Having an Eco-Chic Wedding may be all the rage right now, but being thoughtful about the environment and the global community has been a part of my life since I was a child. I spent part of my childhood in Ketchum Idaho, and I graduated from the University of Colorado at Boulder in 1993. I was raised on alfalfa sprouts and tofu. The concept for this book was born when I was working as the Event Director for Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia in New York. After planning many weddings and wedding industry events, I started to see a surprising lack of awareness within bridal market about emotional, spiritual, and environmental well-being. All too often, the wedding industry treated brides-to-be like the stereotypical image of a bride—panicky, stressed, the ultimate consumer.
The first step to being an eco-chic bride is to realize that there really isn’t a "right" way to have a wedding – that so much of what you have heard about the do’s and don’t is really just marketing. We may be savvy businesswomen, with years of experience in the world, but once we put on the bride-to-be hat (tiara?) we kind loose our footing. It’s no wonder we feel overwhelmed--the wedding industry has more than doubled in the last 20 years. Many brides and grooms go into terrible debt in an effort to achieve what they think their wedding should be. To make sure you are or not one of these brides, take some time now to think about why you want certain things at your wedding. Is it because it’s what you think should happen? Or is it because you are listening to all of the messages being directed at you by the wedding industry. The fact of the matter is, most often what’s good for us is also good for the environment. So this book is about conserving all resources – including your money.
You can be stylish while also being socially and environmentally thoughtful, and it is a wise decision to choose a path of reduced consumption and practice true respect for ourselves and for our world. Follow a few simple wedding planning strategies and you will make a difference.
Emily is now the author of Eco-Chic Weddings a book she wrote after seeing a surprising lack of awareness within the bridal market about emotional, spiritual, and environmental well-being. Visit Emily and all her great ideas at www.ecochicweddings.com
Tips for an Eco-Chic Wedding
• Save on your honeymoon by not going to the moon, and using some of that money
for a down payment on a house. Consider a regional honeymoon close by.
• Perhaps you have been living a green lifestyle for some time, recycling everything you
can, reducing your purchases of one-time and throw-away items...or maybe you
haven’t. Planning a green wedding is a wonderful way to begin-or continue-a green
lifestyle.
• Avoid disposable and one-time-use items for your wedding and for the festivities
leading up to it.
• Don’t get sucked into the wedding myth, take what you want from the information available and leave the rest.
• Look for inspiration in unusual places, i.e. don’t get stuck in the weddings section of the bookstore, checkout the
flower/gardening section, crafts, design, food/cooking
• Select a venue where you can have both a wedding and reception. Avoid holidays, when rates may be higher; or look for
holidays to minimize decorating.
• Inquire about reduced rates for certain seasons & dates. Shop around.
• Hire a single musician for both ceremony and reception, or use your ipod for part of the reception music.
• Save on wedding clothes by: renting, borrowing or buying secondhand; wearing heirloom wedding clothes; buying gowns, tuxes and attendants’ clothes at trunk shows or at bridal fairs (check newspapers, bridal publications for dates and location)