I have a blog crush on the lovely Rebecca’s Clover & Bee.  Her blog is filled with seasonal and homey ideas like these eco-friendly sugared almond wedding favors created by McMaster & Storm.

{created by McMaster & Storm for Clover & Bee}

Such a charming gift or favor idea and I especially love the use of natural coffee filters trimmed with pinking shears to line the cylinder box!

When Cyd, who works for Bella Figura in addition to being one of our fabulous EAD contributors, told me about this wedding, I just had to share it with EAD readers.  Stewart and Darryl’s wedding, photographed by the always-amazing Eleise Theuer, is just full of beautiful and personal handcrafted details!  The couple chose a wedding location close to Stewart’s heart, Melville Farm in Reedville, VA.  The farm has been in Stewart’s family for several generations and was the perfect backdrop for the green, brown, and cream color palette. 

Stewart accessorized her Monique Lhuillier gown with a beautiful brown, green, and cream handmade collar by Etsy seller Bonzie, a chocolate brown wrap by J. Crew, and shoes by Cydwoq. 

{Read the rest of this entry…}

I love recycled goodness!  Beautiful vintage-inspired tea tins are repurposed into lanterns for this unique DIY wedding idea.

{Junk Market Style via Earth Friendly Weddings}

Looking for a creative save the date or invitation idea?  How about a fabric postcard? Eco-friendly, cost-effective and completely unique - I’m in love.

{Tutorial found at CraftStylish}

Sweet Paul shows us how to make unique and beautiful “vases” from books.  Now I’m not one to harm a book, but if you have some where the covers are falling off, this would be a perfect way to repurpose!

{Tutorial found here}

Using found objects in your wedding can a) save some serious money and b) give your wedding a completely unique look!  Tin cans are something we all use in everyday life, so how about incorporating them into your wedding?

To create the look below, first gather tin cans, remove their labels and wash thoroughly, filing down any sharp edges.  Using decoupage glue or very high tack double-sided tape, cover the tin can with wallpaper, wrapping paper, scrapbook paper, or fabric scraps.  As you see in the photo below, you can also use craft tools to crinkle your paper for a different look!  Arrange flowers, and voila - easy and inexpensive DIY centerpieces!

{brocantegirl’s flickr via Beach Bungalow 8 and She Walks in Beauty}

If you are feeling especially crafty, you can also sew fabric tin can covers.  A good tutorial can be found {here}.

Michelle from Green Lily Events shared Tara and Michael’s wedding details with us.  Tara and Michael strived to be as eco-friendly as possible while planning their event, which is one of Green Lily’s top priorities!

Their favors and out of town gift baskets were created from sustainable items - the favors were plantable pots and seeds and the guest baskets (designed by Sweet Couture) contained only local items and recycled bags.

{Morris Malakoff}

Tara and Michael’s gorgeous organic wedding cake was created by Monica’s Divine Delights.

{Michael Ramos}

{Read the rest of this entry…}

Cara sent over a few images from her lovely Scottish wedding. The candles are soy (DIY).  The cake stands are from Ebay and they collected the already fallen rose petals from a local garden.

You might recognize these Save the Date luggage tags from her entry into Style Me Pretty’s DIY contest. You can find instructions here.

Thanks for sending these over Cara!

A.

To truly be earth and human friendly: donate, donate, donate. I can’t stress this enough. If you really want earth friendly favors, donate to your favorite cause and print it up on a small card. I know this doesn’t appeal to a few guests, but your wedding is a fantastic time to do this. I am not, nor are most people I know, someone who expects a gift at your wedding.

If you don’t have a favorite charity, you can find one at Charity Navigator. They rank thousands of charities by financial accountability and such. My personal favorite is World Vision. For E, there is the Hunger Project (they work in Africa). There are also thousands of local options in each city. A soup kitchen would be a great choice. As you and your guests eat and celebrate, you will be providing food for less fortunate people (You can also ask your caterer to donate any leftovers!).

For those of you that really really want to give your guests something small to remember your wedding by, Jennifer at Earth Friendly Weddings has several great ideas. You can find all of them here.

My favorite earth friendly favor are the tree seedlings from Evergreen Memories. There’s something about the seedlings as favors idea that I have always loved. You can see them in action at June Bug Weddings.

Note: WorldVision is a Christian charity. I know this charity will not be for everyone because of spiritual reasons, it just happens to be one of my all time favorites. They have child sponsorship and many other options for sustainable development (you can buy a goat!). They have a high rating and a great reputation.  Please feel free to leave your favorite charity in the comments.

Disclaimer: non-wedding-related post ahead!

In case you haven’t noticed, it’s green week around here.  And being green = being environmentally friendly.

One of the most amazing places I have ever visited is the country of Ghana, in West Africa.  My sister was volunteering there and I was incredibly lucky to be able to visit her over Christmas in 2006.  So today, when I was browsing CRAFT Magazine’s blog and saw this article, I was especially moved.

Image and original article found here via link and link

{Read the rest of this entry…}

DIY Birch Centerpieces found via Portovert

Green weddings give me headaches.

I know, this is a horrible thing to admit.  But part of my anxiety and apprehension is that there seems to be no stopping point in the quest to be green.  There also seems to be no way to know the greenest choice.  Are invites printed at home more green than ordering an invite you love from an art studio in Philadelphia?  Technically, the DIY invites have a lower carbon footprint (depending on the paper supplier) but I don’t have vegetable based inks on my printer!  What about plantable paper?  Is that truly the greenest?

On top of this, I feel like green weddings are just this trend that give brides a point of pride. Like marriage, living green is about more than just one day. On your wedding day, you should not feel guilty about choosing an invitation that isn’t recycled paper printed with soy based ink from a solar powered (local) art studio. You are getting m-a-r-r-i-e-d! The rest is just a fancy party.

I love simplicity. I love uncomplicated. In my life, being green is the courage and energy to force things to be simple. So my part of Green Week will concentrate on simplicity in weddings. Because really, it shouldn’t be that hard. There are easy steps you can take to make your wedding less of a stress AND more environmentally friendly.  I hope you enjoy.

Green = going vintage and buying from independent designers.

Laura from the fab Laura Bee Designs sent over a link to her gorgeous handmade bridal bags that incorporate vintage elements.  How beautiful is this Celeste bag?  This one piece satisfied all of the bride’s ”somethings”!  The zipper pull is a charm given to the brides’ mother by the brides’ father on their wedding day, the flower was taken from the brides’ sister’s veil, and for the something blue?  A blue moire lining!

A few more of my favorite Laura Bee bags:

The fun bag in the top left was created from a 1920s silk skirt.  What a great way to recycle fabric!

Laura Bee Designs is Seattle-based and I think it’s so fantastic that she supports her local charities.  She rotates her fundraiser items and the current item is the Happy Dog Zipper Case, of which 75% of the purchase price is going to support the Seattle Pug Rescue!  It would be a perfect makeup case.

Visit Laura’s shop and blog for more goodies!

E.