Decorating the Newlywed Home

After the wedding when you've sorted through all your newlywed gifts and goodies are you still lacking a few things?

Or did you receive items that just aren't your style?

Return what you can and look for items that are uniquely you online. One great place I found is AllModern.com one of the 200+ stores in the network of CSN Stores.

They have a little bit of everything for those with uniquely modern tastes.

Lamps, furniture, wallpaper, and a fabulous selection of wall art and decor

Just glancing at their site I fell in love with stick on chalkboards and sticker stick on photo frames (which I've seen featured in magazines like Better Homes and Gardens, Family Circle, and Women's Day) and their mirrors that come in unconventional shapes like puzzle pieces and can can dancers.

I bet there's something there that you'll fall in love with as well.

If you see something you like you don't have to wait until the wedding is over either- you can create a wedding registry with AllModern.com and any of the other CSN Stores. Pick something from any site within the CSN network of stores and add it your wedding registry.

I'm adding the photo frame stickers to my wish list. My daughter seen them in a magazine and would totally love them for her room. I bet she'd love the chalkboard too. I'd actually like it for my kitchen but I bet it wouldn't stick to my textured walls.

Do you see anything at All Modern you'd love to have?

Check Out These Interesting Ideas for a Green Wedding Shower!

A wedding shower is definitely a rite of passage, where you get to gather together with all of your closest female friends and family members to eat cake, drink punch, and maybe open up some sexy lingerie…

Still, in today’s world, you may be hoping to not only have a memorable wedding shower but also make it more eco-friendly - and here are a few ideas to get you started:

• Organic Wine Tasting: Not only is wine full of beneficial antioxidants to promote a healthy heart, but there are also many local wineries that grow organic grapes with sustainable practices that benefit the environment. If you have an organic winery nearby, consider hosting your wedding shower there for not only a fun and beautiful venue but a memorable occasion to celebrate your big day!

• Go Potluck: If you request that each guest to your wedding shower brings their favorite locally grown, organic food, you will have a great time tasting new dishes that you may have never tried before, and you will also be benefiting the environment at the same time. Simply brilliant…

• Spa Trip: Going on a girl’s day spa trip is a wonderful way to relax and curb pre-wedding jitters, so make sure to seek out a spa that uses organic and natural skin care products, as well as organic cotton in their robes and towels. This is an innovative way to beautify, relax, and be kind to the earth!

• Try Ecotourism: Ecotourism is an interesting industry that is rapidly growing, and you can easily book a green and environmentally conscious weekend getaway online. This could include a short cruise, ski trip, or stay in a local cabin that will give you and your bridal party a small break with a minimal carbon footprint by staying in green hotels, traveling in hybrid cars, and eating in local organic restaurants.

The truth is that there is no set recipe to what makes a wonderful and memorable wedding shower for a bride-to-be! If you are a bride that is also concerned about your impact on the environment, then you can choose from one of the many creative options above to plan a unique shower that is also environmentally conscious…

~Bethany Ramos is a full-time freelance writer and professional makeup artist that also co-owns her own business, The Coffee Bump. For a great selection of the Bunn coffee maker, check out Bethany Ramos' website, The Coffee Bump.

5 Easy Ways to Green Your Wedding Without Spending a Fortune

Having a green wedding is trendy; green weddings are fabulous... and according to many people green weddings are expensive.
This isn't always true.

Sure if you go out and buy all brand new green items made from eco-friendly materials you may spend more than if you purchased conventional not so green goods.But there are many ways to be green without spending more- in fact there are some ways to green your wedding that can actually save you money.

Here are five ways to green your wedding while being budget friendly.

1. Find gently used or pre-owned wedding items. There are many places where you can find gently used or pre-purchased but never used wedding items- like CraigsList.org, RecycledBride.com, and eBay.com. Some people buy too much for the wedding, others may have decided not to get married while other items may have been overstock from a retail store. Whatever the reason it's to your advantage because you can find anything and everything from wedding gowns to jewelry to guest books and cake toppers for a fraction of the retail price-and you'll be saving money and resources.

