From the moment they decided to marry last October, Graham and Andria Cox knew they would have nothing wasteful at their wedding. They are both environmentally conscious, so they made sure their wedding day was as green as possible, without being over the top.
The green focus began with the invitations from foreverfiances.com. They were made of recycled paper with wildflower seeds woven into the paper fibers. On the back of the invitations were instructions to plant the seeds. “This company even ships all of their orders in recycled containers and packaging,” says Andria.
Instead of using even more paper for a response card, guests RSVPed via the wedding website or a specific email account. To keep guests from traveling more than necessary, both the wedding and the reception took place in one location: City Art in The Vista. According to Andria, Applause Catering embraced the couple’s green focus.
All of the plates, utensils and disposable food items were made of bamboo husks.
“We like bamboo over paper products because bamboo is a rapidly renewable resource,” she says. “These were completely biodegradable and were composted by Applause. The cups were recyclable #1 plastic and were recycled after the wedding, along with any glass beverage bottles.” In addition, the couple rented live palms and ferns to decorate the area.
“This reduced the need for extra flowers and more decorations,” says Andria. Any flowers purchased were taken to residents at local nursing homes after the wedding.
“Plus there was already art on display at City Art. This created a warm and inviting ambiance, and we were fortunate to have Blue Sky art on exhibit. What a treat!”
Graham and Andria did not want a full, printed wedding album, so they worked with Michael Koska Photography, who provided them with a disc instead. They were able to use the disc to send photos and print only the ones they desired. Since Andria’s grandmother was not able to make the wedding, Grant’s Photo & Video filmed the occasion and web-streamed it live to her. Andria’s dress, which she purchased at Jo-Lin’s Bridal, had to be altered somewhat. She saved the lace and extra material, which she plans on using in the future to make a christening blanket.
Graham and Andria decided to forgo a wedding party; the 80 or so guests just dressed in cocktail attire.
Although there was nothing green about the wedding cake from Chocolate Nirvana, the couple did opt to make donations to Harvest Hope Food Bank in lieu of wedding favors. A poem beside the guest book explained:
Bubbles, sparklers or maybe rice? We’ve done something that hopefully you’ll think is twice as nice. We’ve filled your bellies the whole night through and in your honor have done the same for a family or two.
Says Andria, “Graham and I met at a friend’s birthday party, and everything about the nature of who we are made us want the most important aspect of our wedding day to be laid back and comfortable. The whole premise of the way we went green was to show that it is possible to be environmentally responsible without making every aspect of a wedding green. Even if couples would have the bottles recycled from their weddings, and that’s all they did, it would be a step in a positive direction. It is our hope that by seeing a nicely done wedding that had a reduced impact on the environment, others will feel empowered to do one of the things we did, or even more.”
