If you must give wedding favors....

A Green Revolution wedding might forgo favors to prevent unnecessary waste - how many people really eat those little almonds wrapped in tulle???

Or, you might show your good taste with gifts that can be used again and again...

A brightly-colored reusable tote, and fresh local organic produce will counteract too much cake and boozin', and remind your guests of your thoughfulness every time they go to the supermarket.

Thanks to Stephanie for the photo!

Recap #7: From Inspiration to Reality

As I was cleaning out the no-longer-needed wedding inspiration files on my computer and browser, I was pleased to see how the inspirational images I'd saved - mostly, I think, from that bottomless jar of eye-candy, Style Me Pretty* - were born out in reality.  Though I despaired of ever creating a wedding that could live up to the ethereal images on SMP with a down-to-earth budget, these show that a little ingenuity, and a great photographer, can converge to bring on the pretty.

Inspiration

The relaxed, familial, beach-party feeling of this was just the vibe I wanted...

Reality

We rented enough chairs for all the adults, and spread out beach blankets for the kids.  They got to have fun digging in the sand during the ceremony.

Inspiration

Oooo... the way the blue flags pick up the moody water of the sea....

Reality

Yes, with some bamboo poles from the hardware store, and some flags stitched by Mom (one of our few DIY - or DIFMP [for me, please] - projects), the flags define the wedding space without an altar or other religious symbol.

Inspiration

Sweet, simple bouts.  I'm not so much a fan of roses, and lavender wasn't allowed on the beach because of invasive species restrictions, so we ended up with rosemary (for remembrance) instead.

Reality

Inspiration

I'm a big fan of bright, non-matching wedding party outfits.  My Women of Honor decided that they wanted to match.  For the rest of the ushers and readers, we suggested the wedding colors of persimmon, pomegranate and cobalt blue.  They looked great!

Reality

Inspiration

Bright, bold blooms would energize the rustic setting, and echo the wedding party's bright colors...

Reality

Dahlias were lush, local, and seasonal!

Inspiration

Reality

Ok, one big difference between a SMP wedding and a DIY/ DIT one is the bushels of flowers.  I think we vastly under-ordered on the flowers, but they just weren't important enough to spend gobs of money on.

Inspiration

Reality

 In the final analysis, though, I like my bouquet even more than the inspiration photo!  Even more so because our florist adapted to the strict National Park restrictions to ensure that non-native plants could not invade the park.  (It occurs to me that I have absolutely no idea what happened to it after the wedding - flowers are so ephemeral.  Against all bridal tradition, we might have composted it!  Hopefully, the nutrients are returning to the soil, so that they and the love of that day can nourish flowers for someone else's wedding.)


*I no longer have the links or correct attributions for the inspiration photos.  If one of them is yours, please let me know and I'll post a link or remove, as you request.

Recap #6: Cheap and Green Decor

We wanted our wedding to have a smallish environmental footprint, so it was important to us that the minimal decor we used be reused and reusable.

For reused items, eBay was my very best friend. To orient our guests to the importance of the place was chose for the wedding, I ordered a bunch of vintage linen California postcard from the 1900-1940s.

We used these both as simple Save the Dates (printed the wedding information on 3x5 stickers, and pressed them on the back of the postcards), and as escort cards, strung on twine with clothespins, which were the first thing guests saw when they arrived at the wedding site.

Postcards were a fitting theme, as both of us love to send postcards from our travels. I found some vintage toy mailboxes on eBay which complemented the postcard theme on the guest book table.

The postcard theme was picked up on the dining tables, where postcards from places we'd traveled together were the markers for each table.

The dinner table decor was simple:


Local, seasonal dahlias in blue glass vases (re-purposed wine glasses from Crate and Barrel, which guests report they love using post-wedding),

Persimmons and pomegranates, local, seasonal fruits, which guests reported enjoying for days after the wedding, and sunflowers in reused vases from eBay.

