Seeing that some of my bloggy friends were vying for the Wedding Channels Bridal Blog Awards, I checked out the contenders. It's exciting to see some of the awesome blogs that I've been reading ever since the first days of wedding planning being nominated for the title of 'best blog.' I'm excited to see who wins!
But.... the category of Best Eco-Friendly Bridal blog is getting me down a bit. Is this the best of the best when it to comes to planning an eco-friendly wedding??? Now, I love Green Wedding Shoes. It's one of the few inspiration blogs I still read because the images are consistently gorgeous. I've been reading it since... forever.... and a few sustainable weddings (including my own!) have been featured there. But I never thought of it as an explicitly eco-friendly wedding blog.
Are there no practical folks planning sustainable weddings? Where are the offbeat eco-friendly brides and grooms? We need stories and inspiration from real people, describing their successes and challenges in creating weddings that honor their love AND the Earth. More stories like A Low Impact Wedding.
Here's the challenge: it's time for those couples who are planning consciously eco-friendly weddings to step out of the background... come out of the forest... down from the mountain... out of the ocean... where ever you are hanging out, and share your stories of your green/ sustainable/ organic/ environmentally-conscious weddings. If you've got one to share, I'll gladly feature it here.
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4 comments:
I agree. The categories are limited and some of the nominees are, well, not the best for the stated categories. (Although I am truly appreciative of all the support so many have shown in nominating and voting for me.)
And as for the green wedding planning, I also agree. But I'm finding it really hard to *write* about in a way that doesn't feel preachy. Sustainability questions (and trying to balance those choices with our other constraints/realities) has been at the forefront of our planning. But I haven't figured out how to describe it yet without feeling preachy/just being informative. I'm not sure why it's so hard for me when it's something I believe in so strongly. I think I'm in the middle of my first good post about the topic. Hopefully it will be ready soon. And maybe then I'll get in a groove where the subject matter is easier.
You are right! I wish I would have found greener blogs while I was planning.
@ LA Love: I know what you mean. Writing about 'being green' often comes across as sanctimonious and puritanical. So much of what we hear about being more environmentally-sustainable has to do with cutting back and doing without.
Instead, I want us to think about ways that our choices reflect our values - they become our values made concrete - and our ethics become our aesthetics, to borrow phrases from two of my favorite bloggers.
With any wedding decision, there's a range of possibilities... and decisions about ~why~ to choose a specific possibility: tradition, religion, aesthetics, personal style, etc. I wonder how sustainability gets woven into that list, too, as an aspect to be considered in decision-making, perhaps in ways that are more life-enhancing for all.
Thanks for the love! I always try to be as sustainably minded as possible and educate my readers on the need to think "green" while planning, but in a recent survey, many of my readers said they didn't find that content interesting. Its so sad, and I will continue to preach the power of the green, no matter what!
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