Heather from the always lovely Dream Green Weddings sent me a note on a special giveaway she is running in honor of Earth Day.

The Dream Green Weddings team is adding a new eco-friendly wedding favor to their online store every day from now through Earth Day (April 22). Plus, Dream Green Weddings is giving away 40 eco-friendly favors in honor of Earth Day!

To visit the Dream Green Weddings online store, click here.

Happy Monday!

Heather’s bringing you 10 easy ways to “greenify” your wedding. Take it away, Heather!

Congratulations! By reading this post on the wonderful Eco-Vintage Weddings blog, you are already a step ahead on your journey to planning a greener wedding. By making just a few eco-friendly choices, you can truly make a difference in the impact your wedding has on our environment.  

Here are 10 ways to help reduce waste, save energy, conserve resources and decrease carbon emissions produced by your wedding. Remember, this is not an “all or nothing” concept. If you can incorporate all 10, fantastic! But if you can only do one or two, every little bit helps. Here we go . . .

1. For invitations, choose from tree free papers, letterpress, 100% PCW recycled paper, seeded invitations, and look for vegetable or soy-based inks.

2. Look for favors that are made from organic, sustainable or recycled materials, or even handmade. Other eco-friendly options include tree favors that your guests can plant in your honor. Seeded wedding favors are a beautiful and renewable option. Bamboo favors are symbolic of good luck, and are good for the earth.

3. If decorating with candles, be sure to select candles that are made from natural soy or 100% beeswax. Avoid using paraffin candles as they are made from petroleum (which can increase the CO2 level in the atmosphere).

4. When you are considering gifts for the wedding party and special guests, look for Fair Trade organizations that provide fair wages and create safer working conditions for people in developing countries. Jewelry is hand-made and usually with eco-friendly materials!

5. Pick a location that is close to home to save on carbon emissions. Try to have your ceremony and reception at the same location to avoid additional transportation requirements and to reduce carbon emissions.

6. Look for local, eco-conscious caterers who offer organic menus, and use locally-grown foods from local farmers. Ask them to deliver the leftovers to a charity.

7. Avoid flowers that are imported, as they are generally grown with toxic chemicals and pesticides. Insist on locally grown flowers that are in season, and/or organically grown flowers.

8. Consider beautiful vintage wedding dresses, or new wedding dresses made from organic materials such as recycled/organic cotton, hemp or silk.

9. Support green businesses by looking for vendors who are environmentally and socially responsible.

10. Extend your green theme to your honeymoon. Many luxury hotels and resorts are now practicing sustainable hospitality. There’s a helpful travel “green” guide at http://ecotourism.org.

Big thanks to Heather Teague from Dream Green Weddings; head on over to her site for more easy ways to make your wedding green!

[Photos: Courtesy of Heather at Dream Green Weddings]

Not a fan of wastefulness, but still want to offer your guests favors? Look no further than Dream Green Weddings‘ marketplace of eco-friendly wedding favors.

Here are a few of my favorites:

Organic Shea Butter Soap Wedding Favors

These favors, in the shape of X’s and O’s (how cute!) are made with pure, natural ingredients. Plus, the little soaps come with a tiny little gift box, adorned with a ribbon and a personalized label. And at just $3.25 a box, they’re affordable, too!

Birdseed Heart Organic Wedding Favors in Organza Bag

Inspired by the beauty of nature, give your guests little hearts adorned with birdseed made with natural ingredients. These little beauties will be handmade just for your wedding, and allow you to get creative: hang them from trees at your venue!

Live Bamboo Eco-Wedding Favor in a Bubble Vase

Nothing is more eco-friendly than giving your guests a living plant! These bamboo shoots are shipped directly from a California nursery. Symbolizing love, luck and happiness, bamboo is also a sustainable natural resource that takes little energy to harvest.

Have a great Monday!

Happy Friday, readers! I am SO anxious for the weekend, even if I still have two shifts of work left. I may not have told you all that in December, I began working at Gymboree, the kids’ clothing store, here in our local mall. It’s a fun job, and is especially a nice break from the day-to-day office setting of my full-time job!

