Isn’t a green flower called a leaf? Part II

The tension with my mother was lower this morning.  I sensed she woke up thinking it was a new day and there would be new opportunities for solutions that fit each of our desires. I took the road of not saying much.  I just kept saying a little prayer that all would work out.

Enter Allison Lucas.

Allison had been a legend in our household for years. She is the one person who my mother has been able to count on and consistently turn to for a product that met her high standards.

As we pulled into the church parking lot my mother gave me the order, “You have to explain to Allison what you mean by ‘green’.” “Sure, fine. I’ll do that. It will all be fine.” I was trying to console myself as I spoke these words.  Simultaneously, my mind raced with questions about her. “Was she classic old guard Macon?  Did she think this green stuff was silly? Was she going to laugh at my wants and desires?”

The church parking lot was empty except for two cars- a Honda Accord and a massive Toyota Land Cruiser.  “Please let her’s be the Honda Accord.” I wished to myself.  No dice.  My worries raced faster.  I smiled, took a deep breath and said, “Hi Allison, I have heard a ton about you and my mom raves about your work.”

Fast forward past small talk.  She was lovely and I was beginning to see why mom was such a fan.  My mother sternly looked at me and then looked at Allison. Another deep breath.

“The environment is very important to Sean and me.  We are working to green every element of our wedding including the flowers.  We’d like to talk to you today about how we can do that.” I said.

By now you would have thought I would have remembered the theme we’d been seeing. People are open to going green and are looking for opportunities. Allison was no different!

She lit up with ideas about local growers and vendors. She and my mom began speaking another language- the language of flowers. (A good florist is a walking catalog of flowers and greenery.) I gave her a picture of a bouquet from one of the many magazines my mother showed me the night before and gave her a Georgia Organics local source guide.  We were off to the races.

In the midst of the conversation I realized any tension that remained between my mother and I had long melted away.  I knew we’d found another green solution.  I was also reminded that we all need others to help us on our journey to go green, especially if you are an expert in a field.  Change is hardest when you have a methodology that works well.  It’s a little easier when you have a friend or partner whose walking down the path with you.

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Missed Part I of Mandy’s Flower Journey?  Catch it here.

Check out our Tips for Environmentally Sound Wedding Flowers for specific steps you can take.

Bridesmaid Dress Brew-ha-ha

Last night was definitely an experience.  (I have a feeling that I am going to describe a lot of this wedding preparation as “an experience”).  I arrived at Mandy’s house to find a 3-person film crew, a dress designer, the mother of the bride, and 6 bridesmaids, along with several other “groupies”.  I was immediately pointed in the direction of the wine, so I guess someone tipped off the film crew in terms of my lack of desire to be filmed while trying on dresses.  As things got started, it was evident that there was no way for this not to be a night to remember.  All of the girls went upstairs to try on dresses while the film crew set up downstairs.  We then descended the stairs while the cameraman zoomed in on our midsections (a girl’s most flattering angle, I am sure) and our legs (mind you, we are all barefoot and in cocktail dresses that don’t necessarily fit…again, very flattering).  There were about 4 “rounds” of dresses when you take into account all of the different dresses and then some girls trying on the same dress another girl had already tried.  While we stood in a line, side by side (sort of like awaiting a firing squad), the others in the room would look us up and down and critique the dress, the fit, etc.  I just concentrated on the fact that, somehow, the humiliation was making our world a better place.

Eventually, we all agreed on certain dress features and colors that we liked and the designer took tons of notes.  Mandy was interviewed on camera for the TV show (while I made sure I had to be in the bathroom each time the “record” light came on).  Overall, the night was fun and definitely helped us understand the details that have to be taken into account when visualizing and designing the perfect eco-dress.  I am excited to see what the designer comes up with!  Oh, and I learned that not only does the camera add 10 pounds, but it also removes all hint of tan from my skin, always catches my worst angle, and makes me as nervous as a prison escapee.

Picture courtesy of Andrew Turner

Real Green Brides II – Amanda and Daniel

Green brides are sprouting up all over!  This week we are thrilled to share the story of Daniel and Amanda and the steps they took to green their nuptials.

