Feb 13, 2012 | Day-of Coordinating, Eco-Friendly Events, wedding planning, Weddings
I told you about Committed: An Avant-Garde Wedding Event a couple of weeks ago. Here are some more fun facts about the event.
Not only is this a wedding show presented by Chicago’s greenest wedding professionals, it is going to be a model green event. It’s at a location that is LEED certified. And the goal is to make it a zero waste event. Collective Resource will be composting everything that isn’t recyclable.
And did I mention the swag bags? Green Bride Guide is donating swag bags for the first 100 people to show up that day. That’s incentive to show up early!
If you haven’t bought your tickets yet, they are still available. Don’t wait until they sell out! Buy yours now.
Jan 30, 2012 | Eco-Friendly Events, vendors, wedding planning, Weddings
I have to tell you about a wedding show I am participating in next month: Committed, An Avant-Garde Wedding Event. It will be on Sunday, February 26, noon to 4:00 p.m. at the Greenhouse Loft, 2545 W. Diversey. You can buy tickets in advance.
Committed is sponsored by the Chicago Green Wedding Alliance, Chicago’s premier group of wedding vendors with a sustainable focus. Not only is this the greenest group of wedding professionals you’re likely to come across, they are also some of the hippest, most creative, most interesting businesses and people in the industry.
There will be caterers like FIG Catering and City Provisions; venues like Logan Square Kitchen; and even unusual vendors such as Collective Resource, a composting company. I’ll be there, naturally. Check out the full list of vendors at the link above.
And don’t expect your standard trade show with rows of look-alike booths. This should be a very fun and unique event. Buy your tickets now!
Apr 22, 2011 | Eco-Friendly Events, Parties and Special Events, wedding planning, Weddings
Wildflower seed paper hearts in a clay pot make great eco-friendly wedding favors. Photo courtesy of christytylerphotography.com.
Today is Earth Day. If you’re planning a wedding or other event this summer, what can you do to honor the earth at your event? Here’s a short list of things you can think about:
- Transportation
- Location
- Food and Drink
- Clothing and jewelry
- Gifts
- Decorations
- Invitations and other paper goods
No one is expected to have a perfectly green event, but every little thing you do helps. If your invitations and menus are printed on 100% post-consumer recycled paper, it helps. If you can have your wedding, reception, and hotel for guests close together, it helps.
For a long list of green event planning tips, be sure to see my Eco Friendly Celebrations page. I like to do whatever I can to help people celebrate Earth Day every day.
Apr 5, 2011 | Eco-Friendly Events, Family Parties, Other Events, Parties and Special Events, vendors, wedding planning, Weddings
Rickshaw Rick, as he appears on his website.
Do you want something a little different for your next celebration? Try hiring a bicycle rickshaw to take you from place to place. Having a wedding at church and the reception down the road? You could have unusual and memorable transportation.
Rick Carter of Rickshaw Rick provides a service that is, I think, unique. He has several styles of bicycle rickshaw and a number of drivers, so he can accommodate large or small parties. There are covered cabs and open ones; colorful ones and wicker ones. And they are all powered exclusively by pedal power. Now, there’s an eco-friendly option to consider for your next party!
Mar 31, 2011 | Eco-Friendly Events, wedding planning, Weddings
I hate to bring up a difficult, uncomfortable subject when we’re talking about weddings, but I do think it is better to know all sides of an issue, especially if you are interested in eco-friendly events. I’m talking about the environmental and political problems associated with the commercial jewelry trade.
The issues around jewelry can be tricky.
Let me be very clear about one thing: I am not saying that you are a bad person if you wear and like commercial jewelry. I just want to make sure that you have enough information to make an informed choice. I won’t pass judgment on your choice if you are happy with it.
There are environmental issues with gold, as well as political ones. Diamonds and other precious stones, as far as I can tell, have fewer environmental problems, although there are political problems.
