Green Options

Designer Adele Wechsler, a South Africa native and current Toronto resident, doesn’t see green weddings as merely a passing trend, but “as more of a movement that’s here to stay.”  Adele’s newest Eco-Couture Collection transcends preconceived notions of eco bridal wear by seamlessly blending high fashion luxury with organic fabric and fair-trade labor.

As part one of Eco-Guide: How I Turned my Wedding Green illustrated, it is entirely possible to green your wedding while still keeping the green in your pocketbook.  Two mantras are tantamount — Think Household Items, not Wedding Items, and Invest Time, not Money .

In last week’s guide, I brought these two principles to life with examples from my wedding last fall, sharing how I repurposed classy but practical household objects into sophisticated wedding accents. I also discussed minimizing the dreaded DIY look through maintaining subtlety and consistency.

This week, we’ll take a look at more ways to green your wedding and introduce the last three principles: Re-Think the Must-Haves; Borrow, Don’t Buy; and Incorporate Heirlooms.

Greening your wedding doesn’t automatically mean emptying all the green from your pocketbook.

There are countless innovative ways you can have an eco-conscious wedding celebration — ways that go far beyond a hand-crafted wedding dress or an organic meal.

In this eco-guide, learn how we minimized consumerism and pulled off a fabulously green wedding by incorporating family heirlooms, repurposing everyday objects, growing our own organic flowers, questioning the must-haves…and much, much more.

Yes, you can purchase a “green” wedding cake, and I don’t just mean in color! A number of bakeries around the world make organic cakes these days.

Don’t forget to also choose natural flowers and an environmentally-friendly topper, and make plans to donate any uneaten cake to a homeless shelter in your area or a needy family you know so that leftovers don’t go to waste while you’re on your honeymoon.

There are even a number of websites for organic bakeries, so it is fairly easy to find one in your area.

Here are some bakeries that make organic cakes:

Ever think of securing a custom designer? Most people only do so for special occasions, but it’s especially more common for high-fashion couture admirers. And why not for green couture?

Well it’s not common knowledge, but custom green couture is an expanding service. Existing and famed designers are shifting from conventional materials and some like Crystal Miler have been at it from the start.

At home, we rank king and queen of our own kitchen – declaring local and seasonal priorities, treating area farmers like valued citizens, banning high fructose corn syrup and declaring kale royalty. Once we cross the moat of our island home base, navigating reality can get a bit more treacherous and sticky, especially when organizing an event outside your kitchen confines. Our quest for sustainability deflates through the reality of standardized event menus, venue restrictions and catering managers rolling their eyes and commenting, “But we’ve never done it that way before.”

Enter Greg Christian, owner of Greg Christian Catering and Events, Chicago’s “Conscious Caterer” on a mission to bring the healthy, sustainable food message to the event scene. Wearing his white chef coat like a cloak of armor, Christensen proves that commitment, passion for healthy food and a dedication to constantly questioning and evolving can prompt true change.

Christian’s journey toward sustainability sparked when his young daughter’s asthma improved significantly through eating organic foods. “But I was living two lives, eating organic at home and using conventional foods in my businesses,” Christian confesses. “I realized I couldn’t live these two separate lives anymore and I started literally diagnosing where my food inputs came from on a world map.” This mapping system prompted not only change, but a deep sense of humility for Christian. “I’m humble and honored to be part of the global food system,” adds Christian, an emotion fueling his catering company’s constant quest to buy from area farmers, run a zero waste kitchen and continually work towards further greening his operations.

Planning an event you would like to keep green? Here are five tips to get started:

Large events, from weddings to corporate functions to even your parents’ 50th wedding anniversary bash, provide a double-edged sword when it comes to going green. On one side, as events like these often focus around food, such gatherings provide the ideal opportunity to showcase local, seasonal and organic fare. But then there’s the other dark side of the catering and event planner world, where efficiency, cost and disposability typically rule the bottom line.

Enter Greg Christian, owner of Greg Christian Catering and Events, Chicago’s “Conscious Caterer” on a mission to bring the healthy, sustainable food message to the event scene. Wearing his white chef coat like a cloak of armor, Christensen proves that commitment, passion for healthy food and a dedication to constantly questioning and evolving can prompt true change.

Christian’s journey toward sustainability sparked when his young daughter’s asthma improved significantly through eating organic foods. “But I was living two lives, eating organic at home and using conventional foods in my businesses,” Christian confesses. “I realized I couldn’t live these two separate lives anymore and I started literally diagnosing where my food inputs came from on a world map.” This mapping system prompted not only change, but a deep sense of humility for Christian. “I’m humble and honored to be part of the global food system,” adds Christian, an emotion fueling his catering company’s constant quest to buy from area farmers, run a zero waste kitchen and continually work towards further greening his operations.

Planning an event you would like to keep green? Here are five tips to get started:

So, the knee has been bent, the question has been asked, the positive answer given. Now comes the (un)fun part: organizing the wedding. Along with choosing the band, the cake, the colour of your linens, some couples are beginning to ask how they can make their special day more sustainable? After the break, sustainablog will present some of our favourite ways of making a wedding into a green wedding.

It was when Jennifer Stambolsky was planning her own wedding that she found a lack of wedding invitations for the modern bride that were both gorgeous & eco-friendly. With a love of nature combined with a love of beautiful stationery, she launched EarthlyAffair.com.

Choose from two environmentally friendly papers, a premium 100% Recycled Post Consumer Recycled paper that uses no new trees and a heavyweight 60% Recycled (30% Post Consumer) Cotton paper that is Forest Stewardship Counsel certified. All envelopes are made of 100% post consumer waste, FSC certified and processed without the use of chlorine. Not only that but they are a carbon neutral business purchasing CO2 offsets for emissions caused by conducting business and shipping through carbonfund.org.

The key element to the success of any event, especially a wedding, is planning. In the savvy bride’s arsenal you’re sure to find her Wedding Binder, where all her checklists, magazine clippings and sketches lie.

I’ve always loved the designs & concepts from russell+hazel, a company who obviously adores paper and organization as much as I do. And as such, they realize that cutting down trees is not something they what to perpetuate, so each and every product they offer is made from 100% post-consumer recycled materials and most are biodegradable and/or reusable; from the spirals in their notebooks to the covers of their binders. And now, with their ultra-stylish Wedding Organizer Set, you can keep everything on track while still looking good. My particular fave is their whiteboard feature inside of the binder cover so that quick notes or sketches can be made easily and wiped away when finished.

I love weddings! Attending, coordinating or helping in any way, I enjoy being a part of the big day and my biggest satisfaction comes from knowing the bride is happy. Planning what may be the biggest party you’ve ever thrown to even the most intimate of events can simultaneously be the most exciting and stressful time of your life. While the majority of weddings occur in the Spring and Summer, many have become engaged recently, in the midst of planning a Fall or Winter wedding; or you may have reserved next year for your nuptials. In my multi-part series, I’ll highlight super stylish ways to incorporate “green” into your wedding.

One of the most sought after eco-conscious fashion designers, Deborah Lindquist is a celebrity favorite and has dressed the likes of Gwen Stefani, Cameron Diaz, Charlize Theron and Pink.