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The Green Wedding of Amanda Flaim & Daniel Ahlquist

 

Wedding Location: A gorge in Ithaca: Ithaca is gorges after all.
Robert Treman State Park, specifically.

Date: June 17, 2008

In a locally produced, fairly-traded, certifiably organic, recyclable nutshell, our wedding reflected a very united attempt to be as environmentally sustainable as possible. Luckily, this priority merges quite well with our commitments to social justice, supporting local communities and economies, and my affection for all things vintage and home-made. If we couldn’t make it ourselves, to every extent possible, we hired local artists and vendors to do it for us.

We will not lie and say this was a super easy undertaking. Even in eco-magical Ithaca, New York where local foods and alternatives abound, planning an event like your wedding is never easy. Moreover, the bridal industry is a well-oiled machine, geared to make your wedding day vision a reality with a few visits to the nearest bridal shop or brides-are-us website. In your exhaustion, you will be tempted. But we swear it’s worth it to RESIST! In the end, our wedding was entirely ours. As an added bonus, we saved a lot of money-we were $1000 under budget and we honestly don’t feel like we missed out on anything! We could have done a lot of things better, but here’re a few ideas and lessons learned!

Invitations:

Designed by Amanda with the help of a local artist we hired who formatted and printed them on recycled paper.

Rings:

Made from recycled gold, and made by a local artist!

Canvas bags:

Given to all of the guests to use at the Ithaca farmer’s market.

Dress:

I initially wanted to turn my favorite French nightgown into a wedding dress. After my mother protested, I resigned myself to something new.  I designed it, bought the fabric at a local fabric store (fabric not made locally, however!), and hired a family friend to make it. It was amazing and no one else has it.  I also wore the veil that nearly every woman in my family as worn in her family since the 1950s. In many ways traditional = sustainable.

Cake:

Our friends made the wedding cake from as many local ingredients as possible. It was DELICIOUS and really beautiful. It was so special to see what tremendous effort and love was put into making our cake. I can’t think of a better first meal to eat as a couple. Also, I made the wedding topper out of scraps from my wedding dress. 

Flowers:

Our flowers were spectacular. They were organically grown and best of all, they traveled a total of 5 miles to the wedding site. Our favorite florist at the Ithaca farmer’s market made the bouquets and flowers for the bridal party, and provided us with four buckets of flowers. Our friends came early and placed the flowers in baskets and tin cans collected over the year from various flea markets and yard sales. At the end of the wedding, we gave the flowers to all of our local guests and the band to spread the love.

 

Chuppah:

The Chuppah is the four-posted canopy used in a Jewish wedding that represents the house that the couple will build together. A local artist who makes simple and exquisite structures from fallen wood constructed our Chuppah, which was absolutely perfect. We decorated it with Daniel’s grandfather’s prayer shawl. We couldn’t believe how beautiful it was. We rented it so that other people can use it and enjoy it!

Decorations:

We rented things that could be washed and reused, and bought vintage table cloths to decorate the tables at the wedding. For gifts, we gave them away at the end of the wedding. They were spectacular and so original!

Music:

We hired a local bluegrass band that plays regularly at the local farmer’s market (our favorite hangout). They powered the speakers with a solar panel. It was totally rockin.

Food:

We hired all local vendors, who used as many organic, locally-produced, in season products as possible. We wanted to serve the food family-style, but we opted for the buffet because less food is wasted this way. While we would have preferred to use washable dishes, after lots of debating, we ended up using compostable plates, cups and cutlery. The caterer made sure everything was composted. Because the Finger Lakes produce a lot of local white wines, we used all local wine.

Activities:

For the weekend, many guests stayed in local bed and breakfasts. We took them to the farmer’s market for lunch and perusing, the local museum (rehearsal dinner), and hiking at the state park (wedding venue).

