In short, even a lot of people who admired the commitment these couples made to living lightly on Mother Earth wouldn’t be caught dead in a ditch looking – or smelling – like them.

But times have changed. You don’t have to be a card-carrying hippie to care about the environment anymore. and you don’t have to completely reject both tradition and fashion to follow your convictions.


To start with, think about decorations that are consumable. For instance, the centerpiece on this reception table not only looks gorgeous, but feeds your guests at the same time. Bowls of fresh fruit, small platters of appetizers, pretty jugs or pitchers of beverages, candies, or even an attractive cake for the table’s dessert… any of these things will look fabulous, taste great, and save on your budget for fresh flowers and non-organic decorations.

Alternately, consider putting live plants in pretty pots on the tables for decoration.

Really consider how many paper goods you need… and forget about the rest.

Yes, you’ll need invitations and RSVP cards. You’ll need thank you cards of some sort. But think hard about whether you really need ceremony programs. Decide whether you would rather have your guests decide their own seating, eliminating the need for place cards. As for menus, doing without entirely, making only one per table to be shared, or setting up an attractive chalk board for the whole room are all viable alternatives to one at each place at each table.

Oh, and never forget that you can find invitations and all the rest printed on recycled paper.

Second hand doesn’t have to be second best. Maybe someone close to you has the most gorgeous wedding gown just hanging in her closet. Maybe you find a fabulous veil in a consignment shop. Perhaps your aunt has some serving pieces she’s ready to let go. You might even find the perfect ring pillow in a garage sale. Why let these wonderful things go to waste? Give them a home and a second chance.

Remember to check for natural fibers. Cotton, linen, silk, and wool are natural fibers. Rayon is a synthetic fiber made of natural materials. Nylon, polyester, acetate, and so on are not natural fibers by any definition. If you’re going green, synthetic fibers are not what you’re looking for… though if they’re being re-used I won’t tell anyone!

If you have leftovers left over, try to find a green way of disposing of them. In some cases, you may be able to donate leftover food to a local soup kitchen or homeless shelter. If your meal won’t meet the legal requirements, then set out Chinese takeout boxes and invite your guests to take some food home with them. Mr. Twistie and I did this one (though I wish I had thought of the boxes at the time!), and it was a big hit. In fact, we’d seriously overbought food for fear of people leaving hungry, and a couple of our friends lived on leftovers from our wedding for days afterwards.

Keep it real, my friends… but feel free to forget about patchouli and incense. Unless that’s your bag, man.

Have I mentioned lately that I am a 100% sucker for anything that is hand drawn or hand painted? Because it’s true. I am. And why not, when opting for handpainted wedding stationery results in awesome and amazing invitations, etc., like these?

Bees buzz along, birds sing a love song...

Handpainted table numbers are certainly a rarity

RSVP cards are an even nicer keepsake when they look this good

While these are all botanicals, Courtney Khail Stationery also accepts custom orders for handpainted wedding stationery so you can embellish your invites (or whatever) with electric guitars, a picture of where you and your love met, or pretty much anything else. You can work with Courtney to create a meaningful graphic that she will then paint on your wedding stationery so you can have something entirely unique! Love it!

But I still think simple paper fortune tellers make the best wedding programs, especially when done a bit cleverly, since they give wedding guests something not only to read, but also to do. (Even if it is just flipping paper.) Which really comes in handy during that inevitable pre-ceremony delay! Here are some from around the net:

Cute cut-outs on this one - simple paper can get pretty fancy!

Beautiful fortune teller wedding programs spotted on Delightfully Engaged

No time to DIY? Get custom cootie catchers from katskrafts on Etsy

For the DIY set, Ruffled has a fortune teller wedding program template that brides and grooms can download and customize with everything from details about the couple and ceremony to actual fortunes or other conversation starts, though I think it would be sweet to see hand-drawn wedding program cootie catchers. Er, for those who either are having smaller weddings or feel inclined to practice their pretty script on 150 of the things, that is.

Now, you don’t have to wait until the actual big day to have some serious wedding photography fun. For the hardcore wedding photography enthusiast, there’s the Chinese practice of taking insane amounts of wedding photos way before the actual wedding. And for the less dedicated among us, there are always engagement photo shoots and photo save-the-dates and photo wedding invitations. Which is what Toni shared with me just the other day, and she was kind enough to say I could share with you. (Uh, in case you missed it, our very own Toni is engaged, so show her some love!)

This is the back

And this is the front (or is that the other way around...)

I love ‘em, don’t you?! Toni’s wedding invitation makes me wish The Beard and I had done something with photos of ourselves – even our postcard save-the-dates featured a vintage photo with a dour bride and groom instead of a snapshot of us. Oh, well! That’s why I live vicariously through you lovelies and through all the research I do for this blog. Speaking of, to kick start Wedding Photography Week, I though I’d make a list of some of my favorite posts about wedding photography here at Manolo for the Brides for those who may have missed them the first go around.

