Little Green (wedding) List

Green Wedding Faves for 2010 - Fabulous Design AND green!

I’m passionate about eco-friendly décor, favors and everything under the sun, especially when it is well designed. Let’s face it, this is our earth, and one we’re passing along for brides & grooms, children & grandchildren…so why not do what makes sense? Weddings can be a big-ticket event with a lot of unfavorable favors…for mother earth that is. 2009 has been a year of green-wedding growth in popularity, and a bandwagon I’m happy to claim I jumped on many years ago. I’ve been green for as long as I can remember, using as much recyclable, reusable products I can get my hands on at every given opportunity. With the economy as it is (need I say that dastardly … “R” word?) going green for your wedding is not only the trendiest thing out there – it’s also more economical. So you can feel good about saving a little ‘green’ by going green!

So here is my “little green list” for weddings – I have a million favorites but for lack of time and holding your attention, I’ll share just a handful - can’t wait to hear what others are finding – share it with us a Bella; we’d love to add it to our new Weekly "green tuesdays!"

For the Bride…green garters...environmentally friendly, mix-n-match wedding garters by Julianne Smith, otherwise known as Garter Girl! I first met Julianne at Engage09 The Encore and love her stuff! Julianne creates a gorgeous line with ribbon detail (umm… looooove ribbon), and a completely environmentally friendly selection. These first-ever, green garters are environmentally friendly (and chic). The wedding garters are made from recycled plastic bottles. The background and accent colors can be mixed and matched to find your perfect style. So, be you and be green! Slate gray with chartreuse? Mmmmm….scrumptious! For information, go to Julianne's site at Julianne Smith.























And eco-friendly wedding dresses? Adele Wechsler has them! Her eco-couture collection offers modern couture gowns crafted from eco-materials like hemp, vegetable dye, and organic silk and recycled lace, not to mention fair trade workers. Organic design elements, individually hand-cut, couture hand detailing, crafted in Canada - the perfect choice for the ECO conscious bride. Can't wait to do photoshoot with these beauties! (hint hint!)
























For the Guest…Plantable Wedding Invitations and Favor tags to adorn guest favors! Made from 100% post-consumer waste and embedded with high-grade, pure North American wildflower seed, these tags will give your favors the perfect final touch. When your guests plant the invitation or tag, it recycles itself into wildflowers.
































Natural Bamboo Eco-Friendly Coaster Favors by Kate Aspen are an affordable, useful favor. Chic and natural! Bamboo is a symbol of luck and success because of its strength, resilience and ability to grow quickly. It is said that bamboo is luckiest when you receive it as a gift, which makes these beautiful, Natural Bamboo Coasters a thoughtful favor for a green wedding or bridal shower! Check out dream green weddings to see a whole slew of fabulous ideas including the bamboo coasters and the new very cool tree branch place card holder made from reclaimed/fallen tree branches. Just love it!!

For the Groom…I’m all about the funky, fun and unexpected! I love the eco-friendly cufflinks from eco-artware.com. You're not really "finished" until you add a pair of cufflinks to your shirt. Imaginative designers are recycling authentic typewriter keys from vintage typewriters, obsolete subway tokens, out-of-date coins, unusable circuit boards and orphan SCRABBLE tiles, and more, into stylish cufflinks - the perfect accessory or gift to enhance any groom or his groomsmen.





















For décor…Nothing’s greener than the great outdoors! Choosing an organic farm or garden is a prime choice when the weather is right! Nature at it’s best is the ultimate canvas, but for winter weddings, or indoor weddings, choosing seasonal blooms grown by local farmers is a favorite choice for me. Hang an orchid chandelier, reuse it for the next mornings brunch, aisle pieces can adorn tables after the ceremony, and all flowers can become mulch after the big day, or get recreated into flowers for a local hospital. Stay tuned for more on eco-friendly wedding ideas, suggestions and just some of my favorite things!

Daniela

Let us know about your fabulous green designs!

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Green Tuesdays: Smock Paper

I recently found Smock Paper and swoon! I am in love. I have always had a love for letterpress - there is something about the words being deeply cushioned into the paper...

Since I prefer sustainable products when possible, I am always on the lookout for eco-conscious wedding vendors and sustainable wedding products such as 'green' wedding invitations. And so, I found Smock. These are not your typical "handmade paper with a twig through them" type of green wedding invitations. Smock uses stunning bamboo paper combined with a letterpress technology that is extremely green, using only vegetable-oil based and low-Volatile Organic Compound (VOC) inks and low-VOC and citrus-based solvents. Even their packaging is biodegradable, tree-free, and petroleum-free. Their green office and employee programs are amazing, and something any company should strive to even do a small percentage of - to read more check out their efforts here.

Why Bamboo? Smock's fabulous website says it best: "Bamboo is a truly sustainable and renewable resource. It's the fastest growing plant on this planet; it grows without pesticides or fertilizers; and it requires very little water to grow. In addition to not requiring pesticides or fertilizers, bamboo reaches its mature harvestable height in 3 to 5 years (versus 10-20 years for most softwoods). Bamboo generates up to 35% more oxygen than hardwood trees, and absorbs four times as much carbon as hardwood. Bamboo can detoxify wastewater (due to its high nitrogen consumption) and improve soil quality. If that wasn't enough, bamboo also has natural anti-bacterial and anti-fungal properties too."

I was lucky to get some samples of Smock's invitations at the Special Event Conference last month in San Diego and found it absolutely yummy - thick, yet yielding to the touch, very soft, and perfect for letterpress.

How fabulous to get the luxury of letterpress on sustainably created paper form a company whose mission is to make the planet a better place for all of us, one wedding at a time? Thank you, Smock Paper!

Daniela

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