Bridal Shower – Yankee Edition

I was so honored when Mandy asked me to participate in the wedding. Besides the fact that Sean is like a second brother to me, I adore Mandy and really looked forward to spending more time with her and helping her prepare for her special day. 

As we started discussing plans, Mandy went into great detail about how she wanted an ‘eco-chic’ wedding. I’ll admit that my first reaction was like that of a deer in headlights. Eco-what? Green wedding? How on earth do you do that? Then Mandy explained how she planned to attain her goals and my second reaction was one of admiration. It takes a lot of effort and dedication to be green – to use local vendors, in-season meat and produce, and find eco-friendly items like bridesmaid dresses, flowers, and favors. 

I’m excited to be hosting the “Bridal Shower – Yankee edition”. I wanted to adhere, as much as I could, to Sean and Mandy’s vision. I had a bit of a learning curve, though. Besides recycling, eating some organic foods and using canvas shopping bags, I’m somewhat ignorant about being green. So I took to the internet and did some research. 

I deduced that Mandy has a fondness for historical locations, especially if it involves preservation of historical buildings and artifacts. So I searched high and low for a location that would suit. Not an easy undertaking. But eventually I found what I was looking for – an 18th century brick manor house in Maryland. They serve a traditional English tea and I thought that would be perfect for a bridal shower. 

My thoughts then went to invitations. I looked around for eco-friendly options – there are many out there – but didn’t see anything that I really liked. Then I thought about the most eco-friendly option – sending an evite. I was concerned because I didn’t want it to seem tacky or cheap, though I believe that evites are becoming a much more popular and acceptable form of correspondence. I questioned Sean about this and he agreed that evites were a good idea. So off they went… 

I then thought about favors. I didn’t want something that would look pretty on the table but be completely useless once taken home. If the favors were to be eco-friendly I thought it should be something that was usable (and possibly reusable), produce little waste and made with organic or recycled material. I typed ‘eco friendly favors’ into google and the first website that popped up was beau-coup.com. I fell in love with their tea sachets and thought it went well with the tea party theme. The sachets are made of silken fabric and processed in an organic certified production facility. Yes, I totally got that straight from the website. I did, however, make an eco-faux-pas because of my lack of ‘green’ knowledge. I found small organza bags for the tea sachets. I was going to go with no packaging at all, but I thought, “Hey, it’s a ‘green’ bag, plus it’s reusable. I’ll just skip the tissue paper”. When I got them in the mail I saw “100% Nylon” and had a mental moment. I went back to the website and this was the product description: 

“The corded silk handle makes it easy for your guests to carry. The bags are made of organza, a sheer silky fabric that gives the bag its see-through quality.” 

I saw “silk handle” and “silky fabric” and mistakenly thought that they were made with silk. Since many consider silk eco-friendly since it is a renewable material, I thought I was golden. WRONG. My bad, lesson learned. 

So I was able to include a few ‘green’ aspects in the shower, though not as many as I would have liked. For instance, I’m pretty sure the food and tea won’t be organic or completely local. But for my first foray into green party planning I’m pretty pleased with the shower so far. Hopefully the party will go off without a hitch and we’ll all have a good time!

Commitment…

What does a wedding—time tested confirmation of the commitment between two people—have to do with climate change and the global energy market? The reality of the global energy market is that energy is at the center of every major issue in the world today—clean water, nutrition, provision of health care, elimination of poverty, economic well being and the list goes on. Everything that contributes to a better world happens through energy.

A commitment to making the world a better place, is like the commitment of the bond of marriage. It’s love, it’s faith, it’s trust, and it’s commitment between two individuals to a better world. It’s also their hope of a better world for their children and their children’s children. Making the world a better place is the responsibility of an individual and the case of the bond of marriage. It’s 1+1=3.

Addressing today’s and tomorrow’s challenges in the world of energy and climate change, starts with the individual. This is the first time in history that every single individual can make a difference. One by one, individuals are making the changes to more efficiently use energy, to produce energy and green technologies, and to change the mindsets of those that one touches. These are the answers to tomorrow’s problems. 1 by 1, then 2 by 2, and then 2 together makes 3 and touching those around them we’ll realize a better world.

The wedding itself is a starting point. Those who come and those who participate are doing what they can for that wedding to minimize their carbon footprint. They are beginning to change their own mindset about the role we each have as a global citizen in this global world. It becomes a commitment to themselves as individuals, as couples, as part of community at the service and to the couple being married. It becomes an escalating pyramid for a new world.

The Maid of Cynicism

I do not claim to have more experience as a bridesmaid than many women. I have also been lucky in that the weddings I have been in have mostly been pleasant experiences. However, as many women know, when a close friend tells you she has gotten engaged, an internal monologue begins: How exciting! I wonder if she will ask me to be in it. I will be so mad if she doesn’t ask. Do I want to be in it? What if the dress sucks? Can I afford this? Why did I ever agree to be in it? Wait, has she even asked me yet?

Once Mandy asked me to be in the wedding (and the monologue concluded), I immediately agreed. Only seconds later did Mandy begin to explain how she wanted a green wedding — I began to have visions of a granola-paved aisle, organic cotton togas, and a sapling at each place setting. I knew I was in for an adventure. I have been friends with Mandy since our freshman year in college, so I was confident that the greenness would not be gaudy, but would be elegant, understated, and exactly what she and Sean would want.

Obviously, we started with the fun stuff – finding a bridesmaid dress. Well, it sounded fun. Then I realized we would have to take into consideration fabrics, body types, color, cost, locality, and (the one thing that is supposed to make everyone feel better about this entire process) will we ever be able to wear the dress again?! Since Mandy and I are girls who always take the bull by the horns – or the dress by the straps, in this case – we had, in no time, ordered 10 dresses from various websites (Banana Republic, Ann Taylor, J. Crew, and one nonrefundable leftover sample that only came in one size) and had them delivered to Mandy and Sean’s house. In perfect Mandy form, she immediately began planning a party for several of the bridesmaids to try on the dresses; a party replete with food, alcohol, dresses, local experts, and (every girls nightmare when trying on dresses) a film crew. Being that there really will be a film crew at the try-on party, I must go work out now, but I will write a recap post-event and may or may not include photos.

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