Registry:

We registered with the Nature Conservancy and some friends also gave us fabulous gifts from Heifer, one of our favorite NGOs. We registered at local shops and even registered for our dinnerware from a local potter (who lives entirely off the grid). Because so many of our guests live far away, we asked that they call in their gifts to local shops so we’d have less shipping and packaging.

The Evolving Fashion Industry: Eco-couture

Today we’re proud to bring you thoughts from one of our favorite eco-retailers, Joyce Justicz of Evolve Boutique.  That fabulous dress Mandy was wearing on the night Sean proposed?  It was selected by Sean with Joyce’s recommendation from her boutique!

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First it was a beautiful recycled cashmere jacket that caught my eye.  Then a leather handbag reconstructed from a vintage motorcycle jacket.  Pretty soon I was on the hunt for even more one-of-a-kind wearable works of art.  A few years ago, finding such pieces was a real challenge, yet lately I was noticing the start of a trend.   Moreover, not only were these items becoming my personal favorites, other people wanted to know where to find similar things for themselves.  A retail spot opened up near my house, and before I knew it, I signed on as a boutique owner, one with zero retail experience. 

But I had been somewhat obsessive in my internet research and had educated myself on what was available, I already knew about several sources for re-purposed items.  However, because these represented such a small percentage of eco design, I expanded the merchandise to include new items made from earth friendly fabrics, as well as eco bags, jewelry and accessories.  And though my passion and focus is on eco merchandise, I have included some mainstream design to attract more people and hopefully turn them on to the beauty of the earth friendly items. 

I am continually struck with the ingenuity and resourcefulness demonstrated by eco clothing and jewelry designers in their beautiful creations.  For example, clothing designers employ several approaches in addressing the eco issue.  Some choose to make their designs with organic and sustainable fabrics, such as organic cotton, bamboo, and modal.  Others use “rescued” fabrics, ie fabric overruns from larger design houses that would be destined for disposal in landfills.  Then, of course, some designers upcycle several vintage or thrift store finds into a new and improved version.  One of the wonderful benefits to this last approach is that the customer gets a truly unique item, and generally with no added expenditure. 

Jewelry designers have a similar repertoire of ways to be earth friendly.  One of the most obvious ways to address the issue is to make jewelry out of melted down and recycled glass and metals.  Sometimes designers choose to incorporate materials sourced from discarded items, such as tins, broken bits of older jewelry, or vintage buttons.  Also there are those who make jewelry using found materials right from nature’s bounty:  rocks, shells, vine, even skeletons!  There is no more direct way of promoting a respect for the environment than by wearing a recycled piece of nature. 

So, really, eco-fashion is a combination of factors and encompasses a variety of ideas.  Though I have concentrated on the aspect of sustainable and recycled materials, it does include manufacturing the clothing in an eco-conscious way, such as factories that recycle waste water and use wind-power….or supporting companies that donate a percentage of their profits to eco-related causes.  It includes practices such as locally sourcing, which means supporting independent local designers, thus saving on fuel and shipping.   This has the added benefit of keeping a store’s selection a unique mix by including these neighborhood artisans. 

To sum up, I really think that eco-fashion is a form of conscious living, an informed decision to buy clothing that is made in an environmentally conscientious way, without sacrificing one bit of style or aesthetics.  And it is one trend that is here to stay. 

For your own eco-couture, visit Evolve Boutique. www.evolve-boutique.com

Isn’t a green flower called a leaf? Part I

I grew up in a rose garden with tulips, orchids, philodendrons. My garden was literal not figurative. My mother owned a florist shop, The Rose Garden, until my sister was born when I was about five years old. Some of my earliest memories are of waking up from a nap amongst buckets of fresh flowers or the rush of the cold air filling my lungs when I stepped into the walk-in cooler where all the special flowers were kept.

[start dream music]

In all the years of dreaming about my wedding, I never thought once about the flowers. I assumed that would be the simplest part to the whole affair. When asked, I’ve told my friends, “Oh, my mother will handle it.” That came as no surprise to anyone.  She has a terrific reputation for elegant, ornate, breathtaking work.

[record screech]

That dream ended tonight. Reality set it.

“What do you want your flowers to look like?” said my mother. 

