Paper Flowers

Megan and Ian celebrated their gorgeously creative wedding at the Inn of the Seventh Ray yesterday. Megan's mom meticulously created the centerpieces - 4 hours per rose, 6 or seven roses in each coffee brown reclaimed wood container, is that about 300 hours of flower making? I was blown away also as they are made from round coffee filters, then hand painted and curled... read more

Indian Wedding Bliss

Eco conscious photographer Jihan Abdalla shot Caitlin and Vikrant's wedding last week in Delhi, India. Typical Indian weddings usually last 4-5 days, but they were able to condense theirs into 3 days, and Jihan reports that there wasn't a dull moment.




What I love about Indian weddings are their amazing color schemes and the many meaningful and fun rituals integrated before, after and during the wedding. Jihan's blog

Vibrant green and blissful orange

Hand made paper or seeded paper? Seeded paper, planted into the garden often does not grow, but still it's cute gesture. paper can be made from almost any fiber, from rags to elephant poo..

Sonja and Joe got married on a warm November evening in Southern California. I never knew how amazing vibrant green and orange can look together. Sonia's inspiration were the orange almond sweets from her home country Brazil.



Organic beer and champagne keep pesticides out of the soil and ground water.


No organic flowers available? Go local, support your community and save the environment from dizzying transport fumes.

Green is also inspiring and educational - ask your location what powers their lighting, what do they spray into the botanics, where do they toss their waste? If you care, they'll (have to) care.


For favors or decor, be inspired by nature. Stones are great keep sakes: people hold pebbles in their hands during the ceremony, put all their great wishes "into" it and the couple takes home a powerful bowl of super vibes.

Toys for the Groom

What's so cool about green weddings is that the groom and his gang also enjoy the whole process. There's so much to get involved with: researching or brewing his own beer, visiting an organic farm and mounting a mustang on the way, checking the scientific back ground of global warming and why Mc Donalds and friends have a big part in it... and then play with tractors on the wedding grounds. (or with ancient fire engines, wine presses, dolphins...)
(Photo: Jihan Abdalla, Los Angeles)

Talking about vineyards...

Jihan Abdalla, one of my favorite photographers in Los Angeles, photographed the very special wedding of Wendy and Greg at the San Ysidro Ranch in Santa Barbara, which was all about and around wines.


Save the dates, RSVP's, invitations and place cards and personalized labels on wine bottles were playful variations of the wine theme - of course the wine served with dinner was from the finest.

We don't have to be wine affectionados though to appreciate the creative recycling corks for place cards idea.

Kiley Walker, a wedding planner colleague in Santa Barbara tells wonderful tales of Rachel Baker, owner of Rock Paper Scissors Design. Rachel designed the save-the-dates in a mini-crate, which held an engraved cork with the couple's logo, wedding date and location. The tri-fold invite explained the history of the wedding venue and of the varietal (the couple) - and the bottle itself was part of the opening act.

Eclectic, creative, earthy fun.

Alicia and Ryan celebrated their wedding in a local vineyard Orange County, CA in September 2008.

The recycled paper invitations from Invitesite in Pasadena were DIY - at least the assembly was.


The bridesmaids wore individual outfits; comfortable, fun shoes and bridesmaids dresses from JCrew, made of silk taffeta.
The bouquets were made by the bridesmaids themselves from bunches of flowers bought at a local organic nursery (California Organic Flowers). After the ceremony, the bridesmaids put their bouquets in glass vases on the tables to serve as decoration.

Alicia's dress from Romona Keveza was made of Dupioni silk, a natural fiber. It will be altered and dyed to be worn again.


Vegetarian hors d'oeuvres, better for the environment, healthier for the guests. All of the food was from a local caterer who bought organic and local whenever possible. The magical reception site, under a canopy of trees was lit by paper lanterns hung in the branches.


Alicia and Ryan employed two local bands, a string trio that played at the ceremony and a seven-piece jazz band. Fabulous!
Wedding favors were too much clutter for the couple so they donated money to charity in their guests' names and created a sign to let them know.

Instead of cake, which would have required an extra cutting fee per slice, more utensils and plates, etc., they opted for cupcake trees as the centerpiece at each table. This also cut down the need for centerpieces. They used a local bakery and served lemon and chocolate cupcakes. Every single cupcake was eaten.

The groomsmen with that wonderful green bamboo forest behind them! A fabulous natural backdrop makes every picture look wonderful and saves a lot of money on decorations.

Ryan and Alicia enjoyed a relaxed wedding, and everybody loved their green ideas. And then they were walking through one of the many green pathways at the winery into the sunset...