greenweddingshoes.com, inhabitat.com, and treehugger.com.
Whether you opt for a wedding planner or plan to do it yourself, here are some smart - and sustainable - tips for the big day.
Great Green Gowns
Promising eternal love
before friends and family is
the crowning moment of any
wedding ceremony. Up your
green bona fides by saying
those vows in a dress that's
not only show stopping but
sustainable.
Clever green brides often
borrow a sentimental gown
Farfalla dress by Tara Lynn features
embroidered butterflies on a collage
of vintage lace above a hemp-silk
handkerchief hem skirt. Photo by Jay
Ericson.
from friends or family; reuse
a secondhand dress from
chic consignment shops or
online dress sites (oncewedcom, preownedwedding-
dresses.com, tradesy.com, for example) or Craigslist.
In San Anselmo, Shadows, a shop that has catered to brides and
bridal parties since 1985, where there is always a selection of vintage (1920s through 1950s) wedding dresses waiting to be scooped
up, most for under $800.
For custom gowns, however, Donaldson suggests commissioning one of hemp and silk from eco-fashion designer Tara Lynn
Bridal (taralynnbridal.com).
After the wedding, eco-brides can pass on their dresses to an
engaged friend or donate them to needy brides through websites
such as donatemyweddingdress.org.
View of the aisle at a "Green Wedding" at San Geronimo Golf Course.
Photo by Cindy De Channes.
lancio, an Aveda salon in San Rafael, Dandelion Eco Salon, and
Blondie's Organic Hair Salon in Corte Madera are just a few.
In her San Francisco Fox & Doll salon, Shana Astrachan offers both conventional and eco-friendly hair and makeup options
for the bride and her party and sees the bridal appointment as a
chance to find products that will support them and the environBride Michelle modeling hair and make-up by Fox & Doll Salon in San
Francisco. Photo by Colson Griffith.
ment well past the wedding day.
"It's not just about makeup for weddings; it's about not supporting businesses we shouldn't be supporting," she says. ""I offer
Bridal Beauty
products that are natural, organic, good for sensitive skin, non-
Lush locks and gorgeous makeup enhance any bridal blush.
aerosol, non-toxic, not wasteful in packaging and not tested on
And, while "no makeup is the greenest, not all is created equal,
animals."
either," Donaldson reveals. "Eco-moves would be to look for
makeup that is organic, doesn't contain chemicals and isn't tested
The Values-driven Venue
on animals."
How do you green a venue? Sometimes the work is done for
A number of salons in Marin offer a bride, her bridal party and
even her groom, eco-friendly ways to glow more beautifully. Bi-
you. Cavallo Point Lodge in Sausalito and Inn Marin in Novato,
for example, are both certified green venues that offer an all-inWINTER 2013 • FLOURISH
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