  Just make sure you try and stay healthy yourself and meditate or find ways to destress.  LIME has many articles and our meditation rooms are wonderful for those who are venturing on this green journey. 

 

 

 

The hubs and I had a lot of green elements in our wedding. Most of them saved us A LOT of money too! We had our wedding in a tiny turn-of-the-century chapel with ornate stained glass windows and plenty of statuary so we didn't need any decorations. My wedding gown was a prom dress with a white shawl. Organic wine was served in a hodge podge of wine glasses from a couple of households. The only favors were little cards with our names and wedding date printed on them (along with plenty of hugs and kisses from us). Our wedding rings came from a pawn shop and when polished up and freshly engraved would have been hard to tell from some 'new' ones! ;)

 

-Shannon

veggie, all natural, (try to be mostly)organic mama :)

Sounds like you were ahead of your time.  Many people get so caught up in all the wrong things when it comes to their wedding.  It was great that you were able to celebrate your day how you wanted to and have it remain green as well.  The only thing green about mine many, many years ago, was the money we spent.  A lot has changed!!

We had a pretty green wedding and while I wouldn't have wanted to do it differently it certainly made for more work and worries. The good is that it keeps your focus away from the silly fluffy stuff of weddings. I wore my mom's dress that my grandmother designed and sewed - just had it fitted to me which was great. And we had it at the beach so only the most simple decorations--some shells, seaglass, and flowers in pots. No favors. Finding real recycled post consumer waste invitations were a challenge and training people to rsvp on line was definitely difficult. We registered at Gaiam to introduce people to a source for green products and because we love their stuff. But people had never heard of it so were reluctant to buy there. Gaiam has some real problems with the registry which they are working on. Not a big deal for us, but some of the people buying the gifts felt that Gaiam had proved them right and they should just stick to Pottery Barn and that's that. So green weddings are great but just keep your patience and your sense of humor and start planning early because everything takes just a little bit longer.

It gives me a lot to think about.  We are thinking about having our son begin bar-mitzvah lessons.  I wonder if there has ever been a green bar-mitzvah?  Trees are a big part of the jewish religion and  their is an entire holiday for it.  It seems that would be a really nice way to tie in being eco-friendly and meaningful at the same time.  I have a few years to ponder that idea.

Did you see Days of Our Lives is having a green wedding?  Maybe this idea will catch on!  There are lots of ways to be ecofriendly in your wedding while also keeping it elegant.  There are also lots of green honeymoon options also.  I wrote an article about green honeymoons on my blog the other day as well as green wedding ideas last week.  http://www.ourweddingplus.com

 

Some are deciding that rather than registering for china and kitchen stuff, they're asking guests to sign up for renewable energy or reforestation programs, or donate money to environmental causes. (Theoretically, that's a cool idea. But I'd I'd be really tempted to put at least a nice set of cookware on the wedding registry.)

 

 Try http://www.registerlocally.com 

 "An Eco-Gift Registry

Bamboo, Hemp, Energy Effecient, Fair Trade Gifts & Add Gifts from Local Stores"

 

New site, but worth a look.

A lot of people won't go to the length mentioned in this article, but the least you can do is recycle the items you do use.  I found a website called www.recycleyourwedding.com that has a cool concept.  It's brides helping brides find items at a great price.  We can extend the life of those items that are typically only used once (dresses, candles, etc).