We were able to borrow white lights from a classmate who got married at the same spot the previous year,


And scored a bunch of borrowed/ donated paper lanterns from two weddings we attended previously that summer. (These lanterns and some of the vases have now been handed off to a friend getting married in August. Yay, Wedding Co-op! Yay, reuse!)

At the origami table, guests made paper cranes for good luck.

 I think our budget for decor was maybe $200. We spent another $300 on cut flowers, which friends arranged in our vases.

With the beauty of the location, we didn't have to do much.
Images, except for a few, by the incomparable Kate Harrison.
#1, 11, 12 by Doc Water.
Heron by Srabani.

Persimmon perfection

What an adorable and tasty way to do escort cards/ favors all in one! The persimmons could be delicious snacks, mid-party, when energy is waning.

From Erin Ever After, via Veiled Vows.

Now there's a whole new category in my mind: if we did it again, but slightly differently. This idea is definitely filed there.

Which is not to say that I would have done anything differently. Although people say that things will go wrong -- and it's certainly a good idea to be prepared for that eventuality -- I can honestly say that virtually nothing* went wrong.

Our persimmons were artfully scattered, along with pomegranates, as table decor. Local, seasonal, and easy to procure, they picked up the deeps reds and oranges of the flowers and gentlemen's ties.


Guests took home these healthy snacks. A month later, they are just eating last ones. The sturdiness of autumn foods like pumpkins, squashes and pomegranates makes me think of fortitude, forbearance, and persistence.

*To my knowledge, three rather minor things went wrong.** There might have been others, but I was blissfully unaware, having handed off the reins to our Day of Coordinator. I didn't even know about two of the glitches until the end of the evening, when Eric told me as we were driving away. I am so grateful that he shielded me from fretting about these details during the evening. The other incident -- the result of misunderstanding combined with a bit of deafness -- I dealt with in two minutes and then things were fine.


** Maybe there was a fourth: Guests weren't able to hear the splendid acoustic stylings of our friends during cocktail hour because of the poor acoustics of the reception space. Oh well.

Thanks to wedding guests Rob and Madeleine for the photos!

Ahead of the curve

A whole photo spread of (non-wedding) pomegranates at Rock 'n Roll Bride, and confirmation that orange is the hot new wedding color at a 2000 Dollar Budget Wedding tells me we are on the right track with our 30 pounds each of persimmons and pomegranates for decorating. Not only are they are pretty color scheme, they healthy eating, full of vitamin C and micronutrients, and guests can take them home.

But what's that rain outside??? The forecast was for clear all week!

Another decor score

Hooray for the re-using proclivities of my sustainability-minded, penny-pinching environmental science friends and colleagues!

So far I've scored:

• several dozen colored paper lanterns
• votive candles
• bud vases
• tall glass vases
• Mason jars

And now, the pièce de résistance, the gorgeous white lights that will decorate the dance floor. Borrowed, for free!

Photos courtesy of T.G., who got married at the Headlands Center for the Arts last year.
How cool is his wife's dress???

Is orange the new pink?

After seeing these vibrant centerpieces - Mason jars and all - at Doc Water's Yosemite wedding this past weekend,

And observing this spectacular chuppah quilt, handpieced by Doc Water's new mother-in-law,


Which was vaguely reminiscent of the flowers interwoven into the shelter at Bootcamp's wedding,

where she carried these beautiful orange posies,

I'm now wondering if my color scheme of persimmon and pomegranate
is just a wee bit derivative?

On the positive side, at least I'm "on trend."

I wonder if Doc Water and Bootcamp will feel a sense of deja vu in October?

"You're my kind of bride"

I knew I'd found the right florist, when Silke of Local Flora, said that to me.

Before we even got down to the details of arrangements and colors, we had a long talk about sustainability, and pesticides, and local growers, and why it's so hard to find organic flowers. (Answer: consumers demand perfect petals, and growers have difficulty making ends meet if they have to throw away too many munched blooms.) Silke said that the market for organic flowers is in its infancy, in the same way that the market for organic food was ten years ago. Many people don't realize the amounts of pesticides used on flowers or the concomitant dangers (a topic I wrote about here), and don't think to request organic flowers. She and her shop are working to nurture the local supply of organic flowers by working with individual growers, and buying extra blooms from individuals with extensive organic gardens.

