March 1, 2012

5 Tips for Going Green on Your Big Day

I’m thrilled to have Mike Smith of Paper Themes Stationery here today offering some great tips on how you can green up your wedding day! Even a few small changes or additions can make a big difference to Mother Nature especially if everyone planning a wedding did their part. Most of the changes will not require any sacrifice on your part and some may even save you some cash!

With awareness on green issues ever-increasing, more and more of us are looking to lead more eco-friendly lives.

From recycling our household waste, to car pooling during our journey to work; every little change that we make goes towards helping the Earth.

While you may be tempted to forget about saving the world on your wedding day and letting your hair down, there are a few simple steps that you can take to make your special day as green as possible. In many instances these steps will even enhance the enjoyment for yourself and your guests.

Image by Fede Photography via Style Me Pretty

1.     Venue

When choosing a wedding venue most people will look to host their reception at a hotel.  The problem with hotels is that the high turnover of people means that there is a lot of scope for wastage. When looking for suitable hotels, spend a little time browsing the website to see what they do to combat their impact on the environment. This should include recycling, energy efficient lighting, temperature control and sourcing food and other goods from local suppliers, thus reducing their carbon footprint. The fact that the food comes from close by should mean that it is fresh and tasty; resulting in a fantastic wedding feast for everyone to enjoy.

Being green is becoming a weighty selling point for many companies.  So you can be sure that if a hotel is making the effort to help the environment that they will also be making potential customers aware of the fact via a page on their site.  Remember that there are going to be a lot of people traveling to your wedding; so do try to find a local venue that will minimize car emissions.

Image via Intimate Weddings

2.     Wedding stationery

Once you have made your venue choice and finalized the date, it is time to get your wedding stationery sorted. Your stationery package encompasses many different items, including wedding invitations, save the date cards, place cards, table numbers, programs and possibly favors. When multiplied by the number of guests, this soon adds up to a substantial amount of paper.

Before you start looking at all the different styles and colors, you should first take some time to find out where the design companies purchase their paper from. Again, any that are using paper that comes from sustainable forests should make you aware of the fact on their website.

Another option may be to use non-paper items for some of your stationery needs or skip things like programs all together.

Pre-owned dress for sale via Recycled Bride ($150)

3.     Dress

When trying to consider the environment while choosing your wedding dress, the most obvious choice is to buy one second hand. This of course avoids the need to consume a new garment and you can even sell it on afterwards, if you so choose.  However, we realize that choosing the dress is one of the most important parts of the wedding for many brides.

As such, finding the right second hand dress isn’t always viable.  If you do decide to purchase a dress that it is new, there are plenty of bridal designers that offer garments made from organic and natural materials that comply with fair-trade regulations. Such dresses are manufactured in a way that doesn’t involve the use of environmentally harmful chemicals.

Using local, in-season flowers is another great way to be green.

Image by Erin Hearts Court via Style Me Pretty

4.     Transport

Arriving at the site of the ceremony in style is an essential part of the day in terms of making the bride feel special and also securing some cherished photographs. In order to achieve both goals, many couples opt for large classic cars, such as a Rolls Royce or Bentley. The problem with these old cars is that they were not designed to be environmentally friendly and guzzle plenty of gas. There are of course more modern and fuel efficient cars available for rental, which run on bio-diesel or LPG.  But what could be greener and more romantic than an elaborately decorated horse drawn carriage?

Image via Style Me Pretty by Jen Lauren Grant styling by In the Now Weddings

5.     Local Suppliers

The final decision you can make to achieve a greener wedding is to opt for local suppliers for all of your other bits and pieces that you will need. This should go for your cake, flowers, suit rental, jewelry, catering service, photographer and anyone else that you can think of.

There will be a lot of traveling to and from food tasting, fittings and many other appointments before your big day arrives. By going for local providers you can greatly reduce the emissions that you and others produce in the weeks and months leading up to your wedding.

**This is a sponsored article from Paper Themes; suppliers of green wedding invitations and all other wedding stationery items. **

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February 23, 2012

Send a Jam Gram!

Hello Lovelies! Jacin of Lovely Little Details is at it again with her Jars of Love! She’s made a big ol’ batch of fruity jams for you to enjoy and all the proceeds are going to help 4 year old Matthew who has leukemia. The Jam Gram includes a jar of jam, a cute little elephant spreading knife and a card. It would be a sweet gift to send to a friend or family member.

Confession: I don’t like jam. I never ate peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, because well I am not a fan of jam or jelly. But Kyle loves it so I ordered a jar during Jacin’s last fund raiser and I’m serious you guys, I could have eaten it with a spoon. We were putting it on everything from toast to turkey sandwiches. In fact, when no one was looking, I would just stick my finger in the jar and eat it just like that.

Head to her Etsy Shop to get yours!

