Category: Green Weddings

If you’re wondering why we’re including a brief item about recycling it’s because parties and special events often generate recyclable materials and leftover food that the bride and groom don’t want to take home. Nowadays, you and the caterer can feel good by donating the excess, and recycling plastic bottles, glass, metal and paper. An added benefit is that food donations are tax deductible for either you or the caterer. And if you recycle, the cost for extra garbage containers (bins) can be eliminated or reduced.

For centerpieces, I was thinking of using potted plants because I like the idea of something that lives on after the wedding. My colors are Wedgwood blue and cream. Will all that green still work?
—Sandi S., Danville

Brides often forget to add a few essential items with smaller price tags to their registry lists, but including these items is a courtesy to the guests who have already contributed a lot to your wedding (hello maids of honor and in-laws!), or younger family members who don’t want to add her name to her parents’ gift. I was reminded of this when I made my semi-routine visit to Williams-Sonoma a few weeks ago.

In your pre-wedding world, you probably already have the dishes, the towels, and the ubiquitous crock pot that grace most wedding registries.So what do you register for if your cupboards already runneth over? You could succumb to that borderline tacky (okay, really tacky) trend of asking guests to pay for your honeymoon or even help fund your wedding. Or you could help make the world a better place by registering for your wedding at ChangingThePresent.org.

Tarte Cosmetics is one company that has mastered creating products that aren’t tested on animals, are paraben-free (very, very important), and contain botanical nutrients. The makeup comes in attractive, fuss-free packaging, and most importantly, they make you, the wearer, look good. You might have read about Tarte’s world-famous cheek stains in InStyle, Cosmo, and Self magazines. I myself am a fan of the “flush” and “blushing bride” shades.

If you’re getting married, or if you’re just someone with a heart of gold and plenty of it in material form, this is for you.

From the moment you designed your first toilet paper wedding dress for Barbie (admit it, your doll sported Charmin Couture just like mine did!), you’ve been wanting to walk down the aisle equipped with something old, something new, something borrowed, and something blue. The old and new? Easy! Something borrowed? That bracelet you’ve been “borrowing” from your sister for the last 3 years should count. But it’s that “something blue” that stops most brides in their satin Jimmy Choos.