Keep reading here.

Eco Invitations from Twisted Limb

Looking for gorgeous wedding invitations that are eco-friendly as well as stylish? Look no further than Twisted Limb Paperworks in Bloomington, Indiana.

The carbon- neutral studio creates handmade 100% recycled paper from used office paper, grocery bags, and recycled water. To give the paper an extra special natural touch they add flowers, wildflower seeds, and even grass clippings from their lawn.The result is gorgeously textured natural paper that gets transformed into beautiful wedding invitations, business papers, greeting cards, announcements, thank you notes, place cards, menus and favors.

They offer a wide variety of color options to coordinate with any wedding color palette they also have a nice selection of invitation styles- you can even decide whether to receive the invitations pre-assembled or save a few dollars and purchased DIY kits.

Twisted Limb offers circle invitations, panel invitations, bookmark styles, fold over styles, sidebar invitations and many other styles- all in your choice of colors.

My mother recently married again and we opted to be as green as possible.

We received beautiful eco-invitations from Twisted Limb in the 5x7 Fold over style.

I fell in love with the delightful texture of the paper and the simple elegance of the invitations. The main part of the invitation was made with handmade paper- we received lavender and sagebrush colors.

The handmade papers are folded over on the top and the printed part of the invitation is made with eco-friendly vellum. The folded over border is finished with a zigzag stitch that offers visual appeal.

Keep reading here.

An Eco-Friendly Wedding All Starts with Location!

If you want to make eco-friendly and green choices with your upcoming wedding, then it all starts with location, location, location! Of course, your wedding venue sets the scene for your special day, and it also makes up a serious chunk of your budget. This is why focusing on an eco-friendly setting for your wedding venue will not only save you money, but it will also minimize your impact on the environment.

Here are some important considerations to keep in mind…

• Convenience. It really does make a difference to choose a venue that is convenient to the majority of your guests, which will minimize gas and travel costs for everyone in attendance. This means that it pays to shop around locally and off of the beaten path, where you may choose to rent out a library, city center, or even local park so that everyone in your city can conveniently attend your wedding and reception.

• Individuality. Instead of renting out a large hall for your wedding, which may be quite expensive, you can search for unique venues, like a nonprofit organization, botanical garden, organic restaurant, or even art gallery. This is a fun way to choose a venue that supports a cause that you already believe in, and they may be more likely to offer you organic food and drinks to cater your reception.

• Outdoors. There’s no better way to be close to Mother Nature than choosing an outdoor wedding venue! This will require less decorating on your part, and it will also allow you to focus on the beauty of the earth as you celebrate your union. On top of that, if you happen to have anyone you know with a beautiful backyard or property, you can often cut down on your wedding venue costs astronomically by holding your ceremony and reception at the beautiful property of someone that you know.

• Entrance. You can still go green when you arrive at your ceremony by choosing a hybrid car, rickshaw, or horse-drawn carriage to minimize your carbon footprint. Not only is this friendly to Mother Earth, but it is also a fun and unique way to pull up to your wedding that all of your guests will remember!

• Awareness. Last of all, make sure that you help all of your guests choose eco-friendly transportation and hotel options if they are coming in from out of town by giving them links to green hotels in your area and resources for hybrid rental cars. Your guests will be thankful for the helpful information, and you will also be giving them the opportunity to go green as they visit you to celebrate your wedding!

~Bethany Ramos is wedding makeup artist and professional freelance writer that co-owns her own business, The Coffee Bump. For a great selection of Bunn coffee makers, check out Bethany Ramos' website today!

Win an Eco Prize Pack from Ecotensil

Announcing an Eco-idea competition sponsored by EcoTensil is offering a eco-gift basket worth $200!

Let's make 2011 a green year.

