Green Wedding tips

One of my recent undertakings has been to get the word out and see what kind of interest I can generate in having a "Green Wedding Showcase" here in Portland. Think the "Green Brides Guide to Planning the Perfect Wedding" or something similiar. In my quest to find affordable, fun solutions that will assist in planning a sustainable wedding, I have included some basic tips below:

For gorgeous cakes with no waste try "Edible Flowers":

If you can't pick the flowers the day of the wedding, store them, exceptfor chicory, on plates in your fridge with a bit of water.ChicoryThese pale lavender-blue daisy-like flowers have very fragile petals,and grow almost directly off of the main stems.

You can pick entire stems a day in advance if needed, and store them in water. Pick them off the main stem carefully just before placing on the cake. They open around noon. Spicy bitter taste.

Lavender: Even if the lavender blooms aren't opened, the un-bloomed bud clusterslook like purple-blue braid, making an attractive edging or accent. Perfumed taste.

Nasturtium: These come in all warm colors from cream to burgundy, the most commonbeing orange and yellow. Peppery taste.

Oregano: Clusters of tiny pink flowers clusters on burgundy stems.

Marjoram: is the same, only less pink. Spicy taste.

Pansy: has a wide range of colors, from purple and yellow; to pink, darkrose and purple; to midnight blue. Fragile petals, so don't pick them and dump them in a bag, or they'll get crushed. Semi-sweet taste.

Rose: Wide range of colors, mostly in the warm spectrum; use buds for atraditional look, and watch for aphids. Mildly sweet taste.

* When using edible flowers, use only flowers that have been organically grown, unsprayed and not growing by a roadside.

Green Ways to cut wedding costs:

* Select a venue where you can have both the ceremony and the reception.
* Choose only in season flowers and, if possible, grow some or all of the flowers yourself or have friends and/or family plant flowers for you. In order to save even more money, you can buy flowerd wholesale and rent a book from the library on flower arranging in order to do the arrangements yourself.
*Save on wedding attire by renting, wearing heirloom wedding clothes, buying secondhand or buying clothes at sales at bridal fairs (Check newspapers).
*For wedding favors, give each guest a Haiku or special message hand printed on a piece of recycled paper. Structurally, a haiku poem usually consists of three lines of five,seven, and five syllables respectively. It can describe a moment in nature or capture the feeling of your special day.