Plan Your "Green Wedding" with Green Elegance Weddings
by Kara DiCamillo, Newport, Rhode Island on 04.11.06
Over the past few weeks we’ve talked a few times about “green weddings,” such as our post on flower petal confetti and our other one on Wholly Jo’s ethically made wedding dresses. Like Organic Weddings, a website we wrote about back in 2004, Green Elegance Weddings is a website that offers hints for couples interested in throwing an eco-friendly wedding. According to Valerie Edmunds, Green Elegance’s founder, the average cost of a wedding in the U.S. today is reported to be over $25,000. With eco-friendly wedding apparel, invitations, gifts, flowers, food and beverages, honeymoons and do-it-yourself projects, Edmunds makes it easier for couples to find the resources they need to direct more of their dollars towards green products and services. A Resource Directory provides links to resources and businesses that provide earth-friendly products and services, while a monthly newsletter features updates on the latest wedding trends. ::Green Elegance Weddings
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I didn't go through Green Elegance Weddings, but had my own green wedding myself last November. And for me it was the committment to making our wedding reflect our lives and what our new lives will be (and are) together. Making it eco-friendly as possible wasn't hard with loving family and friends to help out and chip in. Lavendar buds were thrown instead of rice, we had a vegetarian buffet and decorated with real fall leaves fallen from the trees and gave planting bulbs as favors. It was the most amazing wedding I could ever have imagined and green too.
If you are planning a wedding or hosting events in the Bay Area, and you are interested in green products and services, San Francisco has ZAHZOOM WEDDINGS AND PARTIES to offer in the way of savvy coordination services!...This is a great little company. Nelle is a sweetheart and she'll make it happen! (see ZahZoom.com)
I am also planning a green wedding for June. Since we are from Chicago, it is impractical and not really eco-friendly to have a wedding in nature. So it has been an experience in how to have a green wedding in the city.
There's another great resource that is available in a few major cities in the US. I know they have one for LA. Greenopia puts out a guide that lists all kinds of green vendors to help plan your wedding or anything else green. They have hard copy books but their website is www.greenopia.com.
Rhonda
My sister makes organic cotton wedding canopies for couples to marry under and can then use as an heirloom tablecloth for special dinners after their wedding! Her site is huppahs.com. With coordinating organic napkin linens, it was the most special and meaningful gift I received for my wedding.
HI Rhonda --
LA Greenopia doesn't list anything about green weddings. I talked to one of their directors a few weeks ago, and he said that they believe it is too small a category.
I'll try to push for one, will maybe talk to a few other activist/vendors in the LA area.
Helen