You may notice a minor change today, and a very major change. The minor change is improved navigation of the web site (I hope - let me know if you don’t like it). Find businesses with fewer clicks.The second improvement is huge - all businesses on the site are eco-friendly - we’ve eliminated all non-green businesses! Listings are still free, but ya gotta be green to get in.

Coming up this week (or next…):

Make it frugal, but call it eco. There are a lot of parallels between being frugal and being eco. Get some tips on having a frugal wedding but you can call it an eco wedding.

Getting away. Even if honeymoon travel isn’t the best thing for the environment (don’t forget to offset the travel!), you can go eco at one of these beautiful resorts around the world.

Finally, I’d just like to give a little shout-out to a new group out of San Francisco: The One Love Campaign, a directory of businesses and resources serving same sex weddings in the SF area.

“The website www.theonelovecampaign.com will serve as a beacon of information and a resource for all different types of relationship & wedding services in a network that recognizes all marriages as One Love.”

There’s nothing I don’t like about this idea: place cards on cookies (I am an admitted cookieholic, though). Not only does it take more paper out of the wedding stream, it doubles as a delicious wedding favour. And, with the right bakery, they can be nut-free, gluten-free, organic, or adapted to any need you may have.

(Place card cookies from Sweet Impressions)

Edible place cards can be made out of different foods, including chocolates, candies, cookies, mints and so on. Forgo the wrapping, or use an eco-friendly wrapping for the placecard/favour.

Sweet Impressions is a Winnipeg, Canada, based bakery baking organic cookies; they also offer vegan options. They wrap their baking in biodegradable cellophane and ribbons and they will soon be operating out of a peanut-free facility.

Hmm… stomach’s rumbling… wonder if there are any cookies in the house…

If you’re planning a wedding web site or thinking about blogging about the wedding preparations, check out MomentVille (www.momentville.com). You can create a personal site (choose your own theme), and there are a ton of features, including RSVPs, guestbooks, blogs, photo albums, maps, polls and much more. You’ll like it because it’s free (there’s also a premium level), at BluePlanetWedding.com we like it because it’s carbon-neutral - they pay carbon offests through Tickgreen (www.tickgreen.com).

There’s always a ton of information you need to get out to guests - times, menus, maps, hotels, etc. You can send a thick invitation/information packet, or send an email directing people to a web site. Guess which one is greener? People also love seeing the “behind the scenes” planning - keep them informed by blogging about the plans and ideas.

And if you have a wedding web site or wedding blog, and you have an eco-friendly or ethical side to your wedding, let me know and I’ll link to your site!

Many thanks to the blog readers for putting me onto the work of jewelry designer Todd Reed.

Todd’s designs use ethically sourced diamonds and recycled gold, but his use of raw diamonds sets these rings apart.

Ring using cut and polished diamonds and raw diamond cubes. Courtesy of Todd Reed.

Before diamonds are cut and polished, they arrive in a rough shapes, including cubes and octohedrons. These rough diamonds capture the idea of nature and earth as the most perfect form, and challenge the idea of perfection.

It started as a way to question society about the idea of perceived value. In particular how value and perceived value relate to ideas of beauty or perfection that have become norms of society.

There are certain ad campaigns, such as, “She’ll like you at a half carat, but she’ll love you at a carat.”, that prompted me to make this line of jewelry. This would be a line of jewelry that really did use the most perfect diamond in the world, the actual raw diamond. Uncut. Unpolished. Natural, perfect geometry.

As the popularity of the “bling” look fades, the natural look is rising in popularity. And a raw diamond ring creates great interest: “My wife’s rings stop people in their tracks.” (from BluePlanetWedding.com’s blog comments - thanks Joe!).

Check out Todd’s pages: www.toddreed.com and at Altered Space Gallery.

My apologies for not blogging for a while (2 months? That’s like 30 years in blog time). I’ve been very busy with other projects and haven’t been able to find the time to write. I know it’s no excuse, but, well… 

The good news is that there are several new posts in the works, and I should be back to a semi-regular schedule next week. Look for posts about Todd Reed, a jeweler working with raw diamonds and recycled gold, information about LEED-certified hotels, and much more.

We’ve also been busy with the media. Listen here to a radio interview with Amanda Smyth of Life Tips at WebmasterRadio.fm - lots of good stuff about eco weddings. And if you’re in Edmonton, check out the July/August issue of Unlimited Magazine for a great article by Annette Boudreau on green weddings.

If you’re going to a wedding and looking for an eco-friendly gift for the happy couple, check out Emma Gilchrist’s How to give a green wedding gift article at the Calgary Herald. Great tips and advice!

We’re still working on the next iteration of the web site - stay tuned for the easier-to-use, more complete, faster, better, stronger version of BluePlanetWedding.com.

Whew - it’s nice to be back!