Green/ Organic/ Eco Weddings

60% brides keep their wedding dress reveals Cancer Research UK

By admin on May 15th, 2008

Cancer Research UK are launching a wedding dress donation campaign and have just released some interesting figures. Apparently, 60% of us ladies keep our wedding dress whilst 7% donate them to charity and a further 7% customise their gowns for other occasions. Naturally the charity wants you to part with your gown so they can raise funds via their eBay site. A percentage of profits will then go directly to Cancer Research UK though they don’t say how much.

Actress Gaynor Faye (pictured, left) is supporting the campaign and has donated the £2,000 Maggie Sottero wedding dress she wore in TV series Fat Friends. It will go on sale on 24th May.

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Columns/ Opinion, Gowns, Green/ Organic/ Eco Weddings

My Eco-friendly Wedding. Part 4: The Dress (or at least a dress)

By admin on May 15th, 2008

2 comments

The Dress… the story so far.

The dress! Oh, the dress! Yes, the dress has been the bane of my life for the past few months, preventing me from looking forward to the wedding at all, and causing Al no little offence when I continually talk about wanting to cancel the whole thing and continue living my life in unwedded joy.

It would probably have helped if I’d even been into a bridal shop to try some dresses on. But thanks to my need to get something eco-friendly, I was aware that there was no point in trying on dresses I knew I couldn’t buy. But, of course, then I had no idea what would suit me.

Eventually, it was this very site that came to my aid.

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Tags: eco friendly wedding, green wedding, katie lee, vintage wedding dress, vintage wedding gown
Posted in Columns/ Opinion, Gowns, Green/ Organic/ Eco Weddings | 2 Comments »

Accessories - Bags, Tiaras, etc, Green/ Organic/ Eco Weddings, Rings & Jewellery

Ethical jewellery for brides and bridesmaids from Adili

By admin on May 9th, 2008

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Lots of you lovely ladies out there will know the struggle facing those who are admirably ethical in all of their purchases, especially where weddings are concerned. Thankfully, the business of green weddings is growing allowing you to not only find everything you need to be clear of conscience, but also to have some style to boot.

Adili is a great online shop full of ethical clothing and accessories and their jewellery section is perfect for brides. Featuring ethically mined metals and focussing on the work of artisans across the world, the contemporary designs are fantastic. This simple bracelet is solid silver and made in Mexico, and costs just £25.

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Food and Drink, Green/ Organic/ Eco Weddings, Wedding Planning

Blue Strawberry launches Organic Wedding Service for green brides

By admin on May 8th, 2008

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Blue Strawberry.JPG Society wedding and party caterer Blue Strawberry has launched its Organic Weddings Service. Sourcing locally grown fresh produce to create organic menus as a perfect tie-in for sustainable weddings and eco couples. Blue Strawberry’s owner Molly Ronan can also advise on other aspects of green weddings including recycled cards, alternative place cards such as pebbles or leaves and seasonal flowers.

“Demand for organic wedding food has increased enormously over the last year,” says Molly. “We decided to set up Blue Strawberry’s Organic Wedding Service for people who are keen to have an environmentally friendly wedding day. We advise them to keep the mood seasonal and try to base everything around the colours and textures of the season; cool whites and creams in the summer with fragrant lavenders and voluptuous roses; harvest feasts in the autumn with colours of gold and burnt orange and organza fabrics to rich red velvet and shiny metallics at Christmas with scents of spices.”

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Green/ Organic/ Eco Weddings, Keepsakes & Favours

Handmade soap wedding favours from The Littlecote Soap Co.

By admin on May 7th, 2008

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Secret Garden Soap Favour.jpg Wedding favours are an undeniably sweet token for your guests, beautifully packaged and so adorably miniature. If you’re looking to forego the ever-popular but soon devoured chocolate, then the new wedding favour range from The Littlecote Soap Co. might be up your street.

Handmade from natural ingredients, these British made soaps are a great little treat which will impress your green friends too. Best of all, you get to design your own favour by choosing the soaps, boxes and packaging. Find out more about pricing and how to get in touch on the website.

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Green/ Organic/ Eco Weddings, Keepsakes & Favours, Wedding Gifts

Celebrate and Give wedding scheme with the NSPCC

By admin on April 29th, 2008

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NSPCC celebrate.JPG
Round about this time of year my email inbox starts receiving plenty of charity pleas. We all know that many couples already have their quota of toasters and that an alternative to a traditional wedding list is to ask for charity donations or to make donations in your guests names. I almost feel guilty for typing that some of the charities literally just ask for your cold hard cash on your day, something that isn’t always easy to pass on to your guests nor welcomed by them as some of our readers have previously commented.

At least the NSPCC (National Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Children) dresses up their plea with the Celebrate and Give wedding scheme. All donations aid the charity’s work to end cruelty to children or the couple are encouraged to give NSPCC personalised favour cards instead of usual favours. Details of the scheme can be found here.

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Gowns, Green/ Organic/ Eco Weddings

Vintage 1950s bridal gown from Vintagedress of Bristol

By admin on April 28th, 2008

2 comments

Vintage and retro fashion is having a huge surge in popularity at the moment, not least for brides with a keen eye for style. Vintage dresses are a great way to have something completely unique as a bride, and also to ease your conscience as it’s a great eco-friendly choice of dress.

