Wedding Wednesdays: Reuse, Recycle

Happy Earth Day! As you may know, I'm not a tree hugger, but I am conscious in helping the earth be a better place for future generations. I'm the type of person who gives people the evil eye if I see them throwing trash out of their window on a highway or anywhere. I recycle all the trash I have. And I hate being wasteful.

So, when it comes to a massive trash making event such as our wedding, I have planned to reuse and recycle. Some people overdo being green - a lot of times there's an extra cost (money or environmentally) to be green - I don't believe that extra mile is worth it if it hurts the earth or your wallet some more. Let me just preface this by saying that I won't obsess over being green on everything. I will do what is practical for our wedding:

Reusing Flowers

I had originally wanted fruit centerpieces because they can be consumed, but gave up when florists weren't hot on the idea and my fiance's showed no interest or support in the subject matter. So, we're having flowers instead, but we are using a few of the reception centerpieces for the ceremony (and also for the tea ceremony). Additionally, we only chose centerpieces that guests can bring home or can be easily donated. For example, we nixed the idea of submerged centerpieces because of the hassel involved in guests bringing heavy wet glass containers home. They may look nice, but they're not that practical.

Above from Projectwedding.com

Rewearing Attire

Other than the wedding gown, everything can be reworn. My bridesmaids' dresses should have more than one life after the event (ideally). My ladies were given a choice to buy any dress they see themselves wearing again in the future in the eggplant color family. I chose dark chiffon for them since that's a more wearable color and fabric than pastel colors with a shiny finish. Hopefully, they'll look as happy as these gals are in their non-matching, very rewearable attire.

Above from Instyleweddings.com

The groomsmen will be dressed in grey suits they may already have in their closets - it's better than paying for a tux that you don't get to keep. My future husband will be donning a suit that could be reworn after the wedding. As for myself, I made it a point to buy comfortable shoes that could be reworn for any special occasion.

Recycling Paper Projects

I have used as much material that can be reused as possible. To date, I have made projects using cosmetics cardboard boxes and am planning another project with oatmeal containers. However, my mother suggested (strongly) that I include individual favors for our guests, which requires lots of paper usage. I am not happy about killing trees. We'll see if I'll give in.

I really hope mother earth and our wedding party are happy with our choices! Above all, I hope they are the right choices.