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Awe, I think your ideas are great ones! I just saw your post now, so I'll comment :)
We always tried to be as eco-friendly as possible when we were planning our wedding. Things we did:
P.S. See you Friday for the Vancouver Meet-Up - I'll show you photos of my wedding and you can see what I mean!
Hey vmec! My fiance's sister makes gorgeous invitations so I was going to ask her to make ours. I was hoping she can do something with recycled materials, or something I saw once was that paper that you can plant later on and it has seeds inside of it. Do you know what I'm talking about? You can stick it in the soil after and water it and a plant grows from it.
I think e-invitations are a great idea too, and probably pretty easy to track who is attending as well.
Also my dress, I bought from a charity event. You know how most bridal boutiques have just samples, well eventually they sell those samples. That is what the charity event I went to sells. It was a great way to save and help out a good cause. I got a gorgeous dress too. There are websites where brides will sell their dresses after they have used them, or sometimes they just changed their minds and want something else instead. Great way to re-use and save!
I thought about an idea for favors, you can donate money to a charity instead of buying little trinkets. Perhaps there is an earth-friendly cause that you and your fiance feel strongly about. You could then make a sign letting people know that in honor of them attending money has been donated to such-and-such cause.
*** I am in the process of making a blog about an eco-friendly/budget-friendly wedding with the rest of my ideas, and shall give you the link.
@eco-chic: The invites you speak of sound very cool! I'd just be worried how many people actually plant it. But either way super neat. Unfortunately invites are out of budget. I couldn't care less about invites honestly. But I would totally love it if I got that plant a paper thing :)
The dress: well your way seems very nice, mine is already bought. Unfortunately I did not go the eco-friendly route on this one.
Favors: Donating was our intial idea... however my Dad axed it. He said guests should be given SOMEthing... anything. So we're doing my moms homemade candies, but I'm opting for eco-freidnly biodegradable packaging.
I look forward to your link!
kudos to you! we used biodegradable and recycled material for our favors. the only other thing is that we had about 50 people so didn't have to use a lot of anything. but such a small contribution compared to yours!
^ I like it! Less garbage is a huge deal! Or garbage that biodegrades :)
are you using all "fine china" opposed to paper plates plastic silverware ect? Cloth napkins?
Some ideas for you...
1) I'm not sure if this is possible, but if there is a way to serve only organic, locally-grown/produced food, that would be awesome! Maybe you could work with your caterer to figure something out, or look for someone that specifically offers this service.
2) I think I once saw a show where the bride was trying to have an eco-friendly wedding, and I believe that they chose baby pine trees for their favors, for the guests to plant at home. Personally though, I'd be concerned that most people may not bother planting them. Maybe another option would be to make donations to a wildlife preservation organization or something along those lines?
That's all I've got for now; I'll let you know if I think of anything else! Good luck in your planning~ you've got a lot of great ideas so far!
@cyndistar3: I'm using the standard plates that the caterer has. Nothing "new" is being requested or ordered in.
Venue has plastic cups for drinks but these cups are recyclable and biodegradable. The venue insists they practice good reclycling. And if they do end up in a land fill they biodegrade.
@babybumblebee: I don't think they do STRICLY only local or organic however they do practice ethically grown meat and a strict sustainability for the seafood we will serve. Reception is at aquarium- so obviously they are envronmentally concious about all things pertaining to our oceans.
They are also a not for profit agency so any money made on our wedding is kind of considered a "donation" in itself. So that makes me feel better!
Oh and the trees! I saw those once and I loved them! Unfortunately I agree, I hate to think of how many we buy and how many ACTUALLY make it to the ground :S. Not to mention they pricey! :S
Kudos to you for your efforts!!
We are also trying to have an eco/nature themed wedding. It's hard, but whatever small sacrifices you can make will make a difference!
Here's what we are doing;
Venue: an environmental education centre - they preserve a large habitat and run educational programs for all ages.
Food: the venue will cater and most of their food is local and organic.
Favours: once again - the venue to the rescue! They have little jars of honey made right there on their organic farm. All the proceeds go to this really great program that aims to open sustainable greenhouses in northern and remote communities.
Booze: we will try to choose locally made alcohol.
Invitations: sadly - I love card making and designing!! But we won't do RSVP cards to save paper.
Flowers: I'll be getting my flowers from a woman at the farmer's market - they will be grown locally and in-season.
I think we'll also put something on our website encouraging people to car pool. Oh - and we may provide birdseed instead of conffetti!
@vmec: OMG I LOVE AQUARIUMS!! That sounds like an amazing venue, plus the "donation" aspect is nice, too. And that's good to hear about the food, as well.
Sounds like you've put a lot of research into this thus far. I'm sure it will turn out amazing.
we're using a local nonprofit historic building for reception - reduces carbon footprint of guests (they are carpooling) and the $ stays in the community.
@sfchick: Mine is not for profit too. This means tax exempt! Huge bonus, look into tax savings... not sure the laws where you live.
@vmec: Thanks!! It is pretty country-ish now that I think about it! That's funny because I used to HATE country themed stuff when I was younger, but the older I get the more I like that kind of stuff. I've been dreaming of moving to the country and starting an organic farm...
Some of my choices are green. I don't have as many as you. You have such great ides! BTW where are you getting biodegradable materials from?
Caterer: Using only organic or all-natural ingredients. This wasn't an extra cost either. The do this for all their menus.
Invitations: Made from recycled paper
Small wedding: Not sure if this counts, but i figure there will be less people to serve, less dishes washed, less paper...ok this one could be reaching a little, but I'm trying.
Venue: Having the wedding at a garden. There is also a vegetable garden on site and they donate the produce to local food banks.
Flower: Locally grown from a flower market.
Favors: Like some of you said, our favors will be seed packets of some type of local plant.
Our biodegradable options will come from our florist as she specializes in them.
If you want her website I can give it to you perhaps she could ship some to you or reccomend a supplier? She's obviously local to Vancouver but who knows maybe a website sells and ships?
Sure, post the link. I couldn't hurt, even though she's far away. Thanks for the offer!
We tried our best. No programs either. We used my in-laws yard as a reception and ceremony venue. We also tried to recycle and reuse a lot of things. We borrowed and reused SO many things for our wedding. It's kind of crazy how many people were a part of our day through lending us something they already owned!
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Are any of you attempting to be eco friendly? I am giving it a shot in some ways here are mine:
e-vites (and online RSVP!) call me tacky call me cheap, both of which I am. I'm also saving trees, animanls and the earth (or trying to!)
Paperless: no programs, no place cards, no menus. Seating arrangement on a big posterboard that is 100% recycled paper. Debating on thank you cards. Everyone will get a personalized thank you but again, it may be via email to line up with the 'paperless' theme.
Biodegradable packaging: For favors, and decor ribbon and tissue paper will be recyclable or biodegradable.
Eco-friendly flowers: I have choosen a local/ organic florists who is has many earth friendly methods of designing and delivering her floral arrangements.
REUSE!: I'm going to try to second hand as much as possible! Buy used :)
Ask vendors about eco-friendly practices: I'm going to try to select vendors who make an effort to be environmentally concious and recyle. Those vendors will certainly have a leg up on other vendors who do not.
Can't think of much else but that's what I have going for me as of now. Care to share anything?