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
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…Â 
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!
