Local Vendors

DIY gift bags are a special way to say thank you to your guests who have travelled far and near to help celebrate your wedding day. An out of town guest wedding gift bag is also a great way to provide your guest with everything they might need during their stay. Your bag can replicate your wedding theme, or represent the season or region of your green wedding. Creating a DIY out of town bag can be easy and fun!

Last week, in our Destination Wedding: Part One blog, we gave you some great tips on how to have a green wedding, even in an exotic locale. This week, we continue our destination wedding eco-chic inspiration.

So you want to have your wedding far away at a gorgeous and romantic location? We can't really blame you. The culture, food, and surroundings of a destination wedding are absolutely breathtaking. While the travel associated with a destination isn't always eco-friendly, there are definitely ways you can still have your dream wedding and keep the earth in mind.

We went out to the winery, Wolffer Estate Vineyards, this past weekend. Brad had not been out there since early June, and since we have started scoping out our rentals for the reception, we wanted to take a closer look. We went to Classic Party Rentals to check out their tables, chairs, flat wear, etc. They actually have a whole green line, too. They had everything we will need, and now the hard part will be narrowing it down.

In this week's Real Green Wedding, Anna and Chris set their 1920's-fab-meets-downhome-farm wedding on a friend's farm, with beautiful results. They worked hard with their friends to prepare the farm for their wedding, which ultimately made them feel more connected to the place they were wed. This kind of effort and commitment is a special way to start your life together.

So this wedding plan is serious stuff! My mom, my assistant, a recently married bartender at my restaurant, and anyone else I can enlist to help have now become my team of wedding planners. A full time wedding planner is not in our budget, but I think everyone needs a "day of" person, so I recommend reserving that place in your own budget. Can you imagine me not having one? I would be running around in my wedding gown with my chef's knife, a true bridezilla! It will be hard to let go of the reins for the food aspect, but we will go on about that later. 

Image: Kuperberg Weddings

Question:
Hi Kate,
I am having trouble finding environmentally friendly vendors in my area for apparel, invitations, favors, etc. It seems green weddings are a pretty big deal on the west coast, and in larger cities, but if I were to ship those things here, the energy used in their arrival would pretty much defeat the purpose. Are you aware of anyone who can help me within fifty or so miles of XXXX, Ohio? I feel kind of stuck here... Thanks for your time.

Answer: