BluePlanetWedding.com's Green and Ethical Wedding Blog

Turn Your Wedding Into a Charity Fundraiser

Dave — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 17:29:45 +0000

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 joy.

Dave — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 14:18:29 +0000

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.

NYC Brides and Grooms: Green Weddings Event

Dave — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 12:39:26 +0000

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

How Toxic Is Your Makeup?

Dave — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 15:13:42 +0000

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.

Congratulations - you’re engaged! Now what?

Dave — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 17:21:39 +0000

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

5 Places to Find Gorgeous Preowned Wedding Dresses Online

Dave — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 07:28:27 +0000

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:

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“.

A year ago on BluePlanetWedding.com: Blood diamonds

Dave — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 04:53:50 +0000

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:

6 Eco-friendly Wedding Dress Designers You Really Need to See

Dave — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 22:49:44 +0000

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.

Happy Holidays and here’s wishing eveyone a Green Christmas!

Dave — Thu, 25 Dec 2008 00:01:52 +0000

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!)

Tara & Mike’s Eco-friendly Wedding, Conclusion

Dave — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 18:15:28 +0000

Today we wrap up Tara and Mike’s Eco Wedding. We hope you enjoyed reading about this wedding, and if you would like your own eco-wedding featured on BluePlanetWedding.com, drop me a line!

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4

What would you say to couples thinking of having a green wedding?

If there are any couples considering implementing a few eco-friendly initiatives into their wedding or thinking about having an eco-wedding, I would congratulate them on their decision and provide positive support as well. Sometimes it takes guts to change or do something a little different.

I would suggest to the bride and grooms to follow their heart and not listen to negative comments by those who are scared of change. A lot of people do not realize how much weddings (and other large events) negatively impact our environment and if 100 brides implemented 1 eco-friendly initiative into their big day, it would make a large impact.

I think the top 2 must haves for an eco-wedding are an eco-wedding coordinator and the internet.

If anyone is considering having an eco-wedding, the most important suggestion I have is hiring an eco-event planner. Wedding coordinators are great but they are there to serve you. On the contrary, an eco-event planner is there to serve you, but they are also there to protect and serve the environment. On Green Lily Events‘ website, they sum it up very well when they say: “We believe that making responsible choices in the early stages of event planning can minimize waste and create a lighter footprint. Our mission is to create unique, eco-chic events that balance style with sustainability.” My wedding would not have been the same with the help of Green Lily Events. Especially in a place like Texas, doing something eco-friendly requires help whereas in California, it is a law that recycling must take place at large events.

Also, I did spend a lot more time researching eco alternatives on the internet, and that is definitely a necessity if someone is planning an eco-event.

What green or eco-friendly things are you going to establish in your household?

We already recycle everything we possibly can in our home. Our new favorite TV channel is the Planet Green channel. I watch the shows on making homes green a lot and we love to learn about the environment and what we are doing and what more we can do to help minimize the negative impact our consumption is having on the earth. Before the channel even started, I had decided to make my current home green. We purchased a condo in March of 2008 and we have plans to green our home as much as we can with the limited budget that we have. Recently, we purchased a digital thermostat and a blanket for our water heater. Also, over the next 2 years we plan on replacing the paint with a low or no toxic paint, install new appliances and purchase as many energy star appliances as possible and install recycled glass countertops in the kitchen and bathroom. In addition, we are gradually replacing our cleaning products with eco-friendly products and we try to purchase organic and local products whenever it is financially possible.

The eco-wedding has already made an impact of some of my family members and my brother and my father have begun recycling in their homes too. My father even sent me a picture recently of his first time recycling!

Overall this experience has been life changing for me and my husband. Not only do we feel good about having an eco-wedding, we are planning on making all our future events eco-friendly.