“I don’t know,” I replied. Her eyebrow raised and she sat there patiently but not pleased. This was not the first time we’d had this conversation but I’d always just ignored it for some other more pressing wedding detail. 

Then it struck me, I was dealing with a professional and I was not being a cooperative client.

“I just want them to be ‘green’.” I spurted out.

“Ok, that’s fine. But that may not be realistic.” She continued in her patient, stern tone. 

Frustrated I said, “It must be Mother. We have greened every other aspect to this wedding. We must find a solution for this as well. I will not waste fossil fuels for flowers. There has got to be a way we conquer this one.”

The conversation continued in this fashion. She produced magazine upon magazine in order to elicit what look, feel, style, texture, color palette I wanted. That brought progress. Two bouquets fit the image in my mind’s eye.  I wanted bold colors and textures that pulled together to create a clean, high style look.

I took a chance and asked, “Why don’t we just have dad go out and collect the stuff from the forest the week of the wedding?”

“There will be many important details that week. We cannot be running around in the woods looking for flowers that may or may not be in bloom the week of your wedding.  You do have 10 bridesmaids. And, we have a business to run Mandy,” she responded in a clearly displeased fashion.

I knew that was another strike out.

“Where exactly are we going to get these flowers from?” she inquired. “The flowers you like are not grown here. Tulips do not grow in the South. They grow in New England and Europe and are flown in.”

I relented a bit and admitted that I didn’t have the answer. “Ok. I will be fine if they come from the southeast.  I have heard from my friends in the local food space that there are greenhouses in Georgia that specifically grow flowers. Why don’t we call them and see what they will have in May?  Then we can let that drive what we use.” That has been my strategy in other parts of the wedding. I have traded off abundance in the name of quality and availability and its works great. Why not now?

Truce was reached.  I pledged to produce a list of Georgia growers tomorrow.  Then we must find growers that provide her with the level of confidence in choice and quantity she needs. If not, that’s another conversation for another day that I hope we don’t have to have.

I walked away having realized that flower arrangements for big events are like electricity- taken for granted until you flip the switch and it’s not there. And like the electric company, florists need reliable resources to produce their product. Green resources are not yet ubiquitous for producing electricity or grand flower arrangements.

Green Wedding Shower Check List

A green wedding can be much more than simply the ceremony and reception.  As we’ve worked through our planning our family and friends have been eager to try their hand at infusing sustainability into showers and parties.  (The Matron-of-honor shared her expereince last month here on Go Green In Style.)

We’ve captured our checklist here to help you as you organize your thinking.  Let us know what other questions or suggestions you have!

 

Category	Checklist	Resources
Invitations	•Paperless  invitations- online invitation    •If paper, recycled content paper and soy ink   •Non-traditional: Seed paper, handmade, hemp	•Evite.com or Pingg.com    •Greenprinter.com   •Botanicalpaperworks.com
Food	•Green menu- Some or all of the menu is composed of local, organic, in season ingredients    •Choose a caterer who specializes in sustainable catering   •Minimize meat and dairy	•WorldCommunityCookbook.org    •GA Options: GeorgiaOrganics.org
Beverages	•Non-alcoholic:  organic teas, soft drinks •Wine: Choose organic, biodynamic, or local wine  •Beer: Choose organic or local beer   •Liquor: Several organic vodkas are on the market	•Choice Teas, Knudsen    •Bonterra, Frey   •Wolavers, Stone Mill   •360 Vodka, Square One
Supplies	•Eliminate paper and plastic products. Use china, silverware, linens    •If using disposables, go for compostable products	•Worldcentric.com
Themes	•Organic cooking demonstration    •Botanical garden  or museum	•GA: Cooks Warehouse
Décor	•Flowers: Choose in season and domestically grown, consider plants or flowers that can be planted    •Minimize decorations that will be disposed	•Waldenour.com
Favors	•Avoid excess packaging and highly packaged goods    •Carbon offsets or donations to the brides favorite charity	•Terrapass.com
Location	•Choose a restaurant has gone green- sustainable menu, green building, and other green practices    •Choose a museum or historic venue   •Locate near alternative transit options	•GA Options: GeorgiaOrganics.org
Travel	•Encourage guests to carpool    •Offer guests to option to buy carbon offsets	•Evite offers option to list    •Terrapass.com
Waste disposal	•Recycle    •Compost food and paper waste	•Earth911.com    •Composting101.com

