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Food | Beverages | Flowers | Invitations | Photography | Rings | Favors | Table Linens | Cloths | Transportation | Reception Venue | Gift Registry | Honeymoon

Use caterers or restaurants that will prepare your meals with local, seasonal ingredients. Ideally, the food should be organic as well. Serve free-range, grass-fed meats, and plant based entrèes. This effort limits global warming pollution and uses less fossil fuel than importing foods. It also keeps toxic chemicals out of the environment and supports local farmers and farms. Sustainably grown produce is better tasting since it typically gets from the farm to the table in less than 24 hours, retaining more natural fluids and flavors and eliminates the use of post-harvest pesticides.

Serve local beers and wine, organic if possible. Many fair-trade coffees and teas are readily available. These efforts protect rainforests and songbird habitat.

Following the same rules as food, ask your florist to source live plants and locally grown flowers and rent the containers so they can be reused. For those who choose to provide their own flowers, order from organicbouquet.com or force bulbs at home. Also, organic fruits and locally cut greenery can make wonderful displays. Remember most commercially grown flowers come from countries where pesticide usage isn’t highly regulated. You can donate your flowers after your event to a nursing home or hospital. Using soy candles is a friendly way to add ambience to your event as well.

For informal events, electronic invitations are a great way to cut down on paper usage. For printed invitations, skip the tissue paper and internal envelopes that serve no real purpose. If you are going to buy paper, look for non-chlorine-bleached product with at least 30 percent post-consumer waste. If a printed invitation is being sent, consider an email “Save the Date” with reference to a website where guests can get area information and all wedding related information.

Have a digital photographer for your photos which cuts down on chemicals and photo paper usage. Send digital images to Kodak gallery.com and or shutterbug.com. Your guests will be able to order them from there. Also, instead of placing disposable cameras on the table, have your guests bring digital cameras and submit their favorite shots to the online site.

Shop for previously owned rings or a new one made from recycled metals. This effort helps avoid the devastation to land, water, health and local communities caused by gold mining which releases poisonous cyanide and mercury into the environment.

Everyone enjoys organic, fair-trade chocolates, local maple syrup, local honey, or evergreen saplings packaged in an organic cloth bag. Or in honor of your guests, give to a charity that supports lessoning the footprints left behind from destination wedding travel.

Inquire about organic cotton linens. If the facility doesn’t carry them, they are available through specialty linen rental companies. You can also ask the facility to purchase them and your first rental fee can go towards the cost of paying for the new investment.

Wear a vintage wedding gown, or one that has been previously worn. If you have your heart set on a new dress, remember that synthetic fabrics cost less, but polyester is petroleum-based. The most environmentally friendly option is certified organic cotton either natural or tinted with gentler natural vegetable dyes. Silk-hemp blends are also an option if you would like a custom made dress. After your wedding, donate your gown to thrift shop continuing the circle.

Rental Companies such as “Fox Rental Cars” are catching on and adding Hybrid Cars to their fleets. If this is not an option in the destination you have chosen, you can buy carbon offsets to make up for the global warming pollution you can’t avoid. Offsets can be purchased at nativeenergy.com which is a Charlotte, Vermont Company. Encouraging carpooling is important.

Hold your celebration in a reclaimed or restored building instead of a brand new structure. Many historical buildings are available and may be owned by a company or connected to a nonprofit organization who shares your dedication to green causes. Choose a location that will allow you to hold both your ceremony and reception at the same venue to limit transportation. Check out the Green Hotels program to locate venues that are committed to green practices or search for historic venues on the internet that support responsible business practices like active recycling and composting programs.

Select stores that carry organic and environmentally conscious products such as organic sheets and pillows.

Go for an eco-tourism adventure to celebrate your marriage and help the environment while exploring new parts of the world. Or, go local for your honeymoon here in beautiful Vermont and cut down on fossil fuels used to travel.