EcoTensil wants to know how you make your life green.

EcoTensil is the company that has created the world’s most eco-friendly single-use spoons and they invite you to share your favorite green ideas and inspire the rest of us!

And in doing so you could win a $200 eco-friendly prize pack.

All you have to do is share a unique way you are reducing, recycling, reusing.

How are you reducing the impact of your trash to create for a greener world for yourself and the next generations?

At home
At the grocery store
In the office
At the coffee shop
On the internet
At school…


EcoTensil wants to hear from you!

Whether heroic or mundane, the impact of our actions add up. Tell Ecotensil your most innovative and inspiring solutions for minimizing your trash impact and you could win your very own Zeroing in on Zero Waste Kit -market value: $200


The Zero Waste Kit includes:

1 gallon compost pail with filters
Verterra Compostable Square Plates
Preserve To-Go cups
2-tier Recycled Cotton Carrier Bag
Water Bottle Sling with ChopStick Holder
Simply Gorgeous green chico bag
“How to Make and Use Compost” book

Second place is a To-Go-Ware lunch kit!

To enter, like EcoTensil on Facebook and post your suggestion on their wall.

Get your audience to participate by posting the contest on your site. If the winner heard about the contest on your site, you will both win the prize!

The contest will run through January and winners will be announced in February.

Thank You to All of My Mother's Wedding Sponsors

My mother's wedding yesterday was a beautiful and wonderful event.

We had a pretty good turn out even though the weather was terrible and a bad case of the flu has been going around.

And we had many, many compliments on the green wedding items and everyone wanted to know where everything came from- so we told them. Announcements were made and everyone was given this web address to find links to the merchandise.

So I want to give an extra special thanks to all the companies- and the people behind the companies- that sponsored this wedding with invitations, favors, plates, napkins, bowls, eating utensils, and accessories.

It is much appreciated and added an extra special touch to the wedding that did not go unnoticed.

Big thanks go out to:

Twisted Limb Paperworks who provided the gorgeous invitations

www.twistedlimbpaper.com

Sunflower Seed with Mini Pot Favors from Tree Beginnings

http://www.treebeginnings.com/

Plantable Butterfly Seeded Paper Favors from Tender Seed Company

http://www.tenderseedcompany.com/

Bamboo Plates, Cake Plates & Trays

from Bambu Home

www.bambuhome.com

Salad Bowls from Verterra

www.verterra.com

Eco Picnic Packs that contained plates, ecoware eating utensils and wysi wipes

www.ecowareproducts.com

www.canawipe.com

www.earthentrading.ca

Birchware Eating Utensils

www.Birchware.com

Napkins from Green Party Goods

www.greenpartygoods.com

My Mom's Wedding Flowers That I Made

Today's the big day, my mom's wedding-

take a look at some of the flower bouquets and arrangements I made

The maid of honor bouquet

Boutonnieres for the guys

The bridal bouquet- these photos came out blurry but I will add more non blurry ones soon

The unity candle arrangement which will also serve double duty

as the centerpiece for the bridal table

I will be adding actual wedding photos very soon so you can see all the previous items

I've shown you- in use at the real green wedding

Organic Wine and Champagne for Your Wedding

For Your Green Reception, Pop the Cork on Organic Wine and Champagne
By: Liberty Kontranowski

Unless you’re planning a dry wedding reception, you’re sure to encounter the issue of buying wine and champagne for your green wedding. And serving your guests organic wine and champagne means a host of good things for them, the planet and for others. Take a look at the benefits of serving organic bubbly at your wedding:

Rich and delicious flavor – Organic wine farmers cultivate rich soil, free of pesticides and other harmful toxins. When the fruit is planted in this superior soil, it is able to develop to its maximum natural potential and is therefore more flavorful, intense and pure. All of this makes for one amazing harvest of fruit, which then turns into one amazing batch of wine…and ultimately very happy wedding guests.

