Conscious Celebrating

"Living green is a state of mind. It is like a stream of consciousness that lives within your spirit and affects your everyday decisions. By having an awareness and a respect for our earth, the very thing that sustains us all, the decisions that we make every day and every moment are affected. Most are small decisions, yet collectively our conscious efforts in not being wasteful, reducing consumption in all areas of our lives, and having gratitude for what we already have and own, will be felt in the sustaining of our environment." - Wanda Wen

A Soolip Wedding recognizes the importance and significance of a wedding celebration. We also recognize the amount of energy and resources that go into creating such an event.

Many choices must be made from decisions on flowers, invitations, wedding attire, food and beverage, party favors, travel and countless other details. While going completely green for many of us is a seemingly impossible hurdle, it is important to know that each environmentally sound action you take does make a difference. So, go green when you can and where it feels most right for you. And feel good that you've taken steps in helping to preserve Mother Earth.

Catering and Food

Buy local food and beverages for your menu. Food produced and distributed locally requires less transportation which decreases our carbon footprint. In addition, you will be directly supporting your community.

Buy organic. Organic foods create less waste and require less energy to produce. In addition, organic foods are healthier and taste better.

Eat mindfully. Taking the time to thoughtfully enjoy your food increases your satisfaction and feeling of well-being. Consuming fewer resources is healthy for the mind, body, and the earth.

Choose a venue that uses linens and china as opposed to disposable items.

Instigate a donation plan for any excess food and beverages. There are organizations that will pick up excess foods and deliver to places in need.

Choose a caterer who is conscious about our environment and has a recycling and mulching program for plant food scraps.

Decor and Favors

See the beauty in nature's offerings such as twigs, shells, mosses and stones. By featuring them as floral decor, you are celebrating beauty in all things simple. You will inspire your guests to do the same in the decor of their own spaces.

Choose linens of natural fibers like hemp, organic cotton and recycled fabrics. Also consider linen colors that have been created using plant-based dyes.

Incorporate live plants as well as cuttings from live plants as floral decor. These plants can then be turned into a living gift to your friends and family.

Re-use or donate all floral decor after your event, including vessels. Hospitals, convalescent homes, schools and shelters are places where flowers will certainly brighten someone's day.

Try to use organic or local farm grown materials in your decor.

Fruits, nuts, and vegetables make beautiful and unusual floral decor. Incorporate these natural elements and you will be able to eat these afterwards!

Request that your flower designer mulch the plant and floral cuttings.

Re-use candles until completely used up, not to waste wax. Take some on your honeymoon to add to the much-anticipated romance! Take the rest home and burn them for light in place of using electricity.

Keep things as real as possible. The environmental impact of reusable, high quality, handmade items is far less than an excess of disposable ones. The environment receives the benefit of sustained-use decor, while you receive the benefit of something well-made and distinctive.

Give the gift of sweets as favors wrapped in simple re-usable glass jars or pretty canisters.

Use recycled glass containers, vintage containers or ones made of a renewable resource such as bamboo.

Find local shelters that you can donate left over food to, and most will come and pick up.

Fashion and Beauty

Preserve and clean your gown with a dry cleaner who uses all-natural, earth-friendly cleaners and products. Paul Fox Fine Garment Cleaners 866-794-4369.

Choose vintage diamonds or vintage rhinestones for your wedding day accessories. No new diamonds were mined to make you shine!

Look for a gown created of organic cotton and silk dupioni made by silk worms.

Finale

Go green with your grand exit and drive off in style in a hybrid or better yet, a vintage two-seater bicycle!

Invitations

Use tree-free papers such as those made of cotton, linen, bamboo and hemp.

Use paper comprised of post-consumer, recycled waste.

Ask your printer about soy or plant-based inks.

Save paper and consider omitting the traditional reply card and envelope by choosing a reply postcard.

Overall Caring

Allow 3 - 5% of your wedding event budget to go towards efforts in sustaining our environment - planting of trees, saving wildlife, environmental protection, recycling programs.

Leave no trace of an environmental footprint on our planet because of your wedding. Purchase wind-energy credits through www.renewablechoice.com to offset your carbon dioxide emissions created from planning and having your wedding.

Photography and Cinematography

Ask your photographer to do "online proofing only", to save on paper.

Hiring a film versus digital photographer makes very little difference in choosing green, but hiring someone local does save quite a bit on carbon emissions.

Choose photo albums that are made of post-consumer, recycled, or sustainable plant-fiber paper.

Registry and Home

Register to have a donation made to your favorite eco-conscious local organizations such as Heal the Bay (www.healthebay.org) and Tree People (www.treepeople.org), or national organizations such as Natural Resources Defense Council (www.nrdc.org) and the Sierra Club (www.sierraclub.org).

Choose items for your registry that are manufactured locally and that you will like for years to come. When you consciously acquire things that will last a lifetime, you decrease your environmental impact, and significantly reduce the amount of waste produced in our world.

Give gifts of tree starts or other plants to your guests. By incorporating some of the green ideas above, and others that you may have, you will be sending a beautiful and important message to your family and friends about your interests in caring for our environment.

Request that your registry gifts be sent without gift wrapping to you.

Life is not a dress rehearsal! Eat off of your beautiful porcelain or china dishware that you registered for everyday instead of paper or plastic plates.

To save water when washing your dishes, fill a clean, large cooking vessel and fill with hot soapy water. Wash dishes in the vessel and rinse quickly from the tap.

Use cloth/linen napkins instead of paper.

Use low odor and zero VOC paint.

Choose salt water for your pool.

Create your home energy using solar panels.

Travel and Destination

Choose a destination resort that supports recycling programs for paper, glass and plastics, and who supports their local farmers and fisherman.

Choose a green destination for your honeymoon. An ideal choice would be an African safari where the tourism helps protect the wildlife which otherwise would be hunted.

Honeymoon to a place that is closer to home.

Pick a venue where you can have all elements of your wedding in one place - the rehearsal dinner, wedding ceremony, wedding reception, and on-site activities. This way, your guests never have to leave the property, which saves in fuel consumption.

When you are looking for that perfect setting, keep convenience and global warming pollution, in mind. Choose a spot that your guests can get to without the need for airflight.

Help arrange for your guests to carpool to the event, and let them know of public transportation options.

Leave no trace of an environmental footprint on our planet because of your honeymoon. Offset your carbon dioxide emissions created by all the energy your trip is using, through www.tshoneymoons.com.

Choose a hotel that has green amenities such as Brita's in room, recyclable dispensers in room, energy efficient lighting, biodegradable supplies and organic bath products.

Thank you to those who inspired this collection of Green Ideas and for your committment to preserving our environment.

Berchtold Harris • Heath Ceramics • Kirstie Kelly • Korakia Pensione POM Wonderful • Raj Tents • Soolip Paperie & Press The Peninsula Beverly Hills • The Registry at Bloomingdales TravelStore Platinum • Vanilla Bake Shop • Williams-Sonoma