Her gorgeous designs show that you don't have to give up elegance by going local and organic.

I showed Silke my favorite flower inspiration image (via SMP), and then said, "But no roses." She didn't bat an eye.
She grabbed some sunflowers - organic ones are easily available - along with some coxcomb and dark red dahlias, and started putting together a bouquet full of bright colors and interesting textures as I watched.

Now the only question is how many corsages and boutonnieres to order for our non-traditional band of wedding helpers.

At the two month mark

Yep, the Knot (thanks, Macy's) and Wedding Wire kindly informed me that it was time to start freaking out last week. The timing was perfect, since I was already freaking out about starting my new job. That means I can multi-task my freaking out, get it out of my system now, and by October I should be the picture of serene calm. (Anyone who knows me will be snorting with laughter by now... but what is life without goals?).

Fortunately, Mr. Barefoot, prescient planner that he is, had just the antidote for the impending freakout: a weekend away. Just the two of us. No weddings to attend (that we haven't had an absolute blast with all our wonderful friends who have gotten married this summer), no wedding planning to do, no work, no stress... and no computers! Just us in the mountains. Back to the climbing and hiking that first brought us together. Dreamy.

Now that I'm back, I could take a look at the Knot's list, and start freaking out about what I've left undone. (Securing the officiant is one important piece that is still... in process.) But I keeping with the mellow, outdoorsy vibe of the weekend, and the ostensible purpose of this blog - to chronicle planning a wedding that steps lightly on the earth - I'm going to take a look at a list of 101 Ways to Create an Eco-Chic Wedding, via San Francisco Style Unveiled, and see how we're doing according to their list.

Feel free to play along at home, and/or add your own tips! I'd love to hear some that they haven't thought of.

*****

1.Have your ceremony and reception at the same location. check

2.Keep the wedding cake simple. fail - as you may recall, our baker, Edith Meyer, specializes in rather elaborate cakes. However, they are organic - the reason we chose her - so I think we get a pass on this one.

3.Use the linens that your reception site provides. check

4.Wear a dress made of raw silk. fail - Wish I could afford one! I checked the tag on my dress the other day at the fitting, and, sadly, it is pure petrochemicals: polyester. In penance, I wrote a lengthy post about the reasons for using organic flowers.

5.Use a reply postcard, rather than a note card that needs an envelope. check - We did one better - we requested online responses to cut down on paper use.

6.Purchase a simple wedding gown that you would wear again. HA!!! (that's a fail.) Broken*saucer will score this point, with her blue gown.

7.Create a wedding website, rather than using mailer inserts with your invitation. check

8.Use the beautiful Northwest moss as a centerpiece in a lovely, shallow bowl. hmmm... not available here. Seems very location specific.

9.Donate your wedding dress to a charity when the wedding is over. that's the plan... Brides Against Breast Cancer.

10. Choose bridesmaids dresses that your friends will wear again. working on it. My BFF didn't really go for the first dress I chose at J Crew, or it's $170 price tag. We're going to hit Nordstrom rack in a couple weeks to see if we can find something re-wearable and less expensive.

11. Have the groomsmen wear a suit they can use again for work. yep, they'll wear dark suits they already own.

12. Blow bubbles rather than tossing rice; rice kills birds when they eat it. check. Rice and birdseed are not allowed at our venue. I'm not really sure I want my friends pelting me with tiny objects, anyway!

13. Rent real glasses and dishes, as opposed to using disposable plates. check - from the caterer.

14. Use a florist who uses flowers from local or organic farms. check - planning to visit Local Flora this week.

15. Have your guests reply on the website, rather than send in paper reply cards. check - are these a little repetitive???

16. Register for your gifts at local shops, so as to save on shipping materials and gas. fail. This one is tricky - with so many guests from out of town, I think it's a lot easier for them to choose gifts from online shops. AND, do we really want ALL those people driving around to shop? It may actually be more efficient to have the UPS guy deliver the gifts.

