Maui Wedding Photographer

Wedding Ideas Can Lead To A Green Wedding

When looking for wedding ideas, you can usually find all kinds of options. A green wedding is just one of many to choose from. A green wedding is a great way to give back to the Earth’s environment without giving up style or beauty.

Other wedding ideas can be quite costly or detrimental to the environment, not to mention your wallet. Therefore, here are some ideas to consider if a green wedding is a viable option in your future.

Green Wedding

Don’t think that by having an earth-friendly wedding means that you have to sacrifice style. There are many options these days for couples who want to help encourage, and maybe even educate their guests, on all the green options that are out there. Maybe you just started on your journey of going green, either way there are some great options. Choosing natural candles made with beeswax or soy base can add style and beauty to your eco-friendly wedding décor. You can opt for locally grown or organic flowers, which can give you many environmetal friendly options. When creating a wedding that is not wasteful or polluting you have to do a lot of research.

Eco-Rings

Eco-friendly wedding rings can be made from recycled metals and stones. You can also transform a vintage piece into something special so that way you are not wasting an old ring. Say you have a ring that has been passed down to you, but it’s not your style. You can take it to the jeweler and have them completely redo it. Not only are you helping the environment by recycling, you will also be creating a unique and one of a kind ring that no one else will have. Use the internet to search out eco-friendly ring options. You will be surprised at all the interesting and unique options that are out there.

Green Invites

Your wedding invitations will begin to set the tone for your green wedding. There are so many ideas out there for you that you might like. You really need to use your imagination. You can go to a store that does wedding invitations on one hundred percent recycled paper or go on the internet and see all the different types there are. You could make your own if you can not find anything you like and customize it to your own liking. By going out and buying your own one hundred percent recycled paper, you can have a invitation party and have people help you put them together. There is also the option of doing it electronically where you can create your own wedding website that is unique to you and your future groom.

Earthly Dress

One of the most important choices, and the piece that will be the star of the show, will be the wedding dress. The best option for an eco-friendly dress would be to re-use a wedding dress. You can usually find one EBay or perhaps your mother saved her dress so that you could wear. If this is not your style, take it to a tailor or a designer to alter allowing you to create a dress that is unique to you and is eco-friendly as well as cost effective. If neither of these choices work for you, you can always go rent a dress. After all,  it’s not like you will ever wear it again. You could also buy vintage, which fashion is in right now. Either way pick which option is best for you.  If buying a new dress is your hearts desire then consider using eco-friendly fabrics like organic cotton, silk or hemp. When your done with your dress, you may want to consider recycling it by donating it to a charity.

Natural Party Favors

Eco-friendly options are becoming more appealing to brides and grooms, so there are tons of options for party favors for your guests that you could give something organic such as trees, seeds, organic chocolates or have a local artist do a little water color on one hundred percent recycled paper. If you don’t have the time or energy to do this, there are many retailers who desiring to be in this growing market. You just need to ask. If they don’t offer green options, then just go on the internet. You could also give your guests a certificate saying instead of buying wedding favors, you donated the money to a charity in there name. Not only is it green, but its charitable. After all, how often are the party favors left behind for the trash anyways.

Wedding Traditions After The Ceremony
Wedding traditions have various ways of becoming traditions. Some wedding traditions cameabout for religious reasons and some are due to superstition and odd behavior. Once the actualceremony is over, there is more to the activities. Where did these traditions come from and whatis the meaning behind them? Whether it’s the bouquet toss, wedding cake, rice throwing orsomething else, most of these traditions hold a special place in our hearts.
Carrying over the Threshold
The main reason behind the tradition of carrying the bride over the threshold was for protectingthe bride from the evil spirits that were thought to be laying in wait for the bride. Therefore, thegroom would carry her over the threshold to protect her. During the Roman Empire, they thoughtthat if the bride where to trip on the threshold when entering the home for the first time, that itcould bring a lot of harm and bad luck to their marriage.
The Honeymoon
The word honeymoon was derived from the Irish words, “mi na meala,” which means the monthof honey. It also refers to how a couple would spend their time drinking a fermented brew ofhoney called Mead. After the ceremony, a lot of Mead was given to the groom and his bride inspecial cups so that they could have it for one full moon (which would be a month) and thus wehave honeymoon.

The Bouquet Toss
Back in ancient times, everyone thought that the bride was super lucky on her wedding day andwould try to tear at her dress, getting a souvenir for themselves in hopes that the luck would ruboff on them. To prevent from being bothered and having her dress ruined, the bouquet was usedas the gift of good luck to her guests.
The Garter Toss
According to legend, the tossing of the garter began in England and was derived from an earliertradition called “flinging the stocking.” On the wedding night, guests would follow the groomand bride and wait for them to get undressed; then they would steal the bride and groom’sstockings. The first one to hit one of them in the head was the next to marry.
The Money Dance
There’s one custom for arranged marriages that the groom would not get the dowry for the brideuntil the marriage was consummated. So to ensure that the couple would have money before theyleft the wedding reception, they would have the wedding dance for them. Another tradition stemsfrom when villages would give the couple livestock, pottery and planting seeds so that they
would have something to start out their lives together.
Shoes Tied to the Car
Romans would give the groom the authority over his bride after the bride’s father gave her futurehusband her shoes. This changed in later years as the guests began to throw their own shoes atthe new couple. To represent the older tradition, it has now evolved into the shoes being tied onto the back of the newlywed’s car.
The Tossing of the Rice
Guests would throw grains and nuts at the couple to ensure harvesting of their land would begreat and for many healthy children to work the land. However, during less plentiful times ricewas thrown instead of the grains and nuts. This continues today, but many people may opt to usebubbles or birdseed. Regardless of the method, the meaning of “sending them off in happiness”is still the same.
The Wedding Cake
During the days of the Roman Empire, wedding cakes were made with either barley or wheat.During the reception the groom would break the cake over the head of his bride to symbolizefertility, and then guests would run and try to get a piece of the broken cake for good luck. Thenthe tradition began of stacking the cakes one on top of the other, as high as they possibly could.Then the bride and groom would try to kiss each other over the cake without knocking it over.Back then there wasn’t icing on cakes until a baker added it during the reign of King Charles IIof England.
The Bridal Shower and Stag Party
One thought is that during the 19th century, a group of bride’s friends put little presents into herumbrella. Then when she opened it, she was showered with gifts. As for the man’s stag party,this began with the groom being taken to a feast with the Roman soldiers the night before thewedding to say good bye to his bachelorhood.