Wednesday, December 29, 2010

A Few Innovative Ideas to Make Your Wedding Friendly to Mother Earth by Bethany Ramos




More and more couples these days are becoming eco-conscious in their everyday decisions, which becomes even more important and relevant when planning a wedding. If you dream of a beautiful wedding to your Prince Charming that also benefits Mother Earth, here are a few ideas for inspiration:

• Invitations: It helps to look for recycled paper as material for your wedding invitations since we all know that a full-blown wedding invitation package can generate quite a lot of wasted paper, such as the save-the-date cards, invitations, RSVP cards, registry cards, envelopes, and more. Luckily, there are quite a few choices in recycled invitations that also have a beautiful and earthy look to them if you are going for a natural theme for your wedding.

• Flowers: Aren’t flowers natural already? That may not necessarily be the case since many beautiful wedding flowers are actually imported, causing them to have a serious carbon footprint. Unless the flowers are organic, they are also grown with chemical pesticides that pollute the environment. Your best choice in securing beautiful floral arrangements for your wedding is to choose organic flowers that are locally grown, or you can even pick some from your own garden for your bouquet or centerpieces!

• Rings: What’s the big deal with buying a beautiful engagement ring and wedding band? The truth is that the mining of gold and silver can actually destroy the land and surrounding ecosystems, but there are quite a few choices in environmentally friendly wedding bands. You can search specifically for eco-friendly gold and silver jewelry, which will give you a better idea of the ecological footprint made by your beautiful diamond ring.

• Honeymoon: The honeymoon is normally the one area where couples go crazy and spend quite a bit of money, but you can be the one to do it differently. There are numerous choices in eco-tourism getaways, where you can hike and enjoy areas of North America, which will also give you a great opportunity to stay fit through biking, hiking, and walking. Make sure to research honeymoons that are off of the beaten path so that you can minimize your carbon emissions by choosing a natural vacation over a cruise or huge resort.

Food: The last thing that you can do to wrap up your complete environmentally friendly wedding package is to donate your extra food to a soup kitchen. This is a fantastic way to share the love by giving the decadent treats from your reception to those who are not as fortunate as you. This is a fun way to turn your wedding reception into a “feel good” event, and you can also take optional donations for the homeless shelter if you would like!


Bethany Ramos is a professional wedding makeup artist and also works full-time at her website, The Coffee Bump.

For a great selection of the Bodum french press coffee maker, check out Bethany Ramos' website today!

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