• A link to a great instructional site for DIY wedding photos
• Fun wedding photos to take as a group
• Wedding photography etiquette for guests
• Some of the best wedding photos around
• Just some brides on bikes!
• How about those artsy-fartsy wedding photos?
• Handling the taller bride and shorter groom “problem”
• On being yourself in your wedding photos

Enjoy! (P.S. – I may extend Wedding Photography Week into two weeks, just because there’s plenty to talk about! P.P.S. – Want to share your wedding photos or wedding photos you’ve taken? Email me the best ones, and I’ll post them!)

Wedding invites at David's? Well, huh.

And they’re none too shabby, with plenty of fun patterns – including monograms – and lots of color choices. The main omission in their stock of invites seems to be embellishments – there are ribbons, but none of the little string ties and leaves and lace and pockets and charms that are still quite popular. Which I used to love, actually. But the older I get, the more I seem to like simple one-sheet wedding invitations with, say, letterpress printing or something that looks like it. One-sheet invites are easier to turn into keepsakes if you want to scrapbook them, and similarly easier to recycle if you’d rather not clutter up the works with a whole lot of paper.

So, you tell me: Did you know David’s Bridal carries wedding invitations now? Would you consider (or have considered) shopping at a chain for your wedding invitations?

This one. It’s a freakin’ papercraft record player, for goodness’ sake! I’m less impressed that it kind of plays an original song written by the couple – Karen Sandler and Mike Tarantino – who sent it out than I am that you can even make a record player out of paper. That someone even conceived of this idea in the first place, and then someone – that would be designer Kelli Anderson who talks more about the whole project on her website – took that idea and rolled with it. Seriously. A papercraft record player interactive wedding invitation. Seriously… Doesn’t that just beat all?

What it is: A wedding invitation designed by Nuage Mulberry Digital Art, known for its unique custom handmade wedding invitations that are more affordable than most. What it looks like, to me anyway: Skin, stretched and dried. Not that there’s anything wrong with that if it’s a look you love! I’m just not loving it. To be fair, I do love just about everything else that comes out of Nuage Mulberry Digital Art. Just not this particular invite.

It’s pretty obvious where my opinion falls on the spectrum. What do you think? Am I judging this one wedding invitation too harshly? Am I missing the point? Or is there something of the amateur anthropodermic bibliopegy about this one?

Now, paper filigree is new to me, and maybe to you, too. According to Wikipedia, “paper filigree is an art form that involves the use of strips of paper that are rolled, shaped, and glued together to create decorative designs. The paper is wound around a quill to create a basic coil shape. The paper is glued at the tip and the coil shaped, these shaped coils are arranged to form flowers, leaves, and various ornamental patterns similar to ironwork.” Zow! Sounds like one of those hobbies that’s time consuming but produces an amazing finished product.

And what a nice way to display a marriage certificate – it’s certainly a lot nicer than the one issued by the state. I have one of those, and it lives in my fire safe.

You can see more of Ann’s quilled marriage certificates in this little Flickr set – and from what she writers, it looks like she’s in the market for commissions. So if you love what you see, get in touch with her!

P.S. – Don’t forget to enter the yummiest giveaway yet!

And not too pricey, either, when you compare it to the cost of other save-the-dates if you print the cards yourself. This could even make a fun wedding invitation for a couple who doesn’t take themselves too seriously!

Here’s a save-the-date that your guests will want to frame – or at least stick to the wall with that blue gummy stuff. It includes space for a photo and all your wedding day details. Do your guests really want a poster-sized save-the-date? Who knows, but think about how cute it would look in your house once you’re wed.

If a poster seems like a little much but you want the same look, how about a promotional postcard save-the-date? You can let your personalities take center stage and feel just a little famous with these much more manageable pieces of pre-wedding stationery.

Of course, not everyone who really wants to go to your nuptials can make the cut! Be sure that your wedding is invite-only with these awesome save-the-date tickets that will keep the riffraff out of your reception.

P.S. – Happy birthday to me! It’s the first anniversary of my 30th birthday!

P.P.S. – Angela of Your Fairy Tale Wedding wrote to tell me about her CHRISTMAS WEDDING DRESS GIVEAWAY. In her own words: “I will be giving away a free wedding dress for Christmas! Any Bride who purchases her dress between October 1st and December 24th will automatically be entered into a drawing to get their dress for FREE! If you name is drawn your money will be refunded and you will get your dress, shipping and all n…o charge. I am going to be asking one of my past brides to be in charge of drawing so if you are a past bride and you are interested in taking on this responsibility please let me know!”