Eco-chic is a funny thing. The phrase itself makes me laugh…throwing “chic” after any word makes it…well….chic. Rustic chic, shabby chic… but heck. I’m all for making things eco-friendly. After my DIY debaucle last week with our invitations, I started thinking about the sustainability of our wedding. While we will be able to reuse the paper I had originally bought, I still felt wasteful for using all these resources. Because my brother-in-law (to be!) is attending a sustainable MBA program in S.F., I came to him for advice on some ways to make my wedding more eco-friendly.
Luckily, I discovered that we were already doing several things right: using recycled paper and soy ink for the programs, renting plates/dishes/glasses (better than the disposables!), a preowned wedding dress, no showers, engagement parties, etc. (which use quite a bit of wrapping paper, which just gets tossed, and generally require a lot of resources), using vintage rings, and getting locally grown produce and poultry from the caterer.
However, there were many things that needed improvement…the first being our centerpieces. Little did we know, about 79% of cut flowers are imported from Ecuador, where many pesticides and dangerous chemicals are used which leach directly into the water system. UM, no!! So we started looking into alternatives, and found these lil’ bits of happiness:
Photo by Gia Canali via Style Me Pretty’s Little Black Book Blog
We’ll be using 5-6 potted herbs (mainly thyme and veronica) as well as some potted ivy plants in clear cylinders like these on each rectangular table. This way, guests can take them home and plant them after the ceremony. Super sweet! As for the bouquets…well, there’s no way I’m losing my fragrant bouquet of purty flowers. However, we decided to go through Organic Bouquet instead of the wholesaler I was originally thinking of purchasing from. We’re also considering making the men’s boutonnières…a sample is coming up in this Sunday’s blog!
Next up: the candles. Rather than the paraffin votives we were originally planning to use, we’ll now be using beeswax votives, which are cleaner burning and better for the air we breathe. =D (Deep inhale!) These are from anthropologie, but we’ve found a seller on ebay who will provide them at a more affordable price:
For candle holders, I’m thinking of tracking down some bits of scrap tile to serve as a base.
The transportation issue was another we considered. Many advised us to bus or shuttle guests to the venue to make our wedding even more eco-friendly. However, it’s simply not in our budget (though we’d LOVE to do this through Planet Tran). Instead, we elected to insert a phrase into our invitations instructing guests to please carpool if possible.
There are a lot more great tips on the Vibrant Blog and Eco-Chic Weddings if anyone is interested!
How about you ladies? Are you putting any eco aspects into your weddings?
Much love!
-B