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February 21, 2012

Shop and Give back at The Gap!

Shopping and giving back in the same sentence… yep you read it right! Spring is fast approaching so I am sure we could all use a few cute spring tops or perhaps a few floral frocks to add to our spring wardrobe. Megan of Glamour and Grace contacted me and asked me to share this fab fundraiser going on at her local Gap store in Sarasota, Fl.

Megan’s co-worker has a child who has cerebral palsy. The little girl suffered complications during birth which left her with cerebral palsy and her twin sister unfortunately did not survive. The Conductive Education Center has been extremely helpful for this family and for other families who have children with disabilities. The Gap is stepping in to help raise money for the center.

On February 25-26th (this weekend) for every $5 donation, you will get 25% off your purchase and The Gap will be donating additional money to the cause as well. So if you are in Florida, get shopping!!

To learn more about the event or the Conductive Education center see these flyers.

Below are some photos of the children who are helped by Conductive Education Center.

*Fundraiser and associated discounts are only applicable at South Gate Gap in Sarasota, Fl.

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February 14, 2012

Love is…

A very happy Valentine’s day to you all and a very happy 100th birthday to the great state of Arizona! Michelle from Pocketful of Dreams asked me to participate in the post she was putting together for Valentine’s Day where she asked several people to finish this sentence: Love is…

My answer was this:

Love is….knowing that you can always be yourself and you’ll actually be loved more for it.

Head over to see what everyone else had to say, it is a very sweet post.

 

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February 8, 2012

One Hope, Many Causes

Photo via

That’s the slogan for OneHope Wine. This wine company is no stranger to this blog, we’ve talked about them a few times before. If you know me you know I love giving back and I love wine so for me OneHope wine is pretty much perfection. Half of all proceeds from each bottle go to the corresponding charity and to date over $600,000 has been donated to partner charities. These are the varietals they offer and their corresponding causes.

ONEHOPE Chardonnay (Breast Cancer)
ONEHOPE Sauvignon Blanc (Environment)
ONEHOPE Cabernet Sauvignon (Autism)
ONEHOPE Merlot (AIDS)
ONEHOPE Zinfandel (Troops)
ONEHOPE Pinot Noir (Children’s Hospitals)

I bring them up again today because they have made it easier than ever for couples and wedding vendors to incorporate charity into their weddings through wine.

OneHope Weddings allows couples to find out all they need to know about buying this wine for their big day and you can even schedule a private tasting to determine which varietal would be best for your event.

They are now offering discount pricing for couples buying in bulk and later down the road they hope to offer some customizable options.

So whether you are planning a wedding and want to serve this wine, offer it as favors, or even if you are just like me and you love wine, definitely try it. Giving back has never been easier and it has certainly never tasted better. Cheers!

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February 6, 2012

Newlywed recipes: Grapefruit and mint creme brulee

Hello All! I hope you have recovered from all the Super Bowl festivities even if it just meant you ate a lot of dips and tried to avoid the actual game at all costs (Me). After a day of indulging in beer, junk food and all things caloric, if you are like me, you may feel like a serious week of detox is in order. But if you are also like me, the thought of giving up sweet things is tricky. So I bring you a healthy, low cal dessert option.

Ingredients:

  • 1/2 cup fresh squeezed grapefruit juice
  • 1 tablespoon sugar
  • 1-1/4 cups Greek yogurt
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 teaspoon grapefruit zest
  • 2 teaspoons finely chopped fresh mint
  • 1/2 a grapefruit, diced
  • 1 teaspoon sugar for topping

For the directions go here.

It’s just the right amount of sweetness and it leaves you with nothing to feel guilty about!

Did you watch the game yesterday? Or did you do something completely non-football related?

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January 31, 2012

A few updates

Hello all! I know it’s been pretty sporadic around here lately and for good reason. Besides just being crazy busy, The Charity Wedding is in the process of getting a makeover. An extreme makeover if you will. I don’t want to go into a ton of details because that will ruin all of the fun! But I am going to give you a peek at some of the inspiration.

First- just so you all know, the foster dog found his forever home on Saturday! He is happily living in what I hear is a huge home, on 10 acres of land, with ample opportunities for walks and hikes, and has a new cat friend. The last update I received was that the couple adores him, he sleeps under their covers, and gets along great with the cat (something they were concerned about.) From death row at the pound to a new amazing life in only 4 days.

Did I tell you we lost him? Yep, the skinny little guy jumped straight through the bars of our rod iron fence. When we went to bring him in the house, he was gone. We looked over our back fence and below the empty field behind us, there he was running along the road!! It was too far to chase him or even scream at him- remember he had no name. Luckily I saw a car stop and pick him up. So I had to make the dreaded call to the rescue to let them know we lost him but that someone had picked him up and would hopefully bring him back to the shelter. Not 10 minutes later I got a call from the vet’s office saying they had my little run away. Turns out the vet was on her way home for lunch and picked him up. While this was a really lucky twist of fate it was also SUPER embarrassing. The dog was supposed to be wearing a cone for 14 days. In our house the cone lasted all of about 15 minutes so not only did she know we lost him but also that we failed to listen to doctor’s orders.

