Planning an Organic Wedding

From the ground up
If you're planning an outdoor wedding or reception, than ideally the lawn should be free of synthetic fertilizers and pesticides. Link here to the Top Ten Reasons [for your lawn] to go Organic from the Organic Landscape Alliance.
 
Flowers
If you're fortunate enough to have several friends with organic gardens who are willing to provide cut flowers, then you might be able to hire an arranger and have beautiful organic flowers for your wedding. Also farmers markets and organic certification agencies may be able to direct you to providers of organic cut flowers, also visit The Organic Pages Online Directory  to find organic florists. Organic florists protect the environment and improve farm worker safety by eliminating millions of pounds of toxic pesticides from agricultural usage. Order their flowers online or ask at your favorite natural food store,

Paper Products
From invitations to gift wrap, there is a wide selection of sustainable - yes, even organic possibilities, see The Organic Pages Online Directory. 

The gowns and tuxedos
Ask your tailor to use as much organic fabric as possible in the gowns and tuxes. Click here for a link to a listing of organic fabrics suitable for gowns and tuxedos.

Nice day for a "Green Wedding"
In order to keep things "green" keep Mother Nature in mind in all aspects of the planning. Use real dishes and glassware so as not to produce bags of trash. Clearly labeled recycling bins are important, and make arrangements in advance to donate excess food (and leftover flowers) to charitable organizations. Some couples ask for donations to environmental organizations in lieu of wedding gifts. Consider having your guests throw organic millet - to feed the birds - instead of paper confetti!

The Food:
You will find caterers listed in The Organic Pages Online Directory, but even caterers who don't advertise their businesses as "organic" can agree to purchase organic ingredients for your wedding now that organic food is available all over North America.

The Honeymoon:
There are eco-tourism groups for honeymoons, such as The Sierra Club: www.sierraclub.org, and the International Ecotourism Society: www.ecotourism.org

Also to find places to stay that serve organic food and make the beds with organic sheets, visit: http://www.organic-holidays.com/

You can offset the polluting effects of your energy use by supporting the development of clean renewable energy for your event or your travel, visit: www.greentagusa.org for more information.

And of course for the honeymoon, don't forget organic chocolate and lingerie, also to be found at The Organic Pages Directory, www.TheOrganicPages.com hint: use the text search feature.

Coming next year: The Organic Baby!!