It’s Easy Being Green: Five Tips for a Greener Wedding 
By: Nicole Kraft, Editor-in-Chief of www.mywedding.com
From Hollywood's A-list to the predicatable "tree hugger" types, green weddings are the talk of the town! While "going green" might seem like a passing trend, many couples feel it is an extention of living a more sustainable and responsible lifestlye- especially as the awareness of issues like global warming take hold.
But does planning a green wedding really make a difference? According to a study conducted by the Fairchild Bridal Group in 2005 there were 2.1 million weddings in the US that year. The amount of money spent on these weddings totaled $125 million. Not to mention the costs associated with the 295 million wedding guests who attended these events. That’s a lot of money supporting a lot of wedding vendors in the industry.
So, what does this mean? Instead of supporting businesses who don't support Mother Earth, you can shift your dollar to support local, independent vendors wand organic and locally gronw food and flowers. Ultimately this will have a positive impact on the environment.
But the question remains: Can couples have a chic wedding while preserving the environment at the same time? The answer is YES! Below are 5 simple things you can do to help 'green up' your wedding:
- Vote with your dollar—Hire local, independent wedding vendors. Even if they aren’t exclusively eco-friendly, hiring local vendors over large national chains keeps your area’s economy thriving which cuts down on the use of fuel used to ship products across the country. To find local Colorado vendors you can visit www.mydenverwedding.com or www.rockymountainbridalconsultants.com.
Biggest Impact: Hire a caterer who uses locally grown food and a florist who uses seasonal, locally grown flowers.
2. Take “Something Borrowed” to the next level—This has the potential to be very fun and in some cases add a great sentimental value to your day. Do you have friends who’ve recently gotten married? If so you could re-purpose their centerpiece items and transform them into your own unique creation. Another big trend today is to use mix-and-match vintage items for decoration. You and your girlfriends could spend the day at local thrift shops, garage sales, or antique stores to find creative one-of-a kind pieces.
Biggest Impact: Wear your mother’s dress (or your grandmother’s, your sister’s or best friend’s—you get the picture). If their dresses aren’t your style check wedding consignment shops and vintage stores for your gown. Also, allow your bridesmaids to choose their own dress in a color you choose. This way, they’ll have a higher chance of wearing it again—which ultimately cuts down on waste.
- Buy Recycled Paper—Use “post consumer” recycled paper for your invitations, save-the-date cards, programs, and place cards. Recycled paper is just as beautiful as the kind made from virgin trees. Besides preserving trees, recycled paper requires less bleaching. The use of bleach in the paper making process releases a harmful toxin called “dioxin” which has been linked to cancer, birth defects and reproductive disorders.
Biggest Impact: Go completely paperless. If you are the kind of person who is willing to forgo tradition and be on the cutting edge of wedding planning, you can decide to use today’s technology to your advantage. Send digital save-the-dates, invites via email and manage you RSVP’s all online. When you sign up for a free wedding website at mywedding.com—you inherit these tools as well. While this route isn’t for everyone, we’re seeing more and more couples decide to nix the paper all together and embrace the internet fully.
- Choose digital photography—Choose a photographer who exclusively uses a digital camera. This will give you the ability to view all of your photos on a CD and only print the photos you love, cutting down on the use of paper and chemicals used to develop traditional photos. You can also set up an online photo album for friends and family to view as well. Many of the online photo services allow your guests to pick and choose which photos they would like in print as well.
- Donate to your favorite environmental charity—Instead of saying “thank you” to your guests by handing out miniature wedding bells (which will ultimately end up in the trash can), why not donate to a worthy cause in each of your guests name for your wedding favors? Organizations like the I Do Foundation, (see article on page 96) offer this service complete with a card for each guest announcing the donation.
So, whether you’re interested in environmentalism, or just like to keep up with the latest trends, join the green movement! You can help make this ‘trend’ a tradition!
Nicole Kraft, editorial director and media maven for mywedding.com has spent her career gathering knowledge and expertise in women’s lifestyle issues—including weddings. Her focus on weddings began just over five years ago when she began planning her own big day, and noticed that most of the etiquette advice was outdated, wedding services were overpriced and the choices for creativity were close to none. This inspired her to creatively to plan the wedding of her dreams at an affordable price without compromising style or experience. Nicole has a background in psychology, women’s health and nutrition which all come in handy during the wedding planning process. When not offering advice to brides and grooms, Nicole can be found walking her dog, Ruby, knitting, cooking, or perfecting her latest yoga pose.