{Eco-Chic Weddings} by Emily Anderson

paradise of birds + eco-chic gift ideas

Oh I am having a very frustrating afternoon. I think I messed up the formatting of my blog...so to make myself feel better I'll share this fun find with you--fat finch ...and like a bird I think that so much of my work has been lost, fluttered away with the simple flap of a wing. Sigh.

My favorite memories are of me sitting on my Grandmother's porch watching the birds with her. All of the birdhouses I ever gave her ended up inside her house because she didn't want them to get ruined. Silly Grandma. Silly me for messing up my blog...oh well, I think I fixed it...

niin ethical jewels + {hello darling} natalie walsh

The ethical jewels from Niin adorn this sublime photograph by Natalie Walsh, owner of Hello Darling Events in Chicago...

handmade gifts: sarah anderson bird pins

I just love these little bird pins by Sarah Anderson, available at oogaboogastore.com. They would make a sweet eco-friendly, handmade, wedding favor or you could give them as a bridesmaid gift. Lots more cool stuff at OoogaBooga...

oh joy! how to {reuse} with style

I wrote about sending invitations that can be saved in my book, and Oh Joy! has a perfect example of what I was talking about. She's so creative, and this is a really sweet idea for your invitations or save the date...send a little bird as your messenger, and your guests will save it as a chirpy, cheery reminder of you.

organic wedding cakes + wendy kromer + martha stewart weddings

I love this beauteous cake from Fall 07 MS Weddings, designed by Wendy Kromer...and did you know that if you go to Wendy's site, you can order a Cake Kit, resplete with the sweet decorations to make your cake as pretty as a picture...So, now you can find a local baker who is willing to create an organic wedding cake for your special day. Some local bakers I came across: Edith Meyer Wedding Cakes in Santa Cruz,  Michele Coulon Dessertier in La Jolla, California, Hippie Chick Bakery in New Hampshire.

eco-friendly wedding invitations + eco-friendly printing

I guess I'm on a paper kick this week...For your wedding invitations, depending on how much you want to do yourself, be it all or nothing, there are definitely eco invitation options out there for you. Way more companies stepping up with chic tree-free, and other eco-friendly printing and eco-friendly invitation options then last year when I was finishing my book Eco-Chic Weddings. Let me just say, I'm a traditionalist when it comes to paper, so I can be hard to please (hey, I used to work for Martha Stewart, after all!) I am not a fan of the seeds and petals in the paper thing. If you are, that's fine, it's your party...but here...

A  few companies I like who are doing the right thing:
Botanical Paperworks
Greener Printer
Invitesite
Naturally Ever After
Earthly Affair
Oblation Papers + Press
Bella Figura

If you know of any, please tell me!

And another thing:
Unfortunately, some invite companies aren't "on-board" yet...But, Crane & Co. does have a history of responding with innovative solutions to market changes. In recent years, Crane's explored possible markets for nonwoven materials and alternative fiber papers using flax and hemp in an ongoing effort to create tree-free papers. It would be awesome if this U.S. company (one of the oldest) started to lead the way in using alternative papers for their gigantic wedding invitation business. Don't you agree? Especially since they have so many beautiful designs...

{follow me} earth friendly weddings to one good bumblebee

Here's my flight pattern: I started at the Earth Friendly Weddings, then moved on to Masterpiece Weddings, then Wishpot.com, and finally found One Good Bumblebee...whew, I'm tired. But not too tired to enjoy this  limited edition print by Katey Nicosia. And for only $20, this would be a nice piece to add to your registry...

(words are mine...)

sponsored post: mywedding.com + saving trees

I write about eco-chic weddings because I believe if everyone is aware of the enormous impact all of the small wedding details make on the environment, each one of us will realize that our small changes will make a difference. I hope I inspire you to want to have a fabulously green wedding.  And mywedding.com can help...

                                       
                                                    {Studio Design Co., Portland, OR}

Creating  a free wedding website on mywedding.com will help you reduce the amount of paper your wedding will produce. You will literally be saving trees. 

How can you make that big of an impact, you're just one person, right? Well, with 2.8 million weddings a year in the U.S., paper consumption is probably the biggest environmental issue, as far as weddings are concerned.

Each wedding the U.S., on average, uses the following:  Invitations for; engagement party, showers, bachelor and bachelorette parties, save the date cards, ceremony and reception, reply cards, rehearsal dinner, brunch...

... directions and maps, placecards, table numbers, programs, menues, thank you cards...In the process, the equivelant of 500,000 trees are used for weddings each year. Or, an area 11 times the size of Manhattan...wow, right?
                                       

Here's my challenge to you: how many paper elements can you eliminate with a free wedding website on mywedding.com? One more thing, have you noticed any new junk mail arriving in the mail since you entered the wedding planning world? With mywedding.com,you don't get more junk mail, because they don't share your information with any of their advertisers (unlike some other wedding sites)...I personally signed-up with mywedding.com a month ago, and guess what? No new junk mail...I love it.

tree free + recycled wedding invitations:{bella figura}

These invitations from Bella Figura are so beautiful. They make it easy to be--and do--good.
{all invites are printed on 100% tree-free paper...and Bella Figura is a 1% for the Planet member...}

wedding planning poetry: daily poetics

For my wedding, each guest recieved a poem. I've always loved poetry;  Emily Dickinson, Wallace Stevens  and Tennyson are my favorites. When I happened upon the site, Daily Poetics, of course I had to share it with you...and don't forget the poetry, we need it...

From: "Ephemera" on Daily Poetics.

a poem from my wedding follows for your reading pleasure...