Tuesday, October 27, 2009

We know we belong to the land! And the land we belong to is grand!

Well, the move to Iowa is, in all theory, complete. Everything is at least in our new house. We don’t have anything unpacked yet, and still no sublease in Missouri, but…it’s progress.
This blog, however, is not about our crazy lives. It’s about our crazy wedding! I haven’t done much for wedding planning lately, but I have been doing a lot of thinking.
Shortly after we got engaged I purchased a book called “The Green Bride Guide.” It, as you could probably guess from the title, is all about having an eco-friendly, sustainable nuptial celebration. If you read the list a couple posts ago, you will have noticed that “sustainable” is on our list of things we want our wedding to be.  I’m not going to spend time explaining why we feel this is important, but I am going to talk a little bit about how we plan to execute this.
First, let me say that our wedding, just like our lives, will not be perfectly green, or (hopefully) even look like what most people would imagine as an “eco” wedding.

The truth is, woodsy décor and paper dresses are not what it is all about. Instead, we are choosing to stand up to the wedding industry, choose our priorities, and be careful with our purchases.  Here’s what I mean.

Standing up to the wedding industry: No, thank you…I do not need individualized matchbooks that no one will ever use. I also do not require 99% of the things sold in The Oriental Trading Company wedding addition. And the things there I do need (ok, want) I can probably find a better alternative for. No. We will not sign up for the all inclusive wedding package that includes a Swan shaped Ice Sculpture and heart shaped confetti (ok…that refusal has a LITTLE bit more to do with taste than being earth friendly).

Choosing our Priorities: What do we care about most? The truth is that bridal magazines and websites like theknot are trying to sell you stuff. Period. Now, don’t get me wrong. I use the websites. I read the magazines. I just keep in mind that nothing on my wedding day is mandatory except for us, our love, and a marriage license. Everything past that is personal choice. There are some things we just don’t want/care about. There are some things we aren’t willing to compromise on. I want amazing, artistic photography. So we spent a little more and went all out with the Photos. On the other hand, I don’t think I need elaborate bouquets made of artificially grown, imported, pesticide soaked flowers. That just doesn’t say “Romance” to me.

Being Careful with Purchases: This is simple. We are doing what we can DIY. We are buying things organic or local when we can. We are buying things used (yes…used). We are buying things that can easily be sold or used for a different purpose after the wedding. My centerpieces are a wonderful example. We’re going to be doing an arrangement of teacups and antique books. The teacups will have a single peony or hydrangea in them. I have been collecting them for months on the cheap and continue to do so. When the wedding is over I plan to keep most of the books (books come into our house…but they never leave…) and selling most of the teacups on eBay, keeping the ones I really love.  The centerpieces will express our personalities and show off things we love and at the same time they will be totally eco-friendly.

The best part about having a sustainable wedding is that if you do it the way we’re doing it, it also becomes an affordable wedding. And that’s an awesome thing.

Sunday, October 4, 2009

You are in...Iowa.

Just a quick note to explain the lack of blogging. Skyler and I are moving to Des Moines for a new job for me. I have lots more wedding details to share...it will just be a few weeks before they make it anywhere near the inter-webs.