Green Living
akg0053
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Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
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Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Deleted
Re: Deleted
Not at all.
I was fairly eco-concious at that time but it really didn't enter into wedding planning. I mean we didn;t use paper plates or plastic cups, but still, we did paper invites and RSVP cards, etc.
I wasn't very EF back then, but I wanted to keep things simple so we didn't have a lot of waste. I didn't do a lot of keepsakes and our favors were chocolates.
Oh and we used postcards for RSVPs
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we used recycled paper for our cards, and postcards as RSVPs. we had a candy buffet for favors. i had a vintage dress, that i had embellished with second hand lace and beads. we used local vendors, and locally grown, organic flowers and after the wedding brought them to a childrens hospital.
we used 1 bus, instead of multiple cars. the afterparty was at a local bar with locally brewed beer.
the for our honeymoon, we stayed sort of local and drove to these eco friendly, vegetarian b and b: http://www.endeavorsin.com/home/treegap-retreat.html
so, not perfect, but still good.
We used local vendors who used organic products..we used a trolley to transport people--and we went to Costa Rica for our honeymoon. Home of ecotourism.
But I'm not going to lie and say those were consciously done in the name of EF..they just were.
er... I used local flowers, from a small private grower
Count me in on 'not a darn thing' and that I didn't even consider it. It really wasn't something I was all that conscious of at the time.
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I did my best to be "green-ish" with our wedding. Our invitations (and all other paper accessories) were printed on recycled paper, and we set out recycling baskets for the programs after the ceremony; our wedding menu was vegetarian; we used local vendors, and the ceremony and reception were in one location (to cut down on transportation needs/gas usage). We let groomsmen wear their own suits, and the bridesmaids wore dresses that could easily be reworn for another event. We avoided all things "disposable". For our day-after barbecue, we used compostable glasses and dishware. We went to Costa Rica for our honeymoon, where we tried to choose eco-conscious hotels/tours, and we even did a homestay for one week of our trip...
I'm sure there's other things, but that's what I can remember off-hand. I wish we could have done more (I really wish I could have purchased organic flowers!), but we did the best we could while staying within our means, our available planning time, and our own sense of style/aesthetics.
Recycled paper and minimalist invites with postcard RSVPs; favors were wine made from a friend using recycled wine bottles (he cleaned them thoroughly, of course); minimalist use of flowers--only two arrangements at the ceremony, which were then brought to the reception; rehearsal dinner used potted plants and herbs, which we reused at the reception and then kept them afterwards; local vendors, local products; used old jars and bottles rather than buy new vases; ceremony site was in a state park (not actually "green" but definitely showing our connection to nature.) I know there are more things, but I'm missing them...
After all of that, we had a semi-destination wedding (every guest travelled at least 3 hours to get there) which TOTALLY offput all of our attempts to be green.
I really suck at staying pregnant
Ha, it wasn't so much that we were going for "green," but for "cheap"!!!
We did have paper invitations, but they were one card, simple, and from an indie local designer and printer. We got married in a public flower garden, our friends all lived within 45 miles, and we had our reception in a small jazz club... so with the dim lights, I suppose we saved some electricity!!!
Oh and no honeymoon... no flights or cruise.
Honestly, we didn't attempt to be green, but we did not do a bad job at all.
We made a bit of an effort, though I'm sure we could have done more. We:
- planted a tree (well, watered it, as I was in an ivory dress!) as part of our ceremony, which was held outdoors in a garden area - eliminating the need for ceremony decorations
- held the ceremony & reception in the same location so no travel was needed in between
- used recycled paper invites and plantable seeded handmade paper for the placecards
- offered a vegan meal option
- gave Endangered Species chocolate as favors
Not caring about missing RSVPs because there aren't any rocks!
I think cutting down on the unnecessary disposable things is a great step. If you can cut out the bunting, the aisle runner, bubbles or bells for the ceremony exit, favors that are going to be thrown away... I'd suggest it. I borrowed my friend's cake cutting set, Spanx (they were washed and not sexed in! :-p), bracelet, dress tape, blusher veil, etc. All that stuff costs money and is a one-time item with not a whole lot of sentimentality (imo). Being frugal is certainly in line with being green... all that purchased stuff has to go somewhere eventually!
No diamonds or precious metals, our rings are made of wood. Scandalous. Some people don't believe we are actually married
I wore a used dress that I bought for $35 on Ebay. Doubly scandalous.
We didn't really purchase much of anything "new" for the wedding. I guess I bought a new pair of shoes, but I still wear them three years later!
We're in the middle of planning ours right now, and really trying to make a big effort to reduce our impact where we can. Some of the things we've done:
- Purchasing carbon credits to offset our guests travel and the event itself
- All dresses are being created by a local seamstress. They're all organic cotton or linen and were deemed "re-wearable" by the girls.
- The groomsmen are wearing khakis and a button down shirt that can be worn again.
- Our invites are 100% post-consumer recycled paper from a company that is 100% wind powered. I am DIYing and printing them double-sided so there are no inserts for accommodations, RSVP, etc. Also no inside envelope, just the outer one.
- We are having online and telephone RSVP so there are no emissions associated with returning the RSVPs and also saving paper (and postage!).
- All centerpieces are potted florals planted by me. I'm planting them inside a hollowed out tree trunk of a downed tree, so no unnecessary materials used for the pots.
- I'm skipping corsages and bouts. All bouquets will be hand picked from a local organic farmer's market.
- We're using corn-based compostable water bottles for our OOT bags, along with snacks from Costco doled out into reusable muslin produce bags for each OOT bag so we're not creating a ton of waste in packaging.
- We're skipping paper wherever possible - ie: table numbers are wooden numbers that can be resold or re-purposed after the wedding
- No disposable cups, plate, silverware, napkins, etc.
I'm sure there are more little details, but those are the big ones off the top of my head...
We held our wedding and reception at the same venue. The food was mostly local as was the wine. We didn't do a whole lot of decorating other than things that could be reused/eaten. All our paper products could be recycled.
Oh and we did phone or email RSVP.
Not that green, considering 18 people flew to a Greek island for our wedding, 3 from outside Europe.
But we did make it a week long, so that it could double as a real holiday for the people coming. We didn't use anything disposable and used local flowers for decorations and flowers already in the island florist for my bouquet (no special orders from Athens). We ate local food and all the wine we drank came from the island.
I also handmade my invitations and only sent out 50. I then resold the extra card stock (but this was mainly a money saver). I bought my tiara used and handmade my jewelry.
If I were to do it again, I'd buy offsets for the flights. I'd still have my amazing fairytale wedding there. We would have had second hand wedding rings or fairtrade certified gold. This is something I regret.
You might look at this blog:
www.younghouselove.com
They did some neat "Green" stuff for their at home wedding. They even have a tab for their wedding that tells all the stuff they did.
Also..we got married at a Botanical Garden. I forgot that part. Location
..a cite dedicated to saving the planet ;D