Guide to a Growing Trend: The "Green" or Ecological WeddingWritten by Blake Kritzberg
Does it seem like phrases "ecology" and "wedding" could hardly have less in common? With average wedding costing well over 15 thousand today, one would think so. And yet, "green" or ecologically-friendly wedding is gaining momentum across nation. The green wedding, like any other wedding style, has its tribal features. By tribal, I mean signs and signifiers that help tell guests what wedding is supposed to mean, and how couple prefers to appear. From a tribal perspective, a green wedding can be hauntingly romantic, with its outdoor setting, its focus on living plants, and its less-formal gown (often made of hemp) that brings to mind fairy outings from 400 years ago. In personal appearance, ecology bride is often gamine type. Even on her wedding day, her fresh face forms a contrast with heavily made-up cover girls of bridal magazines. When it comes to more functional aspects, green wedding’s shape and flavor flow from three main goals: - Do no harm, - Patronize earth-friendly vendors, and - Reuse/recycle.1) Do No Harm The green bride tries to avoid products or activities that could compromise environment. For this reason, butterfly releases are rare (vendors are not always careful to ship butterflies only to appropriate, native environments). Similarly, beeswax candles are avoided, as is use of styrofoam or soft plastics at reception -- glass and porcelain are substituted. (Brides are often surprised to discover caterer charges little extra for this service.) Many green bridal couples are vegetarian or vegan. In metropolitan or college-town communities, this provides a great excuse to serve dazzling ethnic foods at reception at a reasonable cost! Hemp is widely respected among environmentalists, because unlike cotton, it can be grown without pesticides and returns most of its nutrients to soil. When green bride buys a new gown for her ceremony, she often looks to hemp fabrics. Surprisingly flexible, hemp can go upmarket ("hemp satin") or relaxed (cottony separates that can be worn after wedding). 2) Patronize Earth-Friendly Vendors
| | Marking Togetherness: Beyond the Unity CandleWritten by By Blake Kritzberg
By now, surely everyone's familiar with unity candle, but did you know there are other unification ceremonies to choose from when planning your wedding?Although unity candle seems to have been with us forever, in reality it's only about ten years old. During those years, more "two-become-one" motifs have arrived to round out theme. Unification ceremonies are not only a symbol of togetherness, they're also flexible elements of a wedding. These ceremonies can be "opened up" to include important family members, such as bridal couple's parents. Children from previous marriages can play a part, as can entire congregation in a smaller wedding. Candle and rose ceremonies are common choices for adapting in this way. Unification ceremonies can also be "stacked." It's not unusual to find a wedding that includes a hand and water ceremony, for example, or a wine and rose ceremony. Some couples play music during these ceremonies and others don't. The timing of unification ceremonies varies by wedding, but they most often take place directly before or after exchange of vows. These ceremonies may be especially important in non-religious weddings, which may end too quickly otherwise! Let's look at some alternatives to Unity Candle ceremony: * Rose Ceremony The rose ceremony is a flexible, informal ceremony especially suited to an interfaith or non-religious wedding, not to mention a garden wedding! In rose ceremony, bride and groom exchange a single rose as their first married gift to each other. They are asked to recall this symbol of their love during more trying seasons of marriage. * Hand Ceremony In hand ceremony, bride takes groom's hands in hers, palms up. The officiant invites her to view his hands as a gift, and says: "These are hands that will work along side yours, as together you build your future, as together you laugh and cry, and together you share your innermost secrets and dreams."
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