The Right Balance

Mandy and Sean asked a couple of tricky questions when soliciting articles for this website: Are we doing enough?  Are we crazy?  I think the answer to the latter is clear (yes, resoundingly, but not because of their desire to have a “green” wedding), but the former really strikes at the heart of what, to me, sustainability is all about.

The question of “are we doing enough” comes down to choices.  Life is all about choices, of course, but creating a sustainable lifestyle is fraught with high degree of difficulty choices.  For example, when renovating our house, our budget caused my wife and me to choose between installing solar panels and installing windows.  We, um, went with the windows.  We’re also expecting our first baby soon, and just found out that reusable cloth diapers have a slightly greater carbon footprint than disposable diapers do.  What to do?  But you came here for advice on weddings, not the musings of a slightly crazed dad-to-be.

What I’ve seen Mandy and Sean wrestle with is how to respect the environment while simultaneously respecting tradition.  Their desire to have a traditional Southern wedding has created a framework of expectations within which they have to work – some otherwise viable choices are no longer so.  It would be much simpler, cheaper and environmentally friendly to elope and honeymoon at the local CSA farm.  Unfortunately, that doesn’t quite allow Mandy and Sean to celebrate their love and marriage with family and friends in the way that they want.

In a traditional Southern wedding, the wedding party is quite large (question to Mandy and Sean: if I say “cast of thousands”, will that be too much of an exaggeration?).  Mandy has been working extremely hard to figure out how to clothe her bridesmaids.  There are, of course, environmental, social and economic implications to any course of action.  Does she use fair trade cloth, sewn in India, and shipped to Atlanta?  Can she find locally made cloth, a local designer, and a local seamstress?  Is there a “right” balance to be struck?

Unfortunately, I don’t know what that “right” balance is, but I trust in Mandy and Sean to make the right tradeoffs for them.  And, in fact, we must all make the right choices for ourselves in order to create a truly sustainable society.  Just ask me about that as I’m riding my bicycle to Vegas for Sean’s bachelor party.

From Poofy Petroleum to Gorgeous Green

Gone are the days when your only options for bridal gowns have rhinestones, taffeta, and lace.  Now you don’t have to choose between couture and consciousness.  Fabrics like rayon and polyester are created by using petroleum and the labor practices leave much to be desired.  These days, silk, bamboo, and organic cotton are widely available in many styles of gown and leave a much smaller mark on our planet.  Designers, both local and national, have jumped into the world of “green” gowns and their pieces are fairly easy to find.  In fact, Atlanta’s own Linda Loudermilk established eco couture through her self titled line and continues to set the standard for elegant couture that meets the highest environmental standards.

 

How exactly did I find a gown that makes me look hot without making our globe warm?

 

Start by searching the internet for local stores and or online retailers that carry environmentally friendly lines.  Designers Morgan Bosilcov of Natural Bridals and Deborah Lindquist set the standard for eco chic yet affordable.  If you are looking for an off the rack solution, stick to dresses made of eco-fabrics.  Fabrics to look out for include reclaimed and vintage fabrics, end run fabrics, organic cotton, bamboo, silk, and silk/hemp blends.  Ann Taylor and J. Crew offer a range of silk dresses.

Lusting for Local Food

Why Going Local Is One of the Best Ways to Go Green

Sustainable weddings are a wonderful event to plan because every detail can be intentional – from the recycled paper or paper-less invites to the dress made of eco-friendly materials or, even better, found on consignment. Your wedding is the perfect opportunity to be authentic and share your environmental passion with guests. One commonly overlooked area to make a huge impact and drastically cut your carbon footprint on your big day is to serve local and seasonal food. And in Georgia, it’s easier, and tastier, than ever.  

