Love Is Green
Tips for a Special Wedding, Commitment Ceremony, or Party with the Earth in Mind
by New American Dream Staff
The love bug has bitten New American Dream! Many of our staff and friends are taking the plunge into marriage, some having recently declared their vows and others planning in earnest for one of the biggest events of their lives.
Weddings by nature are not particularly green, however. They often involve excessive driving and flying, an overabundance of food, flowers laden with pesticides, unneeded material gifts, and a host of single-use decorations and accessories.
Fortunately, "green" weddings have become so popular that more and more professionals in the field are experienced, or at least familiar, with environmentally friendly alternatives to traditional wedding fare. While many of our personal celebrations share common components, we wanted to showcase several different "green" approaches we took to help those planning ceremonies of their own, whether it be for weddings, bar/bat mitzvahs, baby showers, retirement parties, or other special occasions.
Tree Huggers in Love
Miriam Goldsmith & Steven Krieger October 22, 2006
Growing up, Steve and his brother had a tree house, jumped in piles of leaves, and used tree trunks as bases in ball games. We learned that trees are vital for sustainable ecosystems because they store carbon, provide habitat, prevent soil erosion, and limit urban runoff. Miriam shares a similar respect for trees and we plan to limit their destruction at our wedding.
Each of our guests will receive a tree to plant at home after the wedding (that we found at www.treeinabox.com). We plan to decorate with local trees and plants in pots that can be given as gifts and enjoyed after the celebration, instead of using freshly cut flowers (which are often treated with toxic pesticides). Finally, all printed materials from save-the-date cards to programs to thank you cards will be on 100 percent post-consumer recycled paper as well as hemp paper (which is made from a renewable, tree-free fiber).
We found quality recycled papers easily on the web - many options exist.
Traditional Roots... with a Green Twist
Monique & Dave Tilford May 28, 2000
We got married outdoors under a big oak tree on Dave's dad's farm in Guston, Kentucky. The farm itself is fairly green - it's in a wildlife habitat and soil conservation program and hasn't seen any pesticides or chemical fertilizers in over a decade. The rehearsal dinner was at the 200-year-old Doe Run Inn, a place Abraham Lincoln's father helped build.
The most conscious green thing we did, however, was to have Monique's engagement ring fashioned from recycled diamonds and gold. The band was taken from an intricately carved ring Monique's had for years. The diamonds came from family. One was scavenged from an old necklace from Monique's parents, another came from the engagement ring of Dave's mother, who passed away years ago. A jeweler in Bethesda, Maryland, fashioned it all into a beautiful and unique new ring - far less expensive and far more meaningful than any we might have picked out of a case.
DIY Romance
Allyson K. & Jared Seltzer October 6, 2006
We are having our wedding in a stunning formerly abandoned mansion that is now managed by a local nonprofit. The group, Washington Parks and People, reclaims old buildings and spaces; the fees we pay will benefit the nonprofit and help our community.
Allyson is part of an art collective and we are both avid do-it-yourselfers, so we are creating and constructing as much as we can on our own and with our friends. In many cases, this helps to offset additional costs of going green. For example, we're using all organic flowers, but we're arranging them ourselves. We're designing and sending recycled paper invitations and save-the-date cards, but our friends are helping to illustrate and print them for free. We were also able to find a good price on local, organic food simply by shopping around for a good caterer. As a result, our wedding will be very personalized - and simply gorgeous.
Think Global, Wed Local
Sarah and Scott Roberts October 5, 2001
Supporting businesses in our local community meant a lot to us personally, it saved us money, and it reduced the pollution from having items shipped to us from thousands of miles away. For example:
* Our flowers were seasonal and grown locally by our florist at her farm (except in the bride's bouquet, which had special varieties). As a result, the blooms were fresh and looked fabulous.
* Our wine and beer were from local vineyards and breweries.
* All of the leftover food was given to a homeless shelter. Many caterers will do this if a couple simply asks!
A Hand-Picked, Carbon-Neutral Party
Mimi & Sat Jiwan Ikle-Khalsa October 2, 2005
Our favorite thing about our green wedding was that we found a site where we could bring in our own locally picked organic food for our dinner.
The owner was willing to buy additional organic ingredients, including dairy products and other items not found at the farm, to create a vegetarian buffet for our 50 guests.
We got to spend the weekend with our friends tromping around a beautiful farm picking the food for our dinner, including the organic raspberries for our wedding cake and all of the flowers for our celebration (some of our "picking party" is shown above).
We also traveled to different areas of the country and had three separate events so our guests didn't have to burn as much fossil fuel to celebrate with us. This allowed us to have smaller, more intimate events - and have fun for several weeks! (We also bought carbon credits to offset everyone's travel.)
Making a Green Getaway
Jenny & Seán Sheehan April 23, 2005
While we see truth in the belief that the only way to have a green wedding is to elope, we did try to align our celebration with our values where we could. We marked our commitment with low-impact yet personally meaningful rings - for Jenny, her grandmother's wedding ring; for Seán, a silver ring with bear paw designs that we bought from a Native American artisan. Seán's dad conducted a very personalized ceremony, then we departed from the church on our friend's specially adapted bicycle (or "sport utility bicycle," shown above) and rode the rest of the way to the reception in a Flexcar Civic Hybrid.
We didn't completely eschew gift registries but did invite guests to make a donation in our name to the Children's Defense Fund or the Tara Fund for Eating Disorders instead of bringing material gifts. Also, instead of leaving party favors and disposable cameras on the tables, we made a donation in our guests' names to the Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center and Doctors Without Borders and encouraged guests to take digital pictures.
Less Can Mean More
Jennifer Errick & Andre Cutair May 27, 2006
So much of the wedding industry is focused on single-use doodads or specialized services; our goal has been to buy used where possible, find things we can reuse after the ceremony, and cut out many extras we don't need.
Just a few items we plan to forgo include: bridesmaids gowns (no wedding party), programs and place cards (no assigned seating), shoes (at least for the barefoot bride), and limos. We also plan to wear our attire - a nontraditional gown and thrift-store suit - at many parties to come. Keeping it simple is saving stress and money in addition to all that tulle-covered stuff. In fact, we're even reusing tulle from Sat Jiwan and Mimi's wedding (see above)!
While our day may seem a bit sparse to some, the more we cut, the more we find it highlights the important things we have - our families, friends, and each other, of course.