Patricia Gibbons from Patricia Gibbons Floral Design and Dina Balatti from Bella Celebrations became intrigued by BRO's new Green Corner. They got together to figure out how wedding professionals can do their part. Here are their results.

Flower arrangements created by Pat Gibbons.

When Dina and I first started researching organic weddings, we were amazed at the amount of information that was available. The web is a great source of information, as are magazines and books; Organic Weddings is one of them.

While there are many aspects to planning an organic wedding, there is one common theme: Recycle, Re-use, and Reduce. With this in mind, we came up with the following helpful tips for couples thinking about a green wedding.

Wedding Consultants
With their vast knowledge and wide array of resources, professional wedding consultants can be of great help in planning a green wedding. As more and more wedding vendors become involved in organic weddings, it can be difficult to sort through all of the options. Consultants offer a variety of packages: everything from full service wedding coordination, to hourly consulting, and basic wedding day service. Most consultants who provide helpful support for planning an earth-friendly wedding also can assist with traditional wedding matters.

Venues
Choosing a location for your ceremony and reception is one of the most, if not the most, difficult choice a couple can make regarding the wedding. In selecting any location, there are some eco-friendly and community-minded tips to keep in mind:

• When selecting venues, ask the site coordinator about such things as whether recycling containers are provided and what bug and pest deterrents are used.

• Steer away from sites that use chemical pesticides for their lawns and gardens.

• While it may not always be feasible to have the ceremony and reception in the same location, arranging for group shuttles or busses will help your guests tremendously, and will cut down on air pollution.
  
  Think about different types of wedding sites that respect the earth and our communities:

• Historic buildings – many times these are owned and maintained by non-profit organizations. The Headlands Institute for the Arts in Sausalito is a charming, rustic setting for a beach, meadow, or forest wedding, with a funky restored barracks for a truly unique reception site. Falkirk Community Center in San Rafael offers both indoor and outdoor sites for ceremonies and receptions.

• Museums or other facilities belonging to non-profit organizations. Support the arts while celebrating your new life together. Many art galleries, from small and intimate to large and elegant, have opened their doors to wedding ceremonies and receptions.

• A botanical garden or public park is a lovely choice for an outdoor wedding. U.C. Berkeley's Botanical Garden is a popular choice for East Bay couples. Golden Gate Park in San Francisco offers numerous gardens and sites in which to exchange vows, including Fuchsia Dell and the Tulip Garden, with its windmill.

Wedding Rings and Jewelry

• There is a wide array of jewelry from small local designers who use traditional ways of crafting gold bands, and jewelers who make sure that diamonds are fair-traded.

• Vintage jewelry also can be used, with stones re-set into beautiful tiaras, earrings, and other custom pieces. Shadows in San Anselmo carries a line of vintage accessories and estate jewelry.

• Check out estate sales at local auction houses and antique stores--and don't forget Craig's list--for bargains and inspiration.
   

Gowns
Obviously budget plays a large role in the selection of a wedding gown, but many alternatives exist for all budget levels:

• Support local designers who will work with you and make suggestions on natural materials. Silk is a popular choice.

• Sample gowns or discontinued styles are sometimes sold at trunk sales and end-of-year sales.

• Wedding gowns and bridesmaids dresses can be purchased or sold on eBay.

• After the wedding, a keepsake can be made by using the fabric for a quilt, wall hanging, or even a christening outfit.

• Consider wearing or redesigning your mother's or grandmother's dress – I have seen one dress pass through four generations!

Caterers
When selecting a caterer, try to find one who either features organic ingredients, or one who can provide a certain number of organic menu items for you. In Northern California there is an abundance of wonderful locally grown produce, dairy products, and other items available year round. Choosing food that is grown or raised locally, using sustainable growing practices, helps to support small and mid-size businesses in our economy.

Blue Heron Catering in Oakland is one of them. This caterer emphasizes products from small artisan sources: suppliers who care about sustainable and green practices. Blue Heron recently catered a wedding for a couple who were members of the Slow Food movement. They requested specific purveyors, such as James Ranch for the lamb, Liberty Ranch duck, and Strauss Family Creamery for the dairy, and Blue Heron was happy to accommodate them. Cooking for Couples features a recipe from this event

A couple of years ago, Rising Sun Catering switched to all-sustainable menus; their current selections are exclusively from local growers and vendors.

More and more caterers are increasing their "green" awareness and are able to provide food and services that reflect a concern for the well-being of our environment. Most ingredients are now available as organic, and many caterers will be happy to provide organic food for your reception, usually for an additional charge. Feel free to ask you caterer about their food sources, and what their policy is regarding leftover food and their recycling practices.

