Ironbridekristy's Blog

Green Bride

        In todays world there are two topics that seem to come up consistently, the economy and the environment. While planning a wedding most of us think of the current economic situation, cutting cost where we can, but how often do we think of our enviroment and ways to conserve our natural resources?  I wanted to do research on this topic because my fiance and I are passionate about the environment. I would love to share my findings with you and further help, future brides, with planning a “green wedding.”

           When researching this topic I quickly learned that you can find examples that go from one extreme (hemp bridal gowns) to ones that are simple and rather easy ways to incorporate conservation into your wedding (invitations on recycled paper). When planning your “green wedding” there seemed to be several areas that had multiple ideas for going green. The most common ones had to do with wedding favors, centerpieces, flowers,  wedding dresses, wedding rings, invitations, food and even honeymoons!

          A “green wedding” can have some of the following examples:

• All paper products printed on recycled paper or tree free paper (invitations, thank-yous, save the dates, ceremony programs, place cards)
• Kosher or organic foods
• Handmade or forever linens on the tables
• A hemp wedding dress
• A Consigned wedding dress
• An eco-limo
• Favors from local artisons
• Favors that are seeds, bulbs, plants or trees
• Favors that donate to a good cause
• Wedding rings that are consigned or made from recycled metals
• Flowers from local vendors
• Honeymoons to places that preserve, in some way,  the location you are visiting
• Donating left over food to the homeless
• Guests donating money to local charities instead of giving gifts off a registry

        While I would like to say that I could incorporate all these things in my wedding, I would have to go back and undo some of the planning already done. For now the ideas that my fiance and I would like to strive to use in our wedding are; as many paper products as possible on recycled paper, favors that either donate to a non-profit organization or  give back to our environment (plants), and I would also like to donate my wedding dress to a good cause like Brides Against Breast Cancer. This organization resells wedding dresses while donating the profits to breast cancer research.  

          This is a topic that will keep growing and we will always be learning new ways to protect our environment. One day this topic may actually be one of the important parts to a bride’s planning process. If you want to plan a “green wedding” I hope that you keep some of these ideas in mind. The most important thing to remember is to keep the waste to a minimum level. Weddings have a tendency to be extravagent but there are so many little ways that we can keep our environment in mind.