organic wedding flowers: local harvest + california organic flowers

Oftentimes you will read in "Green Wedding" articles that one of the things you can do to make your wedding more eco is to have organic flowers. What is not explained is that this is still a challenge. First of all, organic flowers are more expensive, and the selection is limited, as compared to traditional flowers supplied by florists. But there are important health (for people and the planet) reasons for switching to organic flowers.

Local Harvest basket is so nice and a keepsake
Kate D'Arcy makes pretty fair trade sustainable fashion
California Organic Flowers is my favorite organic flower resource

This is from the Local Harvest Web site:
Most flowers sold in the U.S. are imported from as far away as Ecuador and China. Why contribute to the waste of energy involved flying and trucking flowers great distances, when your local farmer grows wonderful bouquets just down the road?

Industrial flower farms also typically use large quantities of pesticides, exposing both their workers and the environment to nasty poisons. And flowers grown abroad often use pesticides that have been banned in the U.S. --- or use pesticides in quantities far exceeding U.S. regulations, and without any sort of protection for the workers exposed to them.

The flowers grown by LocalHarvest family farmers are not only fresher than those grown in faraway greenhouses --- they are healthier for the people who grow them and healthier for the people who buy and enjoy them.

More about flowers:
Pretty as a Picture
Candles instead of flowers
Wheat as decor
Sustainable Design Elements

Comments

[Sharon]

I used California Organic Flowers for my wedding, and the flowers were lovely! Unfortunately they ended up ignoring my color requests, so I'd say they're not for the anal...

Thanks for the post though - I had a hard time researching this aspect when I was planning.

[frenchgardenhouse]

What a great post! I buy flowers for my home each week, and try hard to buy locally grown flowers, to support local growers, but also for health reasons!
Lidy

[Green-Weddings.net]

You're right, finding locally grown flowers can be a challenge, but one that's worth the time. Thanks!

[erin]

If you want to tap into the best network of local flower growers check out The Association Of Specialty Cut Flower Growers website www.ascfg.org They print a great national buyers guide every year and also list the information on their site. It lists growers by State, their farm bio and contact information. I am a sustainable flower grower and a member of the ASCFG . This group is top notch and a great resource for green brides!

[Innkeeper Jason]

It is great to get some practical advice to pass along to our brides and grooms as we seek to be a good resource. It seems that Maine does not have as much access to these great vendors and I am not aware of any planner in our great state with the expertise that you have. Thanks for the great info! Also I think that most places in Maine have been green, before it was the right thing to do.

[philippine flowers]

I am not familiar with organic flowers,how do i know that the flower is organic?

-Ashley

[Ellen Frost]

Local Color Flowers is a Balitmore based floral design company specializing in the use of locally grown cut flowers. We provide flowers for weddings and other special events. While the flowers are not organic, they are grown within 100 miles of Baltimore reducing the fossil fuels, preservatives and other chemicals used in cut flower production. The flowers are grown on small farms and are produced using sustainable methods such as IPM, crop rotation and composting. For more information on using locally grown cut flowers for your upcoming event please check us out at www.locoflo.com