As I mentioned last week, today I’m ready to share with you all what Jordan and I are committed to doing to ensure that our wedding is “greener” than the average wedding affair. While I realize that we could be making more sacrifices that we are, Jordan and I feel comfortable with the choices we’re making thus far in our planning.

So, here’s our green wedding pledge:

1. We will inquire about and utilize recycled paper materials as much as we are able. I have already contacted a graphic designer at my father’s company (where our stationery will be printed) to investigate what our options are for recycled paper.

2. We will inquire about and utilize locally grown or organic food as much as our budget allows. I have already contacted our event coordinator at the Washington Pavilion, where our wedding reception will be held, about our caterers using locally grown or organic food. While we are on a very strict budget for our entire wedding planning, I am hopeful that our caterers will come back with a competitive quote.

3. We will incorporate plantable paper in at least one way throughout our wedding stationery. I love the symbolism behind the paper (just like our love is blooming, so will our guests’ flowers!), and it reinforces the purpose of renewable goods.

4. We will incorporate locally grown flowers as much as possible. My Mom and I have discussed the possibility of planting a wildflower garden in our backyard this summer from which we would take flowers for our reception decor. We also have beautiful peonies that bloom in our yard that we’re going to attempt to keep alive through the heat of summer. Last, as one of my dear friends mentioned to me in the past few weeks, sunflowers grow wild EVERYWHERE in South Dakota, and it wouldn’t be difficult at all to pick some, dress them up with ribbon and give them to my bridesmaids to carry.

5. While at this point I don’t believe we’ll be incorporating wedding favors, if we do decide to give our guests favors, they will be locally grown or locally handmade. I firmly believe in investing in the local economy!

6. We are utilizing my mother’s birdhouse collection as our reception decor, and are therefore eliminating extraneous waste or costs associated with renting/purchasing and then inevitably disposing of centerpieces.

7. We are supporting handmade goods by purchasing wedding accessories from Etsy. In the coming months, my veil and fascinator will be purchased via Tessa Kim’s shop on Etsy. In addition to those accessories, I also hope to purchase our guest book (remember this stump-inspired beauty?), jewelry for my bridesmaids, our cake topper, tutus for our flower girls, and monogrammed cuff links for our groomsmen from Etsy.

8. My Mom and I plan to make handmade napkins and handmade bout’s for our wedding day. By sewing our own napkins we A) cut down on rental costs at our reception venue, and B) eliminate waste that would be created by using paper napkins. By making bout’s for our guys out of fabric and/or non-floral material, we will again cut down on waste and will utilize renewable goods to accomplish the same effect as floral bout’s.

9. Jordan and I plan to build a photobooth to provide our guests with endless merriment at our wedding reception. I originally hoped to build our photobooth using found materials, and while that might still be possible, I am thinking of other ways to make our photobooth project green. As a start, we will be reusing our engagement session props for our photobooth (2 hearts on sticks, 2 mustaches on sticks, chalkboard + chalk). We also will be using a digital camera and tripod that Jordan’s family already owns, therefore cutting down on the waste that would be created if we utilized disposable cameras!

10. Last, I have a dream of being married by candlelight. I’m dreaming of an evening wedding (maybe 6:00 or 7:00), and being surrounded by candles. However, the candles we will utilize will be either soy or beeswax (lead-free, long-burning, made from renewable resources, not petroleum/paraffin).

How are YOU making your wedding green?

I’d love to hear from you!

[Photo via Dream Green Weddings by Caroline Ghetes]

We have an all-day strategic planning meeting today at the office, so instead of a lengthy blog post, I’d encourage you all to check out the Dream Green Wedding giveaway on Dream Green Weddings! Working to make your wedding green is a WONDERFUL way to showcase your green lifestyle on the most important day of your life!

Click here to learn more about the giveaway; entries are due by January 2, 2010.

Have a great weekend, everyone!