Tips For a Green Wedding (Part 2)
Wedding dresses
Wear your mother's vintage wedding gown, or search vintage clothing shops, consignment shops and thrift stores for previously worn dresses. You can save a big pile of money that you can use for the honeymoon, furnishing your new home, or a donation to your favorite environmental cause.
Consider buying a dress that isn't too formal and could be worn for other special occasions after the wedding.
If you truly desire a new dress, purchase one that is made from natural materials such as silk, cotton or hemp. Hemp is widely respected among environmentalists because it can be grown with little use of pesticides and returns most nutrients to the soil.
Gifts and Favors
Couples receive numerous gifts that, while may be well intentioned, aren't what the couple needs or are not chosen with thought to their impact on the environment. Create a green bridal registry at a store that sells environmentally-conscious goods. If there are none in your area, create a wish list of earth-friendly products from the store you have chosen to handle your registry.
Ask that in lieu of gifts your guests make a donation to your favorite charity or environmental group.
Wedding favors are a nice gesture of thanks to your guests for sharing your special day. Give a gift baskets of green paper products, or small potted plants that your guests can take home with them.
Handmade soaps, organic jellies or chocolates, small packets of organic tea, and soy candles make lovely thank-you gifts for your bridesmaids, groomsmen, and ushers..
Wedding Rings
A great deal of natural resources and energy go into creating elaborate wedding rings. Consider buying pre-owned rings which can be re-fashioned, or a very simple ring. Ethical diamonds are a socially-conscious choice.
Entertainment
Hire local acoustic groups to entertain, to reduce the amount of traveling time and use of natural resources required for the group to perform.
Rent or borrow a karaoke machine and let guests entertain themselves! Yes, the machines take energy, but much less than an electrically-powered band will require. And think of the hilarious home videos you will have to remember the occasion!
Photography
Engage a photographer who works in digital format, reducing the amount of paper used and eliminating photography chemicals. Digital photos are much more environmentally friendly and easier to share.
Confetti
After the ceremony, have guests throw biodegradable confetti, native wildflower seeds, pesticide-free dried flower petals, blow home-made soap bubbles in recyclable containers, or ring handbells.
Clean Up
Use a clean-up service that will agree to sort recyclable plastic and paper waste products and send them to a recycling center. Request that they use biodegradable, non-toxic cleaners.
Honeymoon
There's just no getting around it; flying contributes to ozone depletion. Choose a honeymoon destination that can be reached on foot, by bicycle, boat, or train. If you must fly, make a donation to an environmental cause to relieve your guilt!
Have your travel agent book your reservation at a resort or hotel that is socially and environmentally sensitive; that recycles and reuses, and offers vegan or vegetarian menus, electric/hybrid car rentals, and natural adventures that are off the beaten path.
Find a secluded camping spot, and spend your honeymoon enjoying nature and each other!
Use the marvelous occasion of your marriage to teach your guests about minimizing waste and saving our natural resources. Living minimally, without excess, should be the goal of every environmentally-conscious person. By your public example you may instill in your guests a respect for our earth and a determination to walk on the greener side of life!