Gold mining and refining, according to one informed source, release large amounts of toxins into the environment, including cyanide, arsenic, and mercury. Gold also requires huge amounts of water and electricity to produce, according to the same source. Many who are concerned about the problems associated with gold mining and refining call it “dirty gold” because of its negative environmental impacts.
In addition, gold mining is believed to fuel conflict in places like the Congo and Colombia. While not all of these conflicts make it into the news daily, they are ongoing sources of human rights abuses, death, and destruction.
The diamond trade also fuels conflicts in Africa according to the UN and Amnesty International. While there has been some progress in restricting the trade of illegitimate diamonds that fund wars and abuse, it is still very difficult to ensure that a diamond comes from a conflict-free zone.
Fortunately, more and more jewelers are taking environmental and human rights considerations seriously. It is becoming easier than in the past to find jewelers that carry no-conflict diamonds and clean gold.
If you want gold jewelry, look for a jeweler that uses recycled or reclaimed gold. If they supervise the recycling process themselves, that is even better. As far as I am aware, there is no certification process for recycled gold, so if this is a concern of yours, ask as many questions of the jeweler as necessary to assure yourself that their gold really is recycled.
There are solutions to the problems of jewelry at hand. Photo by MWD Photography.
Another choice for gold jewelry without additional harm to the environment is to find vintage jewelry. Maybe there is even a piece in your family (or your soon-to-be in-laws’ family). For example, I wear my husband’s great-grandmother’s wedding ring and he wears his great-grandfather’s. The rings are a red gold, which isn’t fashionable these days, so it is a little different than anything you could buy in a store. If there isn’t anything in your family, antique and vintage stores often have jewelry sections, and you can find some very nice pieces there.
Vintage diamonds are also one answer to the problems of new diamonds. Some jewelers also import their diamonds from places like Canada where they believe the diamond trade is not involved in bloody conflicts. But do your homework and make sure you have found a trusted source if this is an issue for you.
There is probably no perfect answer to these troubling issues. The more people are aware of them, though, the closer we can come to solving some of these perplexing problems.
Feb 28, 2011 | Budget Planning, Eco-Friendly Events, wedding planning, Weddings
Is it a real cake or is it foam? Only the bride knows!
Yes, you can rent a wedding cake. Why would you want to rent a wedding cake? It’s one way you can save money on your wedding without looking cheap. Here’s how it works.
You rent a cake from one of the cake rental companies (see below for some ideas). The “cake” itself is foam but is covered with fondant or frosting in your choice of designs. Many of these cakes include a compartment for a piece of real cake so the bride and groom can cut a piece together. The guests are then served pieces from a sheet cake that has been kept in the kitchen.
The advantages of renting a centerpiece fake cake are mostly financial. Sheet cake is much less expensive than a tiered wedding cake, and cake rental costs a couple of hundred dollars, including shipping, depending on what company you use and whether you use one of their designs or one of your own.
But if you’re having an outdoor wedding or a wedding in a hot location, you might also want to consider renting a cake. The foam cakes do not slip in the heat and can stand up to the hottest weather and still look beautiful. I have personally coordinated two weddings where either the cake collapsed in the heat or it almost did. A foam cake might be a very inexpensive insurance policy if you are concerned about keeping a tiered cake standing on a hot day.
Some of the cake companies even claim that a fake cake is more eco-friendly than a real one. They claim that since their cakes do not need baking or refrigeration, they save energy. I would have to counter that by saying that they use additional energy beyond what is used in the cake that is actually eaten, and they also use energy in shipping. They say that the foam for the cakes is re-used or recycled, but most kinds of foam are not actually recyclable. But even if this idea is not particularly green, it could still save you money if you’re on a budget. And if you want it to be as green as possible, find a vendor as close to you as possible so the shipping distance is short.
I have found two companies that rent wedding cakes. This is not an endorsement of either, as I have not worked with them. Please use your best judgment and check their references. Rent the Cake of Your Dreams is in East Aurora, New York. Cake Rental is in Grandville, Michigan. I’m sure there are more people providing this service, as well. A little research will turn them up and then you can have a beautfiul wedding cake without breaking the bank.
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