Organic weddings

Planning a wedding is a time of nervousness and excitement. More than ever, forward-thinking couples are planning organic weddings, or earth-friendly ceremonies. By utilizing products and services that are environmentally friendly, couples create memories that they can feel really good about. Planning a wedding that incorporates pesticide-free flowers in season, organic hemp, cotton, and silk, and a menu of fresh, local food is not only beautiful, but it's money well spent. A good place to start is the Knot, a wedding resource website, where you will find a wedding planner and budgeter, as well as other tips to help you get started.

Choosing a reception hall
There are a many ways to enjoy a more environmentally friendly reception. You might have dreamed of an outdoor wedding on the beach, a botanical garden, or even an organic farm. However, you’ll still need a caterer or a hall. Here are a few ideas; Mary Jane's Farm Bed and Breakfast; Green Hotels eco-friendly resource website; or you can inquire about availability by visiting our organic restaurants webpage and the organic spas webpage . Before planning any event at a natural location, be sure that the impact of having a large number of people at a beach or park will not produce a negative impact on the environment.



More companies are providing beautiful hemp-blend wedding gowns and bridesmaid's gowns. A good place to start is Conscious Clothing. They have beautiful styles that are made-to-order.

Flowers
Flowers can be an expensive undertaking. Some couples might decide not to have them, but it you do, why not make them count? If you long for fresh flowers, the following have a great selection of organic flowers: Organicbouquets.com organic wedding flowers website; Manic Organics organic wedding flowers; California organic flowers. All have next-day delivery, and they provide other bridal accessories, like organic chocolate. May we recommend that you locate the one closest to you, to avoid unnecessary expenditure of fuel? Do make sure that your flowers are properly disposed of when the reception is over. Perhaps you wish to donate them to a local nursing home, have them composted, preserved by drying, etc.

Artificial flowers are an acceptable alternative. What you want to avoid are flowers utilizing artificial dyes. A nice website to visit is aFloral.com silk flowers website, which provides a wide assortment of silk flowers.

Entertainment
This is a no-brainer; a pianist or chamber music for the reception uses the least amount of electricity. For small gatherings, a DJ could play pre-recorded music, or you could hire a big band orchestra.

Rings/jewelry - They are traditional, they are beautiful -- but the controversies over conflict diamonds and gold mining make these choices unacceptable. There are alternatives, however. If you choose to buy diamonds, they can be purchased from Canada, where they are traced to the source, and they are conflict-free. Gold mining is also very inhospitable to the environment; even small scale mining requires extraction techniques which are harmful both to workers and to the environment. One example is the use of cyanide and mercury to separate gold from rock. The cyanide and mercury are frequently dispersed into the environment, and the toxic mercury is very often inhaled by the miners. There are companies that use recycled gold and beautiful synthetic stones; two places to visit are greenKarat.com; for recycled gold and "green" jewelry choices; and Brilliant Earth, a website for responsible wedding jewelry.

Are you looking for a nice bridal gift registry? Try the Ecochoices natural living store, which carries a wide list of natural and organic products, from vases to mattresses, beeswax candles to hemp towels. It's a great site for a housewarming, too.

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My boyfriend knew better than to propose with a ring in hand - I have very specific tastes, and had always said that I wanted a one-of-a-kind ring that ...