My apologies to everyone for not writing more frequently - I guess I am on an unofficial hiatus. I might as well make the hiatus official. Between work duties and family duties, including a new baby, there just doesn’t seem time in the day to write a good entry. I am still adding new businesses to the directory (and trying to prune the bad businesses added automatically by the spam bots) and planning new features for the site - it’s not a cobweb site yet 
. Hopefully in the new year, as the family starts to become a little more independent, I will find time to add new entries so please don’t delete your bookmarks or subscriptions quite yet. I haven’t lost the passion for green weddings!
Thanks,
Dave
Check out Sandy Stonesifer’s I Do Good on Slate.com - how to turn your wedding into a charity fundraiser. There are some great ideas here, like
- have two registries (one for yourself and one for a charity)
- request donations in lieu of gifts
- send leftovers to a local shelter
- make donations in lieu of wedding favours.
Here are some of the charities listed in the article that can help you out with wedding-related fundraising:
There is a lot of power when groups of people come together, like for a wedding. Harness that power, and do some good for the world!
THIS is what weddings are about. Joy and happiness, pure and simple.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-94JhLEiN0
Thanks, Jill and Kevin, and best wishes.
From the Housing Works Bookstore Cafe site:
“Housing Works presents an evening all about Green Weddings with some of New York City’s leaders in the field, to discuss the ins and outs of planning an eco-friendly wedding. With Mireya Navarro, author of Green Wedding: Planning Your Eco-Friendly Celebration, green wedding planner Danielle Venokur, green dress designer (and Project Runway winner) Leanne Marshall, and sustainable chef Mary Cleaver (The Green Table and Cleaver Company).”
Monday, April 13, 2009 at 7:00 PM
Housing Works Bookstore Cafe
126 Crosby Street, New York, NY 10012
212-334-3324
Check out the Environmental Working Group’s Skin Deep Cosmetic Safety Database. From the Skin Deep site:
“Skin Deep pairs ingredients in more than 41,000 products against 50 definitive toxicity and regulatory databases, making it the largest integrated data resource of its kind. Why did a small nonprofit take on such a big project? Because the FDA doesn’t require companies to test their own products for safety.”
It blows my mind what goes into makeup (not being a makeup user myself) - check out the FDA’s Cosmetics site for some eye-opening information. Even if you’re not that much into the green and organic, this database is great for those with skin sensitivities.
Check out BluePlanetWedding.com’s business listings for salons, hair stylists and makeup artists using environmentally friendly and low or non-toxic products.
Congrats to everyone getting engaged today! The wheels have been set in motion and the excitement, chaos, arguments, stress and anticipation has begun (yes, planning has its ups and downs…).
The rings (if they haven’t already been bought), the dress and the location are usually the first details to be discussed. Here are some BluePlanetWedding.com resources to get you started:
Jewelry:
The Most Important Question to Ask About Your Engagement Ring
Gorgeous eco-friendly wedding bands for the groom
Recycled gold: reusing and repurposing old jewelry
Wedding Dresses:
Organic silk wedding gowns: making green and ethical choices
6 Eco-friendly Wedding Dress Designers You *Really* Need to See
5 Places to Find Gorgeous Preowned Wedding Dresses Online
Don’t forget to keep an eye on the Business Directory to find vendors and businesses who provide services and products to couples. New businesses are being added daily, and if you are looking for a business in your area and can’t find anyone, let us know and we’ll see if we can find a vendor for you.
Check out:
Wedding planners specializing in green weddings
Caterers specializing in local fare, organic food and vegetarian and vegan meals
Florists using locally-grown, fair trade and pesticide-free organic flowers
Finally, see how this Houston couple put on their green wedding, and all the tricks and tips they discovered to make a beautiful, low impact wedding! Be sure to read all 5 parts!
Tara & Mike’s Eco-friendly Wedding, Part 1
One of the cornerstones of living an environmental life is the “reuse” part of Reduce-Reuse-Recycle. Wedding dresses are a huge one-time-use item, and often a big part of the wedding budget. Consider a preowned wedding dress to keep expenses down (and who doesn’t want that these days?) and to reduce the impact on silk production, transportation costs (financial and environmental) and disposal. Yeah, I know most wedding dresses don’t end up in landfills, but it keeps the stuff in the attic to a minimum.
This recent New York Times article discusses the financial advantages of preowned wedding dresses:
Even previously owned high-end couture gowns from designers like Vera Wang, Monique Lhuillier, and Amsale sell for 25 to 50 percent or more off the original retail price, giving brides a realistic alternative to finding “something affordable without sacrificing quality,” said Nina Willdorf, the author of “Wedding Chic: The Savvy Bride’s Guide to Getting More While Spending Less” (Perigee Trade). “Smart shopping to find value for less is really chic right now,” Ms. Willdorf said. “It’s not like buying a used sweater that’s been worn for years. A wedding dress has been worn once and only for a matter of hours.”
The eco rewards are just as good - the lower consumption of materials and resources is great for the environment.
5 places to find your preowned wedding dress online:
- PreOwnedWeddingDresses.com
- BravoBride.com
- EncoreBridal.com
- SellYourWeddingDress.com
- WoreItOnce.com
Don’t forget about eBay or your local secondhand or thrift shops. There are some excellent bargains to be had out there.
Curious? Check out this $6000 Vera Wang dress, asking $2000 (SellYourWeddingDress.com)
Looking for designers using eco-friendly materials? Read “6 Eco-friendly Wedding Dress Designers You *Really* Need to See“.
The Most Important Question to Ask About Your Engagement Ring
The diamond engagement ring is the first and most prominent symbol of an upcoming marriage. The bride-to-be (and her friends) cannot take her eyes off the ring, especially for the first few weeks after the engagement. But before you buy a diamond, there is one question you absolutely must ask your jeweller:
Here are 6 designers turning organic and fair-trade fabrics like organic silk, cotton and hemp into stunning wedding gowns.
Check out Michael Lackman’s excellent article about silk production: Raw and Organic Silk: Facts behind the Fibers at LotusOrganics.com.
Gwendolyn Gleason
Rene Geneva
Chrissy Wai-Ching
Morgan Boszilkov
Deborah Lindquist
Olivia Luca
Some wedding dresses in some of the collections may not be made organic or eco-friendly fabrics, so ask before you buy to make sure you are getting what you want.
Many, many thanks to everyone who has been supporting BluePlanetWedding.com over the last year - look for some great things to come over the next year.
Everyone here at BluePlanetWedding.com wishes all our faithful readers a happy and safe holiday, and a hearty congratulations to everyone getting engaged tomorrow (Christmas is the #2 time to get engaged after Valentine’s day).
Keep it green!
Dave Walker and the gang at BluePlanetWedding.com
(and yes, my New Year’s resolution is to blog a bit more faithfully!)
