Step 7-Eat Drink and Be Merry!

Showcase green gustatory pleasures (and spoil your guests) by basing your menu around local, organic, and seasonal foods. Don’t forget the organic wine, beer, and spirits, and the free-trade, shade-grown coffee and tea! Some tips:

~Ask the venue's preferred caterers and bakers if they can do your event organically.

Again, this is really about finding the right vendors for you. In Brooklyn, finding someone who ISN'T a part of the local/organic movement would be difficult, so I am lucky in that regard. My smaller parties in Binghampton and Boston respectively, might be a different story. "I will have to look into it, and get back to you." ~as said by Sarah Palin to Katie Couric.


~Find a local organic restaurant that does off-site catering.

Also-check out Tree Hugger's tips on how to have eco friendly cocktails and beverages! (This is from today! We are so on the the same page! Tree Hugger and I that is...)

~If your wedding won't be complete without a specific type of food, get married when it's in season.

As with flowers, keeping the food in season is good for the environment AND your pocketbook! (Check, and Check!)

~Find a caterer you trust to pick the best seasonal selections (since you may not be able to taste those exact items ahead of time).

Find a caterer you trust...thank you Captain Obvious.

~Consider vegitarian selections and seek out cruelty-free meats and wild, rather than farmed, fish.
A vegetarian option is a good idea anyway. It is less expensive, and more and more people are vegetarians these days. (Sometimes I opt for the veggie meal if I am unsure of the meat options. Let's face it-we are all more sketched out by an off-looking chicken wing, then we are by a wonky piece of asparagus. It is just the truth.)

~Making sure that the venue offers comprehensive recycling facilities, and ideally composting too.

This seems like a no brainer, but you never know...not everyone is on our page with this. See below for ideas on what to do if your venue doesn't recycle or compost.

~Have your cake decorated with organically grown flowers or other natural materials instead of plastic toppers.

Yeah-plastic topper? I am assuming that if you are interested in my blog, then you are not using a plastic cake topper with a bride and groom in cowboy hats, where the groom is pretending to run off the cake, and the bride is pulling him back on with a lasso. (By the way, I am pretty sure that I have actually seen that topper, somewhere...I will find it for you.) But in the event that you were thinking of doing this...stop it. Immediately.

~Rent real glassware, dishware, and linens instead of using disposables.

Renting is VERY common at weddings. (USING DISPOSABLES? What kind of wedding are we having here?) Renting is a great way to go. I used to work for a company called Broadway Party Rentals. If you are in NYC, check them out!

~Go for a chic eclectic look by mixing and matching thrift-store plates and dishes (and by donating them back when you are done).

This is a cool idea. I enjoy an eclectic array of old china on the table for fancy parties. (I use my Nana's old set-and her silver. I think that it is fun. :-) It would have to be a very particular style of wedding for this to work, but if it is your style, then go for it. I love this!

~Use biodegradable utensils and dishes made out of cornstarch, potatoes, wheat, or sugar cane--if your venue can compost them.

Hmmm...ok, if you are going for the disposables, then this is the way to do it, but I am still very anti disposables. (This is your wedding! Use a real fork, for the love of Pete!) If you are interested in finding this in general, check out Branch Home. They have lots of interesting eco-friendly products. (Including, the biodegradable fork. ;-)

~Make arrangements to donate leftover food to a local food bank or homeless shelter.

100%. I have mentioned this earlier, but in case you missed it: Recycling, composting, and donating anything that is unused at your event is super key if you want an eco friendly celebration. You can always investigate ways to do this on your own. (For starters, insist that your venue have separate containers for trash, and recyclables at you event.) And find a local shelter to donate food by going to my favorite website the http://www.idofoundation.org/about/August2003.html. They have bunch of places to try to set this stuff up on your "one-sies". If you don't want to do all the legwork, and really want to make sure that everything is re purposed to the fullest of it's potential, try The Special E. I haven't set anything up with them, but I am definitely investigating, and will let you know!

Step 6-The Decor...

There are so many ways that you can be eco-friendly when you decorate:

~opt for organic flowers
Ask your florist about this one, and if they don't use them, ask if they know someone who does. Organic can get a little pricey, so you may want to look into complimenting smaller arrangements with reusable items other than flowers (Like candles, etc.)

~find a florist who's diligent about recycling packaging and will source locally raised flowers
This is really just about finding the right vendor for you. Be upfront about what you want, and if they are as passionate as you are about it, then BINGO! And do your research: Find out what flowers are in season locally, and use them! (Again...it will also save you some do-re-mi) And the same goes for your menu BTW!