Poison-free – You wouldn’t dare set out a glass of anti-freeze for your guests to drink, would you? Of course not! So why would you serve wine or champagne that’s been contaminated by pesticides? Grapes continuously make the “Dirty Dozen” list of crops that are most heavily sprayed with pesticides. By serving organic wine, you eliminate spreading that risk to your guests. What’s more, you’re helping to support an organic farmer, his family and the planet by choosing organic beverages.

Less sulfites – Many people are highly sensitive to sulfites, which are salts or sulfurous acids added to many foods and beverages for preservation purposes. While limited amounts of sulfites occur naturally in wine, no added sulfites are allowed in 100% Certified Organic wines or beverages. By serving organic wine, your guests will surely thank you for eliminating the allergic reaction that sulfites cause in some people, along with the “sulfite headaches” that some experience.

One more thought: While most organically-grown items cost more than their traditionally-grown counterparts, organic wines tend to be priced approximately 20% less than similar vintages. So, with all the benefits of organic wines plus the cost savings at hand, why on Earth would a gorgeously green bride like you serve anything else? Our thoughts, exactly!

**

~Liberty Kontranowski is a freelance writer with hundreds of articles published online and in print, covering topics like health, parenting, lifestyle, beauty, celebrities and more. She is a regular contributor to the health blog at eDrugstore.md, a safe and secure medications facilitator.

Disposable Dinner & Cake Plates Plates from Bambuhome

The buffet table at my mother's wedding featuring-

BambuHome Veneerware plates and trays, napkins from Green Party Goods and eating utensils from Birchware and EcoWare

If you can see the flat bowls on each side of the big salad bowl those awesome small bowls are from Verterra- they are made from leaves

http://bambuhome.com/shop/picnic-barbecue1/natural-disposables2/

For my mother's wedding one of styles of dinner plates we used were Bamboo Vennerware from BambuHome- they are "the original single-use bamboo collection of plates, sereeware and utensils."

All Occasion Veneerware® is the one and only single-use product made from 100% bamboo and Certified Organic.

All Occasion Veneerware® is ideal for meals at home, picnics, catered events, weddings, birthdays, conferences or almost any occasion. All Occasion Veneerware® is our answer to the paper plate.

See the shop

About BambuHome Veneerware

Certified Organic
FDA approved food-safe - No bleaches or dyes
After disposal, biodegrades in 4-6 months
Not recommended for the microwave
Intended for single use

We also used bambuhome's small bamboo VeneerWare plates for the cake plates and their gorgeous kiwi colored trays held eating utensils and napkins

Choosing a Green Wedding Dress

Easy Steps to Choose a Green Wedding Dress

No, I’m not talking about a bright green wedding dress (although it’s your prerogative), but instead, choosing a dress that is eco-friendly and easy on the environment! Yes, it’s actually possible to find a gorgeous wedding gown with a minimal carbon footprint if you are savvy shopper that explores a few wedding dress options off of the beaten path. The greatest advantage to choosing an eco-friendly dress is benefiting the environment, but you will also be able to find a one-of-a-kind style that very few other brides will be wearing in 2011.

· Handmade: If you know a talented seamstress in your family or local community, having your wedding gown handmade from sustainable fabrics, like bamboo, organic cotton, hemp, or vintage fabrics, is the way to go. If you’re feeling crafty and are confident in your own skills, you can even design and create your own wedding gown from sustainable fabric choices. If you don’t know a dressmaker near you, you can also order a wedding dress made from sustainable materials through a designer on Etsy.com or similar websites. Again, the greatest advantage to going handmade is that you have an input into your wedding dress style, and you will come away with a gown that is 100% unique!