Local food tastes better, doesn’t need a passport to arrive at your wedding and supports your local community and on your wedding day – good karma is great thing! In the U.S., food travels an average of 1,500 miles from farm to fork and arrives on your plate with added chemicals to make the long journey, reduced nutritional value and lackluster flavor. Treat your guests to local goodies by using these great resources and tips:

•          In Georgia, there are several caterers that specifically source local and sustainable food. Check them out in Georgia Organics’ Local Food Guide. Already have a caterer lined up?  Ask them what they can source from local farmers!
•          Plan a seasonal menu. Working with your caterer is the easiest way to do this but you can have some fun with your fiancé and find out what’s in season for your big day. Eating seasonal food guarantees the freshest taste and is affordable.
•          Source local wine and beer. Georgia has some great local breweries and wineries coming online every day. Treat guests to something different form the usual Monday night football brew and check out options like Atlanta Brewing Company, Sweetwater, Terrapin, Persimmon Creek Wines and others. All listed in the Local Food Guide linked above.
•          Don’t forget the meat! Eating local isn’t just about veggies. Georgia has some of the BEST local meats. Enjoy grass-fed and humanely treated items on your menu such as beef from White Oak Pastures and pork from Riverview Farms.
•          Consider using local flowers. Most farms grow beautiful wildflowers to facilitate pollination of crops. Many sell these flowers at local markets or directly. While most brides choose roses or lilies, think outside-the-box and feature big, beautiful bouquets of local flowers instead. To find a list of farms who sell flowers, check out Georgia Organics online Organic Directory - look through the farms for listing that include flowers. Who knows what else you may find?!

Save food miles, serve tastier food, support the local economy AND do a great thing for the environment on your wedding day – support local food!

Hungry for More? Check Out These Tantalizing E-Bites

Online Local Food Guide 

Interactive Organic Directory 

Whole Foods Farm to Market Blog – The Faces of Those Who Grow Our Food

Step by Step Guide to Greening a Traditional Registry

 

Looking to give your registry a green hue?  Great decision!  Here are the steps we developed from our experiance greening our registry.

1.       Take stock of what you need. Books like The Wedding Book: The Big Book for Your Big Day or stores like Williams Sonoma offer a great checklist of a typical registry.  We were able to go through the list and decide what we did and didn’t need.

2.       Evaluate your options.  We are dedicated to not only going for the green option but also to supporting small, local businesses. We investigated our local retail options and online resources.  We included traditional retail outlets in our survey and were pleasantly surprised to find many are now offering green product lines.

3.       Set and order your priorities:  Style, price, durability, usability, level of green, and sourcing were all important to us but we were not aligned on the order of priority.  Mandy set green above all others while Sean brought the more practical issues like durability and usability. For example, Mandy fell in love with a recycled glass artisan dish set for their everyday wear. It didn’t make the registry because it was not microwaveable.  We found another recycled glass set through Vivaterra that was.

4.       Test your products before committing to them:   Many of the green products are only available online.  It was important to us to ensure that the products lived up to their marketing.  For example, we bought samples of several styles of bath towels before committing to one. We wanted to see what held its color and we enjoyed the most. Similarly, we bought a couple samples of our everyday wear to test it out.

5.       Register at multiple places:  We were not able to find a way to aggregate our registry in one place. 

6.       Explain to your guests what you’re doing and why you are doing it:  The registry is a wonderful way for your guests to take part in your adventure.  You can expose them to fun, new resources that they will hopefully use beyond your wedding.  Consider taking time to explain to your guests why you chose the products and retailers. 

7.       Reduce and recycle the packaging material: 

a.       Reduce:  We eliminated wasteful shipping by arranging to have our local retailers hold our gifts so that we could pick up them up at one time. This also allowed us to cut out packaging materials. 

b.      Recycle:  We recycled the cardboard and other paper packing materials with our regular recycling.  We returned the packing peanuts to our local UPS store.

c.       Compost:  Tissue paper and wax coated paper are great additives to your compost pile. 

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