~have bridesmaids carry matching purses or silk bouquets instead of cut flowers
This is an iteresting idea...I mean after all, those $100+ bouquets usually end up sitting on a table somewhere. And that is economically wasteful too. Talk to your maids about it, and see what they think. (They might like a nice new purse, PS. It can double as your bridesmaid gift. Gosh, sometimes I amaze even myself with these ideas.) There are a LOT of cool places for purses these days. Check out Freddy and Ma. They aren't cheap, but they are about the same as a bouquet, when you think of it. You can design them yourself, and they are so bright and funky that you won't even miss the flowers!

~decorate with branches, dried grasses, grains, greens, berries, or live plants (potted or dried arrangements can double as favors)
~use leaves or other natural objects as place cards
These are sort of the same, so I will address them together, and I am going to address them with two words: Martha Stewart. And I don't just mean Martha Stewart Weddings. The craft ideas on her website are off the hook, and can be searched by season. I am getting married in the fall, and MOST of my decor ideas have come from the last three years of Martha Stewart Living (Sept, Oct and Nov issues) Poke around over there...there are truely some Good Things. DIY does not have to be Crafty Grandma and her Patchwork Quilt...channel your inner Martha! She will not let you down.

~choose beeswax or soy-based candles over those made with paraffin, a petroleum byproduct
I am about to sound off, so get ready. I am taking this one step further, and saying: JUST DO SOY! Why? I heard that bees are endangered...um, yeah, did you guys know this? Bees are endangered. And here is something that you might not know about me, but should probably know: I really love honey. Not a little bit, either. I am like freakin' Winnie the Poo. I eat it every morning in my yogurt...yum yum yum. It makes me super happy, and I would be wicked bummed if it wasn't around anymore, so guys, do me a favor, and buy your honey from responsible local companies. It isn't that hard. FOR THE LOVE OF BEES, BUY YOUR HONEY LOCAL!!! and...this brings me to my former point......buy soy candles. Which I am doing for my wedding! I found this website called etsy.com. It is a website where artisans can sell their stuff. (Pretty cool by the way, and an awesome way to buy local handmade gifts and such.) So I went to "Brooklyn/Soy/Candles" and found this cool guy named Marty who has a shop called Dew On A Petal Home. (Hippy much?) But seriously he makes all kinds of soy candles. All sizes and colors and scents that you can think of. They are not more expensive than regular candles, and get this: he has a buy back policy! He will buy back any candles that I don't use. He will even buy back the soy "wax" from the candles that I DO use, and repurpose them into new candles! I love this guy! And because he is in Brooklyn, I get to pick them up! My carbon foot print is getting smaller even faster than my waistline! ahem...So as soon as I know what I am getting, I am calling him to set it up! You guys should check out his webstore as well, if you need to buy any candles...think of the bees...for me. For my honey.


~arrange to have decorations moved from the ceremony to the reception (if you opt for separate sites)
This is a nice idea, and it saves you money. If money isn't an issue, maybe you could just make sure that you purchase decor that will be used for a while at the ceremony site. (If it is a church, for example, they may be able to use them for a few weeks as the altar decor...)

~throw biodegradable confetti or organic rose petals instead of releasing butterflies
huh? Is releasing butterflies some kind of new trend? Who is releasing butterflies? I have never heard of or seen anything like this. Am I behind the times on this one? I will say, that at the last wedding that I was at, there was some kind of bird seed/confetti that smelled like sugar cookies that I really liked. (Of course the time between the ceremony and the reception was so long that I got hungry, and tried to eat a piece of...yeah, bad idea. It did not taste as good as it smelled. But I think that the birds liked it...)

~donate the flowers to a hospital or rest home at the end of the day

I love Love LOVE this one. Donating anything that is unused, and repurposing anything that can be repurposed is the whole point. So this is the first time of many that I am going to mention a website called: The Special E. They will recycle, and repurose just about anything. (See the link) I am seriously considering using them for my wedding (depending on budget), and I will DEFINITELY be letting you all know how it goes. According to the site, they do what we would all do if we had the time:

"Toward the end of your event, we'll send out our "Rescue Squad" to pick up all the excess items that are leftover. We have an extensive list of food banks, homeless shelters, soup kitchens, hospitals, nursing homes, and charities across the country. Prior to each program, we'll identify the recipient organizations that will be receiving the leftovers, and take the necessary steps to coordinate all the delivery arrangements."

Um, can you give me a break? HOW AWESOME IS THAT??? I can't wait to speak with them further, and will keep you all updated.