· Vintage: Vintage wedding gowns are an excellent choice since you will be recycling an old wedding dress and can also channel a classic style to make you even more beautiful on your big day. You can start by searching through local thrift stores, vintage stores, or consignment shops, and you can also check online on websites like eBay. If you do find a dress that doesn’t fit you exactly, that’s not a problem at all since wedding dresses can be easily altered. In fact, if you buy vintage, your wedding dress may be quite inexpensive, and you can spend the rest of your budget on alterations so that it is the perfect fit


· Designer: If you have the big bucks to spend on the wedding dress of your dreams, there are quite a few eco-friendly wedding designers popping up these days. Several years ago, it would have been very difficult to find top wedding gown designer using sustainable fabrics, but today, many notable designers use hemp, bamboo, organic cotton, and other vintage materials. Check out Leanne Marshall, Isodora Clothing, Poetic Justice Gowns, and Conscious Clothing to get you started on your quest for the perfect eco-friendly wedding gown.

As a bride planning your upcoming wedding, first of all, congratulations! This is a wonderful opportunity to celebrate your love as a couple and also be good to Mother Earth as you select the wedding dress of your dreams.

~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 Bunn coffee maker, check out Bethany Ramos' website today!

Flower Girl Basket

Here's the flower girl basket I decorated for my mom's wedding.

I found it at Goodwill for like .25

I cleaned it up, wrapped the handle with ribbon. then glued on beads and flower

I used a leaf to cover any telltale signs of glue and ribbon, I always like to cover my tracks

Here's the finsihed basket complete with leftover petals from my own wedding back in 2003 (yes I am a packrat when it comes to sentimental stuff and craft supplies)

My Mother's Real Green Wedding in Progress: Favors and Plates

It's almost here- Saturday is the big day for my mom.

We're wrapping up all the fine details.

Friday we'll purchase the remaining food and Saturday morning I'll be cooking everything in crock pots and roaster pans.

My house currently looks like a wedding exploded in it. :-)

Here's some of the things I have lying around and in boxes:

These favors by The Tender Seed Company are gorgeous- plantable butterfly paper on a card with beads and directions for planting

(butterflies are my mom's favorite thing)

Then we received these great eco picnic packs that contain eco-freindly plates, ecoware utensils, and biodegradable Wysi Wipes

Wrapping the Eating Utensils

Napkins from Green Party Goods

Utensils from Birchware



Wrapped Napkins

Hubby wrapping everything up

I put my husband to use over the weekend- he wrapped the Birchware eating utensils in forest friendly napkins from Green Party Goods.

Everything's eco.

I had a bag of rafia that we used to tie everyhing up instead of using plastic based curling ribbon.

The napkins from Green Party Goods are gorgeous, shades of ivoryand cream roses that match the wedding colors and the guestbook I found on ebay.

The napkins are also eco-

"The pulp comes from sustainable managed forestry from trees in Sweden and Finland. The pulp is oxygen bleached - no chlorine. The inks used are water based and kind to the skin. The cell wrapper is made from post- consumer waste that is formulated to burn without leaving a residue."

My Mom's Real Green Wedding

So we're two weeks away from my mom's big day and we're still lacking napkins, cups, table cloths, a cake knife set, a guest book and a ring bearer's pillow.


I made the cake topper, working on the flower girl basket and will be doing the two bouquets (three counting the toss bouquet), boutonnieres, and the unity candle arrangement.


Yikes how am I going to do this all in less than two weeks plus go shopping for food?


Oh yeah, we also don't have a bridesmaid's dress or flower girl dress. It's kinda hard to find sage or lavender dresses in the middle of winter. Stores haven't exactly pulled out the Easter pastels yet.


Thankfully all the guys have their clothing picked out. (It's aways so easy for the guys).


We're going pretty casual- no tuxes or anything just shirts, ties and dress pants. The groom is wearing a nice suit.


I'll be posting photos soon of the works in progress and the unpacking and arranging of all the eco-goods we have.


This is fun and so very stressful. Any other time than the holidays and this would have been so much easier. Now I'm running around like a crazy person (even worse than usual :-)