Weddings Gone Green

Published July 19, 2010

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By Bobbi Graves
Every engaged couple has the desire that their wedding celebration be a reflection of who they are and what they care about. My daughters have taken an unusual approach to weddings by conserving resources for their wedding festivities.

The “green” weddings of Abbey Graves & Larry Endicott And Ashleigh Graves & Bryan Roesler

Two of my four daughters were married in 2010 and they are masters of conservation, both financially and ecologically. I am incredibly proud of their decisions and want to take a moment to express some of their conservative elements.

Mab & Larry – January 22, 2010

Mab & Larry’s ultimate low impact wedding: planned elopement. They had free flights to New Orleans, LA where they exchanged vows. Mab wore a street-length Betsey Johnson dress she purchased on eBay for less than $100. Since Larry is a professional commercial photographer, he invited his friends (coincidentally also of the same profession) to capture the wedding memories. In turn, Larry is photographing his friend’s weddings. They had no costs for venue rental, but did splurge on a typical New Orleans big brass band.

Once reestablished at home, they plan a low key celebration with family and friends, or post the ceremony on YouTube if they want other folks to enjoy it. Mab’s engagement ring is a family heirloom. Mab and Larry’s costs were minimal (especially since they are refurbishing a historic building as an art gallery with loft apartment) and “green.”

Ashleigh & Bryan – April 17, 2010

Ashleigh and Bryan wanted their wedding to be meaningful and focus on the beauty and solemnity of the wedding ceremony. I am so proud of them for “thinking out of the box” and not yielding to society’s pressure to over-spend on the unnecessary.

Engagement ring: Bryan saved for the perfect engagement ring for Ashleigh. He kept the price within his means. His purchase was from a jeweler who guarantees diamonds are certified as “conflict free” (The Kimberley Process is an ongoing effort to reform diamond mining in Africa. Check Amnesty International’s buyers guide). Ashleigh, in turn, gave Bryan an “engagement ring” as well – a one-of-a-kind wooden band from an Etsy seller. Sharp!

Location: Bryan and Ashleigh are members of Christ Church Cathedral and were married in this beautiful, classic church. Because of the historical nature of the building there are no decorations allowed, aside from altar flowers. The church is simple and beautiful, and the wedding ceremony was a reflection of it. Cost: altar flowers. In lieu of throwing rice, they took wooden dowels and tied several ribbons on the end. The bride & groom were “waved” away and guests could keep the wands as a memento.

Reception: Their reception was immediately following the ceremony at the Trader’s Pointe Organic Creamery (big red barn on the organic dairy farm). It is an 18 minute drive for guests from the church. Two hours before the reception the barn was being utilized for a Farmer’s Market.

Simplicity, recyclable and conservation were the keys to their reception, from the table ware to the food and drinks.

Recycled:

My grandmother had a collection of feed sack towels and Ashleigh and Bryan cut them into pennants to decorate the entry and barn
Both my mother and grandmother had a large collection of cloth napkins. They were used at the reception tied with feed sack remnants and placed at each guest’s place. We collected them and threw them in the wash for the next event;
The entire family has been saving glass bottles and jars which were used for soy and beeswax candles and as vases. After the wedding reception they were recycled.
Recycled sap buckets were used to decorate the entry to the reception barn; we intend to sell them on eBay.
In lieu of renting plates, glassware and utensils, they used recycled ball canning jars, sugar cane based plates & bowls and bamboo utensils which were recycled after the reception. The ball canning jars are to be sold on eBay.
Sheet cakes were purchased from Gordon Food Service and kept in the freezer until the wedding. No giant wedding cake or transportation fee.
They did not use a DJ, but hired their favorite Blue Grass band as entertainment. In keeping with the casual theme, they served pizza (organic, vegetarian), bread sticks and salad for the reception.
In lieu of floral centerpieces, Ashleigh collected branches and pussy willows which were later composted. The arranging was done by Ashleigh and her bridesmaids. The bridesmaids carried baby’s breath they arranged and tied with grandma’s hankies. The baby’s breath was used the previous evening as floral arrangements for the rehearsal dinner. Everything was composted after the wedding.
They did not give “hostess gifts” to each guest but rather made a donation to their favorite charities in their honor.
They served inexpensive wine and organic locally produced beer from local Indiana breweries.

Invitations:

They drastically reduced paper use. Abbey designed and hand-wrote the wedding invitations which were printed on recycled paper. Their envelopes were recycled craft paper. They also used a print company who utilizes paper with a high percentage of post-consumer recycled content. All RSVPs were online. They did not mail “Save the Date” cards. They used a wedding blog to let people know about all events and registries.
Only green paper products were used for place cards, guest book and thank you notes.

Here comes the Bride (& Groom):

Ashleigh found an eBay seller who makes couture vintage gowns. Her dress is made of cotton-dotted Swiss, 50’s style, street length and she made her own veil from vintage netting. Abbey used the same veil netting in January and held it in place with a feather barrette she’d created. Ashleigh held the netting in place with a headband.
Bryan’s suit was from J. Crew and was a gift (he can use it after the wedding for church, business, etc.). The groomsmen could wear any dark suit (no need to rent) and their ties were from an Etsy shop.
The bridesmaids wore any white dress with black polka dots, in any style dress of their choosing (as long as it’s white with black polka dots!). Shoes, jewelry and accessories were of their choosing, too, and so simple. They don’t have to buy anything new. All things that they can wear again (really!) or can be donated to charity after the event.

Honeymoon: