Spring Issue Goes Live Tomorrow!

Yummy shoes, fantastic dress designers, DIY, ETSY Goodness and so much more…

All coming tomorrow with the Spring 2011 of Eco-Beautiful Weddings!

(photo by Kate Harrison Photography)

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Pretty in Purple

Purple has symbolized royalty since antiquity, when the color was so expensive it was only worn by nobility and the élites. Today, of course, you don’t need an HRH before your name in order to afford a pretty shade of plum.

We don’t know if it’s because there actually is a royal wedding just around the corner or just a mutual en masse love for violet hues, but we’ve been seeing lots of purple weddings. Either way, we’re glad to see lovely amethyst shades incorporated in such eco-fabulous ways!

Image credits clockwise from upper left:

Green Wedding Shoes

Eco friendly bridal garter, The Garter Girl

Brooch bouquet

Ruffled

Vegan bridal flat

Purple bridesmaid dress

Upcycled flower bobby pins

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Outgoing Mail With Our Guest Bridal Blogger

Dan and I spent some time today brainstorming ideas for our save-the-dates and invitations. Although we will not be sending them out for some time, we felt that getting our theme nailed down would help as we plan the other elements of the wedding. We want our save-the-dates and invitations to convey the style of our wedding: a simple, relaxed celebration in the woods.

For the save-the-dates, we wanted to do something both unique and useful that also incorporates some of the atmosphere of our wedding. After much brainstorming, we decided on custom cork coasters with our name, date, and location, and a graphic printed on them. We were inspired by the several cork coasters that Dan has picked up from various environmental conferences he has attended for his job, which are now frequently used on our tables and desks. We figured that they have actually been useful to us so hopefully our family and friends would feel the same way. Dan put together our prototype design:

For the invitations, we wanted to do something that used less paper than traditional invitations, but decided against going completely paper-free. I still think there is something special about receiving an invitation in the mail. So we decided to go the route of the postcard. The front side of the postcard is inspired by a vintage National Park poster.

We looked through several of them and decided that we would base ours off the one for Shenandoah National Park in Virginia. We love the design, and it also has a close connection to us because we spent a great weekend backpacking in Shenandoah last summer.

We will have the invite language professionally printed on the back of the card, and in smaller text at the bottom, we plan on printing “Keeping it simple: RSVP at DanandSarahwedding.com.” We will set up our wedding website to contain an RSVP function and to have further details on accommodations, directions, etc. What better way to avoid the excess waste and cost of printing RSVP notes and postage.

~Sarah and Dan

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BHLDN’s Valentine to You

Happy Valentine’s Day Everyone!

BHLDN‘s website goes live today and it is not to be missed! Above is the Ethereal Monarch Gown which boasts an open neckline with satin faced organza. Here is another look at some of the items you will see on the website and in the months to come!

(Wedding Fans, Floral Artwork Dress, Cascading Goddess Gown, Shoes & Decor, Ring Bearer Book, Trumpet Pavot Dress)

Let us know your BHLDN story after you get on their website!

XOXOXO,

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Our Winter 2011 Mini Mag!

So much has been going on behind the scenes that we thought it warranted a little update to our Winter 2011 Issue! Those Cotton Bride gowns are just about to be given away and you can see almost all of the new gowns from the Fireflies collection in this Mini Mag issue!

We have some great eco-cotton picks and an update on the Chevy Cruze Giveaway!

Learn about how to use cotton for your wedding and so much more! Click on the cover above!

(Nope the mini mag is not available for print -sorry folks!)

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Going Green for your Wedding Venue

Finding the venue of your dreams (that is also green) is not always as easy as it seems apparently. We have had several brides write to us asking about how to find the perfect eco-friendly wedding venue. In particular, recently my friend Jennifer over at Earth Friendly Wedding Blog let me know about a particular request from CA. This surprised us as I have seen so many green event venues in California online, but apparently green is hard to find anywhere! Here a some of our tips for going green for your wedding venue:

• Choose a venue where you can hold both your ceremony and reception. This cuts down on transportation pollution and makes it easier on your guests and vendors.

• If the building is a historical space, you are giving money to a non-profit typically. Your money helps with the upkeep and maintenance of the building. Many event spaces have to have events at their space in order to supplement government grants and fundraising. While they may not see (or announce) this as green, it is a fairly important element of being green. Being socially responsible with your money is one of the biggest factors that brides overlook.

• Are they a LEED certified building? This is a relatively new undertaking for event spaces, but they are out there!

• If the event space does not recycle, they are probably are not green. However, this does not mean you can’t bring in a caterer that will do this for you. Some caterers will have a recycling bin, compost bin and then a trash bin. This is required by any caterer that has the mark of Green Restaurant Certification.
• If the venue houses an organization that does community outreach and educational programs, then you are also helping those programs by putting your dollars in their space.

• If you are going the hotel route – Marriott, Sofitel and Kipton are a few of the larger chains that have green initiatives. Ask the hotel if they have recycling bins in the hotel rooms. Sofitel is the first chain to be powered by Wind Power – either through energy credits/offsets or direct wind energy resources.

• If the venue does all the food in-house, make sure they are using locally sourced food and beverages.

Keep in mind that some businesses do incorporate eco-friendly practices even though they don’t advertise them. When touring a venue, don’t hesitate to ask if they are doing anything environmentally friendly. They should want your business, so we would expect most places to at least offer help in fulfilling your desire for an eco-friendly wedding, but if they look at you like you’re crazy, then move on.

(photo credits: Jade + Matthew, Jennifer Hughes, Kristi Odom)

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