If you decide to keep the extra food for yourselves, ask if you need to provide containers to store the leftovers. A community-minded alternative is to donate leftover food to homeless shelters or food banks. Food Runners is a volunteer organization dedicated to alleviating hunger in San Francisco. Food Runners accomplishes this by offering businesses the service of picking up their excess perishable and prepared food and delivering it to shelters and neighborhood programs that feed the hungry.

Bakers
Traditional wedding cakes often are made with white flour, refined sugars, and dairy products, but many bakers will work with you to incorporate local and organic ingredients. A wedding cake can be made with all organic products or just an inclusion of organic berries. Maralyn Tabatsky from Have Your Cake will even bake a delicious vegan chocolate wedding cake, and Debbie Caracciolo-Smith, from Not Just Cheesecakes, is creating a vegan cake for an Indian wedding in the fall.

Flowers
Flowers are such an important part of the day, and there are several ways of bringing the organic or "green" theme to decorating. Many of my clients want to bring organic elements into the designs, incorporating flowers, fruits, and even vegetables. Certain flowers don't need pesticides to grow; lavender, herbs, grasses, and berries add interesting texture to floral arrangements.

Local growers are great sources for these plant materials. Purchasing from them supports our local agricultural ventures. I've found Monterey Market in Berkeley wonderful both for their products and their information. There are many markets of this type in the Bay Area. Some helpful tips:

• Some churches have multiple services during the day, and brides can coordinate colors, or pick a neutral color, and share the flowers for the ceremonies.

• Flower arrangements can be designed to be brought to the reception site and used on the buffet tables or to decorate an appropriate place. I've also designed centerpieces that can be used as decoration and given to guests for favors at the end of the evening.

• After the reception the flowers can be donated to hospitals, hospices, and nursing homes.

Photography
The use of digital cameras for at least some of the photography eliminates the need for film and reduces the use of chemicals for film development. Trish, from Amber Rose Photography in Novato, recently photographed a wedding for a couple who grows organic pears. She incorporated the organic product theme into all aspects of the wedding. Favors were packets of forget-me-not seeds.

In the years since the introduction of digital cameras for wedding photography, most photographers in the Bay Area have included the digital option. Some photographers use both digital and film.

Invitations
Save-the-date cards and wedding invitations set the tone for your wedding and let guests learn what to expect at your celebration. Ceremony programs and reception menus continue the theme. Remember to request recycled, recyclable, or tree-free paper and soy-based inks, wherever possible.

Gifts - for the wedding party and wedding guests
Gone are the days of artificially dyed Jordan almonds wrapped in tulle. Many couples are choosing to give their wedding party and guests gifts that are symbolic of their earth-friendly attitudes. Most "green" retailers and E-tailers can help you make appropriate choices of gifts for all your guests:

• Viva Terra is inspired by their dedication to living in harmony with nature--for a healthier life now and for future generations. All of their products reflect a commitment to ecology and elegance and to organic, sustainable sources. Their products are earth and people friendly goods, handcrafted by artisans.

• Natural Pages offer a directory of listings for educational centers, spiritual centers, spas, and retreat centers, environmental consultants, green building services, natural pet care, natural pest control, lawn and garden supplies, and more.

• Eco Express Gifts creates natural and organic gifts that are unique, memorable, and high quality. You can select beautiful gifts that also support the environment. They offer a wide assortment of earth friendly gourmet, spa, and rainforest items which are fun and come attractively packaged. Tamar Raphael of Eco Express tells us that one of their recent favorites is a bridesmaid's gift bag containing natural spa essentials.

• Dennis from "Coco Delice" uses local and organic products as much as possible and recycled paper for his packaging. He is now in the process of creating organic chocolate.

Registries
Everyone loves to receive gifts, but many traditional gift registries receive mixed reviews. Today, with so many older couples getting married or remarried, many already have established households. Several alternative registries have been created to address this issue, as well as to help serve the world community:

• The I Do Foundation"s Donation Registry. The I Do Foundation was created in 2000 by a group of nonprofit leaders dedicated to developing new avenues of support for charitable organizations. Just like a gift registry, a Donation Registry informs your guests about your charitable preferences and guides their giving. When you create a Donation Registry, you may suggest a specific number of donation gifts, or you may allow any or all of your guests to make donations freely. You can specify a certain dollar amount for each donation, or allow your guests to choose the amount of their gifts.

• The Knot's Create-a Gift Registry uses American Express Gift Cheques as a way to let your guests give you cash for purchases of your choice. Essentially, an American Express Gift Cheque is a fancy--and more polite--way to give cold, hard cash. Gift Cheques can be used anywhere for anything, wherever American Express Travelers Cheques are accepted. Think about saving for a down payment on a house or saving toward that eco-adventure honeymoon.

• Couples also can register with such eco-friendly retailers such as Gaiam and Green Feet

A last word on registries: if you do opt for a more traditional gift registry through one of the large national retailers, opt to forego the gift-wrapping.