In the end, we mostly called him Wiley but then after he looked at me a few times I realized he looked like someone familiar… Harry Potter fans will appreciate this–Dobby. The scrawny little pup reminded me of Dobby.

I could never get a great photo of him head on, but he had those same ears. He also never made that awful noise again, thankfully. I would have loved to get it on video but it just didn’t happen. Use your imagination!

Now for the inspiration… I have no idea when it will be ready, but I can tell you it is going to be amazing!

The super talented Lizzie of Love Your Way is going to be the mastermind behind the new look. If you aren’t following her blog, you should.

How have you all been?

 

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January 26, 2012

Meet the foster pup!

We’ve taken in yet another foster dog that was left at the pound. The shelter contacted the Golden Bone Rescue, who we’ve fostered with before, to say that they had a small dog and they wanted him out of there. When I was asked to foster, it was mentioned that the ladies at the shelter were not a fan of this dog which made me a little apprehensive. Any dogs that display aggressive, fearful, or obnoxious behaviors don’t have a long life span at the pound. But imagine if you will being put in a cold, strange environment with a ton of other barking dogs, you’d likely be aggressive, fearful and/or obnoxious too. Generally once the dogs are in a safe and calm environment, they are just fine. So, I’m a sucker, and I said sure. What was the alternative really?

This skinny little dog weighs all of ten pounds and I can feel just about all of his bones. He is scrappy and scrawny but as sweet as can be. Now, I will say, I may have figured out why they didn’t like him at the pound. He makes this amazing noise that is the mixture of Chewbacca and a Velociraptor. If you forget the noise a raptor makes, watch Jurassic Park. The noise though is so impressive I can’t even fault him for it.

Did I mention that he has a mohawk? A few people have asked me about fostering, is it hard to give them back? Do you get attached? We do get attached but we know we are a means to an end and we have never felt bad about giving a dog to a home that we know will love it to pieces. When you get a orphaned dog they have the saddest most distant look in their little eyes. They are essentially lost. My favorite part of the whole process is watching those eyes change from lost to happy, comfortable and safe. There is nothing better than coming home and seeing that little dog wag his tail and jump on you, thrilled to see you. Dogs are so amazingly forgiving, they don’t hold on to their pasts, they move forward and live in the moment. We could all learn something from these little pups.

Now that you’ve met, you should know he doesn’t have a name. As the foster parents we get the privilege of naming the little guy. So help us out! Here are some of the suggestions so far, and feel free to send us some more!

  • Scrappy
  • Scoop
  • Conner
  • Doug
  • Fritz
  • Spike
  • Yoda
  • Benson
  • Baxter
  • Rex
  • Buster
  • Bacon
  • Riley
  • Wiley
  • Jack
  • Nigel
  • Skip

What else?

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January 20, 2012

A little DIY for your Friday

In case you missed it, I had a guest post on A Paper Proposal this week! I got a little bit crafty with some of my favorite things… chalkboard paint, wine glasses, and burlap. Head on over and see the final product!

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January 18, 2012

We’re Walking for Life!

You know on the movies when wives spend a ton of money on shoes or shopping and their husbands get the credit card bill and freak out? Well, we have that similar situation. Except Kyle finds random print outs or gets emails– donation receipts and I hear, “What did you donate to NOW?!” I’m addicted. I can’t stop. But I consider it the best possible problem I could have. Minus that I also really like shoes… It doesn’t take much, a sweet little puppy face and we are fostering, a child with diabetes and we are spending our weekends fishing and crafting, a group of Mom’s who have children with cancer get to go on a shopping spree and I think, they’ll probably need champagne (Kyle doesn’t know about that one yet), or this…

All it took was this line…

Help the American Cancer Society create a world with

less cancer and more birthdays.

I was sold. Cancer affects so many lives and it is guaranteed to affect your life at some point whether that be a friend, a family member or even yourself. No one is safe, not the young, not the old, it doesn’t stay away from the otherwise healthy or even babies. Cancer is a major issue and if we can help do our part to create more birthdays, especially for the people we love, we’re going to do it! Right, Kyle?! He agrees, don’t worry.

We’ll be walking for 12 hours to represent the fact that cancer doesn’t stop or sleep, those 12 hours are from 6pm-6am. But it seems like a small sacrifice really. Our goal is to raise at least $1,500. If you’ve been touched by cancer we’d love for you to donate in someone’s honor or memory and we’ll walk for them too.

You can help support our team here. All donations are tax deductible. You may also want to see if there is a Relay for Life event in your area.

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