Saying I Do While Saving the Planet; the Green Wedding

Tis the season to get married. Actually, weddings happen every day and during every season. Yet, we do hear more about weddings now. I guess it has to do with the upcoming warm weather. Well, there is a new type of wedding that is starting to get a lot of attention. It is called a Green wedding or an environmentally friendly wedding.

It really isn't as bad as it sounds. A green wedding just means as you are making your plans, you are also looking at small ways in which you can help save the environment. There are three keys to doing this: rent, reuse and recycle.

You can take some small steps in going about this or you can take some major steps. Here are some examples.

1. Start with something easy, the invitations. Have them printed on recycled paper. You can also have your place cards printed on recycled paper as well.

2. Plan an outdoor wedding. Outdoor weddings have always been popular. But have you ever thought about the amount of electric you can save?

3. Instead of hiring a full band, what about hiring some acoustic musicians? You will be saving more on electric and it may seem more romantic.

4. When it is time for the reception, (if you want this to be held inside) what about using lots of candles instead of a lot of electric lighting? You could even try using some beautiful lanterns. Remember normal candles do put out a small amount of petroleum. For this reason maybe you might want to use soy candles.

5. You could use live plants as centerpieces. The guests could even take these home and watch them grow.

6. A lot of couples are all ready renting tables, linens, chairs, and even silverware. Take this a step further and see about renting some tables made from recycled wood. You can even ask for wine glasses that were made from recycled glass.

7. Instead of decorating the area around the reception with lots of cut flowers, think about adding large potted plants.

8. You could give out small starter trees as party favors to your guests.

9. You could see if you can find linens that are made from organic dyes. These linens look as beautiful as plain ones.