Green Wedding Planner

Important stuff, these weddings. Your life, your future depends on it. And, at least for women, its probably the most important day in your lives. You want to get it just right. Ok, so not all marraiges are gonna be fairytale stories, and some will end in acrimony and pain, not to mention at the lawyers' office. So why not make sure that at least some good comes out of you wedding right off the bat? As Hillary Clinton would say - From Day One!

I'm talking green weddings, as in eco-friendly, as in not do any harm to the environment just cause you're getting hitched up. Listed below are ways, big and small, to cut down on the carbon consumption (you can still eat cake). We'll be looking at green hotels and/or wedding halls for the wedding, reception and honeymoon, catering from organic restaurants (including organic beer and wine), eco-friendly wedding dresses, conflict-free diamonds for rings, recycled paper for invitations and other necessary paper products, minimizing carbon emssions from all the traveling, and carbon credits.

Before we get into this, you should know that this could increase the cost of your wedding, and might be more difficult to plan out. But I'd say its well worth the trouble.

Eco-friendly Weddings at Mount Magnolia Inn, Hot Springs, NC

Photo copyrights - Mount Magnolia Inn. First, the venue and location. This is probably the single most important thing you do to to reduce your carbon consumption. First, if the venue is a green business, it automatically cuts down on the amount of energy your entourage uses up, not to mention all the other things like water consumption and recycling. Second, if its an all-in-one location, with the wedding, reception and lodging all in the same establishment, that hugely reduces your 'wedding footprint'.

Third, if the location is such that you and your guests do not need to travel far, that further brings down the environmental cost of your wedding. So, I'm listing some green venues below which specialize in eco-friendly weddings, but I'd advise you to find one in or near your residence, if possible.

If that's not on the cards, then you need to compensate for the travel (for you and all your guests) by buying equivalent carbon credits. A good idea here would be to ask guests to buy carbon credits for you, instead of gifts. Who knows, if your family and friends really like you, you could be set up with enough carbon credits to pay for all the carbon emissions from the wedding and have enough left over to bankroll your carbon neutral vacations in the near future.

Here's the much awaited list of eco-friendly wedding venues/consultants/planners :-

Mount Magnolia Inn, NC: You can also relax with the knowledge that the inn serves mostly organic food, uses minimal chemicals and utilizes green practices wherever possible. Info: 204 Lawson Street Hot Springs, NC 28743; (828) 622-3543; www.mountainmagnoliainn.com/

Oahu, Hawaii GreenEvents: Honolulu vacations are pretty much the best thing there is in the US right now, and if you can combine a green wedding on the Oahu beaches with your honeymoon, well, ain't nothing to beat that. More info here.

Seaport Hotel, Boston: Seaport's new Green Wedding Package allows brides and grooms to honor their commitment to the environment while celebrating their commitment to each other. The package features an array of environmentally sensitive elements. Info: One Seaport Lane Boston, MA 02210; (617) 385-4000; www.seaportboston.com/

Green Vermont wedding: The event planners at Green Vermont Wedding will strive to help you create a wedding that compliments your taste and helps preserve our most precious natural resources. More info here.

Carolyn Verdi, Philadelphia: Carolyn is a green wedding consultant. If you're looking at a green wedding in Philly, she'll take care of everything. More info here.

Angelica Weihs, Los Angeles: Green wedding planner for Los Angeles. We recommend or find your eco-friendly location, your officiant, hip and green fashion designers and cosmeticians, organic cakes and sustainable favors, green hotels.. you name it. More info here.