How will YOU make green your color?
The Green Wedding Showcase wants to hear from YOU - from real brides going green on your day. Please send us your Real Green Story with photos of the eco-friendly elements you are planning for your Big Day in 2010 - or if it already happened, send your wedding picts and tell us all about having a green wedding!
Learning from each other is a great way to be both eco-friendly and friendly! Email us your story and pictures and we'll get them on the Mid-Atlantic Green Wedding Showcase blog to share with other environmentally-aware brides and grooms!
How One Maryland Bride Makes Green her Color:
Ok I'll be honest...I'm a little new to the green movement, however it seems that everyone in my life is either embracing it or has been living by it for years. These factors (plus the obvious...save our one and only planet !) really encouraged me to get on board as I embarked on my most expensive and expansive journey of my life -- my wedding!!
One of the first decisions during my planning process I made was to have a reception dress....a shorter-length, more cocktail style of a dress to slip into after the ceremony and pictures, which would enable me to party and dance more freely. I mean...I LOVE to dance...and who wants to dance the night away in a floor length wedding gown? Hey, it's my party and I'm going to live it up! :-)
On one fateful trip to Bethesda, Maryland, I drove past a consignment shop that had a stunning pink silk dress in the window. I immediately wanted it for my reception dress. The shop was the Designer Resale Boutique on St. Elmo Avenue. The dress was vintage Betsey Johnson...100% silk, two tone-pink....PERFECT! And did I mention, it fit like it was made for me! Ooooo and one more thing, the day I was in the shop was their annual 1/2 off EVERYTHING in the store sale! It was fate...I cannot wait to surprise everyone at my wedding my changing into this stunning pink silk party dress - that is basically a recycled dress!
all photos (3) by balance photography
Heading back to my car, I slipped into an adorable shop with the title Creative Parties Ltd., not really knowing what I would find. To my delight, it was an invitation shop!!! They had a fantastic selection of all kinds of pre-designed invites, different papers, colors...everything a girl could want! INCLUDING a huge selection of recycled paper to print invitations on! This fit great into my whole "green scheme". I decided on a "Sugar Maple Metallic" paper with a "Magnolia" envelope from the Green Paper Company. And even better, my invitations will be printed with soy ink.
Being a graphic designer, I am picky about paper stock. There is absolutely no difference in quality between recycled paper and non-recycled, but the benefits of recycled paper and soy ink far outweigh the traditional in regard to environmental impact. The recycled paper stock is just gorgeous, too!
Another green element of my wedding that was very simple to achieve was purchasing handkerchiefs from a vintage shop as gifts for my mom and the groom's mom. Mine came from Retropolitan in Old Ellicott City. Aside from being green, they add a significance and a certain charm that you just don't have with a new hankie purchased at a chain store.
Speaking of vintage, I will be using an heirloom - the lace that bound my mom's bouquet from her wedding on my own, which adds a lot of sentimental value to me and her too I'm sure :-)
My guests will be going green as well! (Even if they don't realize it!) My rehearsal dinner, wedding ceremony and reception will all be held in the same place, and the hotel we reserved rooms at is within easy walking distance...no cars needed! We are serving Maryland crabs and have a vegetarian dinner option as well, with seasonal veggies like spring asparagus!
~ from April 2010 bride, Brittany
No comments:
Post a Comment