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The Summer Issue is Live!
Our most beautiful issue yet! Filled with amazing and stylish ideas for your wedding! Go green in style wit The Cotton Bride!
Click on the photo above or click here to see the new issue and the daily blog!
Earth Day Wedding
Virdina and Kevin won the DC Green Wedding Consortium $50,000 Green Wedding Giveaway for Earth Day this year at the Historic Decatur House Museum!
Here is a list of the fabulous vendors that helped make the day green and beautiful:
Decatur House - Historic Property
Elegance & Simplicity - (That’s us) – Planning, Floral designs, repurposed wood stage, photo wall, guest book wall
Polished Image & Style – Color Analysis, Bride, Groom, Bridesmaid Styling
Occasions Catering – Organic and locally sustainable catering
Ampa Events – LED Lighting, furniture rental
The Observatory – Eco-photography
Documentary Associates – Eco-photography
Jessica Piscitelli - Eco-Videography
Disc Jockeys on Call - Eco-DJ
Jim Burch – Local Officiant
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The 1st and Only Eco-Friendly Wedding Magazine
My new magazine has gone live all about eco-friendly weddings! Take a look:
Green Wedding Planning 101
Congratulations! You just got engaged! Now What? The labyrinth of wedding planning will now begin!
The difference in planning a green wedding versus one that is not green are the choices you make along the way. All weddings have a different shade of green to them. If all engaged couples made at least one eco-friendly choice in their decision making process for their wedding, the environment would benefit greatly.
There are two main things to consider when planning an eco-friendly wedding. One thing to note is that if a vendor is eco-friendly, they will most likely have some sort of green mission statement on their website. Secondly, once you meet with a vendor, ask them about what they are doing to make a difference
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Eco-Friendly Invitations!
Oh, how we love Earthly Affair invitations – look how cute!
At Earthly Affair, you can take advantage of digital printing, which allows them to print small orders at a lower cost to the environment. They offset all shipments through carbonfund.org (which is who we use as well as they are based locally near us in Silver Spring, MD), and they run everything out of their eco-equipped studio. All of their invitations are completely customizable and they work hard to ensure 100% satisfaction.
Buy invitations that are for the greater good! Check out their website and their amazingly helpful blog!
Eco-Friendly Wedding Jewelry
One of the most basic things that many brides struggle with is their wedding jewelry. If you are going for an eco-friendly tone for your wedding, it is best to start from the beginning. You might not have any control on the type of engagement ring he gives you, but you can have more control over the bands and other jewelry that both you as a couple will wear and your wedding party might don as gifts from you!
Consider conflict-free diamonds. Conflict-free diamonds are easy to research on the internet and sometimes not so easy to find in local jewelry shops. You can always start with a jewelry shop, but better to to do your research before you go to a jewelry shop to make sure they don’t greenwash you!
A favorite website of mine is Brilliant Earth. You can easily browse their website online and they are recognized by Green America. Here are a few samples from their website:
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Eco-Friendly Honeymoons
Who said that having an exotic honeymoon can’t be eco-friendly as well. There are so many exciting options right now to help you have a green honeymoon.
The first thing you should be thinking about is if you really have to leave the country. If you do not travel often – there are so many fantastic eco-wonders right here in the US! However – if you are looking for the complete getaway. Here are a few of my eco-friendly favorites!
Well – with my husband being from the Dominican Republic – I have to start with my favorite! The Dominican Republic has been heralded as one of the top 5 most eco-friendly countries in the world!!! They have one of the most protected forest in the world which forces Dominicans to reuse wood until it quite literally turns to dust! Conservation of energy is a must at almost all of the resorts and most have an amazing filtration rainwater system and solar panels. The coral reefs are in fantastic condition as they are …
Organic Beauty Products for your Bridal Beauty Regimen
All brides know and feel the pressure of having to look their absolute best for the wedding day. This does not mean you have to sacrifice the environment while concocting your beauty regimen!
Here are few of my favorite products and why they work; where to get them and save the environment in one fell swoop! You can have an eco-friendly wedding from your head to your toes!
Let’s start with your head! This is the one place where you do the most primping and expend the most time!
- Shampoo & Conditioning Products
Weleda has a wonderful line of products that are 100% natural. For a deep conditioning treatment, try their Rosemary Hair Oil. Click on the photo to learn more and peruse their website.
Compliment this conditioning treatment with Carol’s Daughter’s Rosemary Mint Shampoo with Sea Moss!
Plan to Reuse What You Purchase For Your Wedding Day!
It used to be that a bride would have a trousseau for her wedding that would help her to have clothes for the 1st month or two after marriage. It was also common for brides to wear their wedding gowns at weddings of their friends during the 1st year of marriage. Where has the thought of not using your wedding gown again come from. The answer is obvious – fashion. While some dresses can never be worn again by you – they can be worn by others! The likelihood of your daughter wearing your dress is slim. Donate or consign your dress if you don’t think you can wear it again.
photo by Documentary Associates
Making Memories is a great charity if you plan on donating your dress. They receive your dress and sell it for helping women with breast cancer.
If you have a simpler gown….think about shortening the length and adding a funaccent to the dress in color! It will …