Green Wedding Guide

Ahh, the steps to planning a wedding. They are many and varied and will sometimes make you feel as though you have two left feet and no balance whatsoever. Try to be in each moment as much as possible, even if it’s an unpleasant one with a terrible DJ during his interview. The actual day is gone in an instant and the whole thing is about your life together, not just one day, so plan accordingly (and I do mean the double entendre there) and enjoy all of the steps, not just the ones on your first dance.

There are other green wedding guides out there, I’ve seen them, but they tend to be to-do lists for the bride. I remember being a bride, and she already has too much to do. So here is my comprehensive list to finding the people in the Bay Area who will do the green wedding work for you.

GREEN IDEA BOOK or WEDDING FOLDER:

I’m pretty green, but I love idea books and pretty magazine pictures. When making an idea book, use the library or the internet first, then buy only the magazines that really had something you want to tear out and show to a caterer, or baker or florist. Recycle the magazine when you’re done, or if you’re really crafty you could use it to hand make paper for your wedding invites.

Image from www.vibrantevents.com

GREEN WEDDING PLANNERS

Marryl Brown Events – Montecito/Santa Barbara

Vibrant Events – San Francisco and the Greater Bay Area

Karine Brighten Events – San Francisco Bay Area and beyond service from a green certified business.

GREEN WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHERS

What is a green photographer, anyway? There is a certification process out there and The Green Photographer provides it, along with a well thought-out and in-depth list of ways to go green that don’t just apply to photographers. Just a few of their requirements include, buying used gear, using rechargeable batteries, printing with an online printer, using a white board (with non-toxic markers – that’s my two cents) instead of sticky notes, video conferencing instead of meeting in person and using only digital equipment. Green photographers in and around the Bay:

Alex Ho – South San Francisco

Ellie Grover – Northern California

Gustavo Fernandez – East Bay

Nita Winter and Rob Badger – Sausalito

Rebecca Wilkowsky – Oakland

White Glove Books – Green wedding books, available only through professional photographers.

GREEN VIDEOGRAPHERS

Marry Me Live

GREEN WEDDING WEBSITE HOSTS

Green Bride Guide and MyWedding.com bring you a free wedding website with Matching Invitations.

GREEN WEDDING DJ

A green DJ or band is much like a green photographer, in that they can buy used equipment or instruments, purchase carbon offsets for travel and electrical usage, and in general be mindful to reduce, reuse and recycle in their offices and personal lives. I found one “green” DJ in San Jose, California:

Green Wedding DJ

WEDDING BAND

I couldn’t find a green wedding band in Northern California. That doesn’t mean they don’t exist, but no one is touting their sustainably-purchased instruments as of yet. These bands are at least local, which is better than flying in your favorite New York band.

South Bay Express – Bay Area

Swing Fever – San Francisco

Image from www.backtoearth.com

GREEN OR ORGANIC WEDDING CATERER

Back to Earth Organic Catering – Berkeley

Cool Eatz – Palo Alto

Laura Stec – Portola Valley

Organic Chef Catering – San Francisco

Rogue Chefs – Half Moon Bay

Image from www.naturalbridal.com

GREEN WEDDING GOWN

Deborah Lindquist – Online. Organic, handmade gowns.

Rawganique – 100% organic hemp wedding gowns.

M.L. Marsh for Poetic Justice – Organic, fair-sewn wedding gowns.

Natural Bridal by Morgan Boszilkov – Organic, sustainably made in the US wedding gowns.

Conscious Clothing – Hemp and silk wedding attire.

Tara Lynn – Organic, natural and repurposed fiber gowns made in a solar-powered studio on vintage sewing machines.

Annatarian – Wedding gowns made with vintage and remnant fabrics as well as peace silk, organic cotton and bamboo. They can also incorporate sentimental pieces – your mom’s wedding dress or a piece of family jewelry.

GREEN WEDDING SUIT or TUX FOR HIM

Finding a green tux or suit is a bit of a trick, unless you can afford to have one tailor made. If so, it’s probably worth the money – there is nothing like a tailor made suit. Otherwise, you have the Rawganique options below, or you can buy yourself an organic shirt and rent yourself a tux. Renting, on the one hand, is pretty green you’d think – reusing and all that. But those tuxes have to be cleaned and it’s not by hand with eco-friendly soap. Check with your local tuxedo renters: Selix,

Rawganique – 100% organic hemp suits – they are actually gorgeous: elegant, well-cut, a lovely color. Not at all a hippie look!

Loomstate – Organic clothing company will apparently make a tuxedo for the right person (and price, I assume).

Selix – Tuxedo rentals – Selix is all over Northern California. They wholesale to other companies (you’ll notice this if you look at their website), but if the retail location is called Selix, they own their own dry cleaning facility in Hayward and use green and eco-friendly dry cleaning practices.

Men’s Wearhouse – Tuxedo rentals – They have locations all across the country. I talked with corporate and they were poorly informed on their dry cleaning practices, though stated they do use a green washer and dryer for wet cleaning, but that doesn’t apply to dry cleaning tuxedos. I would use a local, independently owned rental before MW, if possible.

Tuxedo Wearhouse – Tuxedo rentals in San Jose and Milpitas. They are independently owned and use green dry cleaners.

GREEN WEDDING INVITATIONS

Twisted Limb Paper offers handmade and 100% recycled invitations from a carbon-neutral studio.

Woman Craft offers handmade paper made by women working to create new beginnings.

Of The Earth Custom Paper is a husband and wife team creating eco-friendly wedding invitations as well as offering DIY compostable seed invitations that will turn into flowers after planting!

Green Field Paper makes plantable seed paper, hemp paper and custom invitations.

Online invitations are the greenest, see this Care2 post for several options.

GREEN BRIDESMAID DRESSES

Conscious Clothing – Santa Fe

Image www.oakhillfarm.com

GREEN AND ORGANIC FLOWERS

Loop Event Arts & Interiors – Wedding Flowers and Event Design in the Bay Area – Servicing San Francisco, Napa Valley, Sonoma, Marin, East Bay and the Peninsula.

Gorgeous and Green – Berkeley. They also offer some support in planning a sustainable wedding and they offer sustainable favors and gifts.

Grandiflora – Serving San Francisco, Wine Country and the greater Bay Area.

Oak Hill Farm – Located in Sonoma. Chemicals have not been used on the property since the 1950s.

Organic Bouquet has been leading the charge in organic flower farming to curb pesticide use for the health of growers, farmers and florists.

GREEN WEDDING JEWELRY

Sustainable jewelry is a post of mine highlighting facts you might not know about diamonds and their richly colored alternatives, as well as California-based sustainable jewelers.