17. Use recycled gold for your eco wedding rings. check - Went to Brilliant Earth, which uses recycled gold, last week to pick out our bands! Yipppeeeee!!

18. Select a wedding venue close to your home. check

19. Create your own bouquets from wildflowers. hmmm... a moment ago, I was supposed to hire an organic florist...

20. Ride a tandem bike home from the reception. that would require purchasing a tandem bicycle to replace the perfectly good used bikes we already have. Not gonna happen, though it's a cute idea.

21. Use potted plants as centerpieces for a more organic wedding. maybe? Mr. Barefoot is the green thumb... I'm trying to convince him to pot a bunch of succulents, but given our busy schedules, I'm not sure it's gonna happen.

22. Use biodegradable, compostable dishes and flatware made from cornstarch, sugar cane, or tropical leaves. this is confusing... I thought I was supposed to use re-usable dishes...

23. In lieu of a favor, give the money to a charity for a greener world. considering this... we also listed a couple of our favorite causes, including Equality California, on our registry page, in case our guests would like to make a donation to one of these organizations in lieu of a physical gift.

24. Use a green wedding registry. Does REI count??... maybe Gaiam or Earthsake?

25. Use cloth napkins, rather than paper. check, via the caterer.

*****

phew... this is a lengthy list! Out of 25 suggestions, we're applying 14 of them to our wedding. Given that a couple were redundant or contradictory, that seems pretty good to me.

Check back soon to see how I fared with the next 25.

Weekend scores

In a Friday afternoon brain-dead moment, I went down to the local fancy Italian shoe store to see if they might have the Chie Mihara's I'm lusting after.

Alas, they did not.

But the Crate and Barrel outlet was right next door, so I wandered in to see how we might spend the gift certificate the my brother and sister-in-law gave us last Christmas. (You know it's a busy year, when your Christmas gift certificates are still hanging around in JULY!)

I was super excited to find these stemless wine glasses, on sale for $1.75/ each, which I think will make great bud vases to complement the larger vases I found on ebay. If you need anything in the way of vases or kitchen ware, you've got to check out the Crate & Barrel outlet. The Thirty-something Bride scored some cute vases there last week.

I realized recently that the long tables of our venue call for more than one centerpiece per table. But at $25 and up for professional flower arrangements, that's going to be hard to fit in our budget. So these little vases can hold one or two stems each -- and when we're done, they're hip wine glasses. (A further bonus is that they're apparently 30% recycled glass, according to the Macy's website where they sell for $25/ 4 glasses! And $16/ 4 at Amazon.)

Feeling that the shopping gods were with me, I took a spin by the 99 Cent Only store.

Last time I was there, I scored eight blue glass vases like this for $1 (image from here, where the price is $15!)

My intuition paid off! I scored 40 of these glass votive holders for 25c/ each - or $10 for the whole mess of 'em! (A sign of the times, by the way, that my computer keyboard has no 'cents' sign.) It's definitely worth checking out the dollar store- you never know what you'll find.


Now back to C&B tomorrow, for the votives - 30/ $6 - to go in these, and our tablescapes are just about set.

Divine details

Did you see the darling summer-camp-inspired wedding at Style Me Pretty?
You must take a look! It's both gorgeous and laid back.

If the devil - or the divine - is in the details (which is it, really?), they had one helluva - or one heavenly - wedding.

Either way, I pretty much want to steal all their special little touches.

Mr. Barefoot is the world's leading expert on a particular of species of dragonfly found in one Rhode Island swamp. The icon made it onto our registry dishes - so we'll need some dragonflies at the reception as well.



This is exactly the sort of outdoorsy bout I've been dreaming of...



And the tables look so inviting, yet not overdone.



Another inspiring table saved long ago, from - ack! - and unknown source. I'll gladly post the link if someone knows.

Blindfolded and dizzy

What a way to begin married life!

Remember the wedding cake piñata?

Look what shiny happy wedding directed me to:

here

We're not allowed to afix anything to the ceiling at the reception location, but there's always outdoors...