This stunning 1950s gown is available from Vintagedress.co.uk in a size 10 for just £300. With it’s full skirt and luxurious cream silk, this dress will have your guests fawning over it all day. It’s so fabulous, in fact, that I’d gladly have it for myself! Find out more about this dress and many others from the shop’s website.

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Green/ Organic/ Eco Weddings, Rings & Jewellery

Ethical wedding rings and jewellery from Ingle & Rhode

By admin on April 22nd, 2008

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ingle-and-rhode-classic-princess-cut-engagement-ring-with-matching-wedding-band-white-diamond-01.jpg By far the most potent ethical issue in the business of weddings has to be that of diamonds. While I won’t go into the grim details, ethically sourced jewels are a fantastic investment on your wedding day.

Ingle & Rhode are a company which specialises in ethical jewels, and their wedding and engagement collections contain some stunning examples made from conflict free diamonds. Pictured is the matching classic Princess cut engagement and wedding bad set from I&R. Prices vary depending on your specifications and are available on request from the website.

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Flowers/Decoration, Green/ Organic/ Eco Weddings, Wedding Planning

Light up your evening reception with Fairwind’s colourful tea lights

By admin on April 15th, 2008

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If you’re lucky enough to have a garden big enough to hold a summer reception, you can have great fun dressing it up. These Weaver nest tea light holders will look sparkling by daylight in aqua, fuschia, olive or tangerine and prettily light the way by night – they’re £10 each at Fairwind Online.

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Green/ Organic/ Eco Weddings, Rings & Jewellery

Go green with a vintage engagement ring from Sylvia’s Antique Jewelry

By admin on April 7th, 2008

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More and more of us are coming round to the green way of life, and with that comes the responsibility of when and where to compromise. Diamonds are one such time, with ethical issues surrounding diamond mining that hardly bear thinking about.

While there are many stockists of ethically mined diamonds that we’re fans of here on Bridalwave, you might want to go an even more earth friendly route and get yourself an antique. Sylvia’s Antique Jewelry has a great range of vintage and antique rings of all shapes, sizes, periods and styles. And there’s also a great variety to suit any budget.

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Columns/ Opinion, Flowers/Decoration, Green/ Organic/ Eco Weddings

Bridalwave column – My Eco-friendly Wedding. Part 3: The flowers

By admin on March 28th, 2008

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Part 3: The flowers

I’ve always felt uncomfortable about the number of flowers on sale that have been air freighted in from foreign countries, grown in large fields using pesticides, with no respect for the local people or ecosystem. And I’m not alone: just as consumers are increasingly starting to understand that food should be eaten seasonally, more people are also beginning to see flowers as a seasonal resource.

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Gowns, Green/ Organic/ Eco Weddings

Go 60s with a vintage wedding gown from Elizabeth’s Vintage Closet

By admin on March 28th, 2008

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9f9f268b6120e3d6b04a7fe2333999c2.image.jpg I love the idea of a full on vintage wedding – imagine the stylish photo album that would produce! It’s not everyone’s cup of tea, I’m sure, but if you’re a lover of vintage there’s tons of pre-loved gowns around. Even better, you’ll be going green by recycling one of the thousands of gowns worn every year since year dot.

Elizabeth’s Vintage Closet has a wide variety of vintage clothing, but while browsing I stumbled upon some very lovely vintage bridal gowns. This 1960s gown captured my heart. Clearly high fashion at the time, this sequin gown is unusual but still effortlessly stylish. It’s available at the bargain price of £95 in a UK size 8. Pittance to pay for a one off that your guests won’t soon forget.

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Green/ Organic/ Eco Weddings, Rings & Jewellery

Leber Jeweler Inc’s ‘Earthwise’ engagement rings

By admin on March 26th, 2008

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I’ve been hearing a lot about ethical diamonds (Canadian diamonds, in particular) and I’ve just discovered Leber Jeweler Inc.

The Earthwise collection features conflict free diamonds, fairly traded colored gemstones and environmentally conscious precious metals. Pictured is the ‘Trixie’ ring, and custom designs are also available.

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Gowns, Green/ Organic/ Eco Weddings

Vintage 1950s winter wedding gown from Tasty Vintage

By admin on March 20th, 2008

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Vintage gowns are a great way to get a really unique style for your special day, and also perfect for eco-conscious brides who are keen to recycle.

There are plenty of vintage gowns in various states out there, but this 1950s velvet gown from Tasty Vintage is simply breathtaking. With all the elegance of the Hollywood starlets of the time, this is a great choice for winter weddings that will give you class and style while ensuring you don’t feel the chill. All that for the fantastic price of £155? You can’t go wrong.

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Green/ Organic/ Eco Weddings, Wedding Gifts

The ultimate ethical wedding gift from Concern’s Positive Presents

By admin on March 17th, 2008

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What do you get the couple who has everything? Rather than buying the happy couple yet another toaster, you can offer a really unique and ethical gift from Concern’s Positive Presents project.

You can choose to donate from £15 to over £100 to the Concern Charity in the newlyweds name. A really admirable way to make a little bit of a difference in the midst of a very decadent day, and a perfect gift for any couple who are throwing a very Green bash.

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