But first I'll give a little rundown on the "green" stuff we tried to incorporate in the wedding.
The rings
Dakota and I both got our rings from greenKarat. It's an Earth-friendly jewelry company that uses recycled materials and lab-created stones to mostly make wedding and engagement rings, although other jewelry is available. We actually had them make us custom rings, although they weren't very elaborate. Dakota has a flat, shiny band made of recycled platinum and I have a similar, thinner band also made of recycled platinum, except that mine has a tiny flush-set lab created diamond in it. It came out really pretty, I think. Overall, our experience with greenKarat was excellent, and I'd recommend them to anyone.
The decorations & favors
The place where we got married didn't really need much decoration because the landscaping was so pretty, but we did need something to put on the tables. What we decided on was minimal flowers and tiny potted succulents. It took us quite a while, but eventually we collected around 100 mismatched Japanese cups in various shapes and colors. We bought assorted tiny succulents from California Cactus Center, and then we planted the succulents (and a few cacti) in the cups. It took us about three hours one Saturday morning to do all the planting. Then, we encouraged our guests to take the plants home with them. Overall, I think the little potted succulents looked great, and I know lots of people took them home. We brought the leftovers home, and I have some plans to place them in various locations, inside and out.
The candles
While it ended up being a bit too windy for candles on the tables, we did order some. We decided to go with soy candles, because they're not made from petroleum products and they burn cleaner than regular candles. I found some really nice, unscented soy pillar candles from Way Out Wax. Since soy candles also burn longer than regular candles, I saved money by ordering 3" pillars. If we had lit them, they would have lasted all night. I also ordered some scented soy travel candles from Way Out Wax to include in the gift bags I gave to the people who helped with the wedding. I got various scents from the Vermont Naturals aromatherapy collection, which has a nice modern design and natural scents like rosemary and orange.
Okay, I'm going to wrap up the wedding post for now. I'll call this Part 1, and write the rest in a Part 2 post tomorrow perhaps.
Hey!
I love reading how you and your husband are finding ways to keep your life and the environment "Green!" I saw your post regarding soy candles, and wanted to tell you about the businesss I have.
I distribute and market a Gourmet Soy Candle. Its an all natural wax blend of soy, recycled vegetable wax, and bees wax. This unique wax blend allows these candles burn vertually soot free, burn longer and evenly, and keep their fantastic scent from top to bottom!
I would love to send you a sample of your favorite scent if you are interested.
You can also see a complete list of our candles and our soy based body line at
www.FlaminScents.com
Look forward to talking with you soon.
Jamie Riley