Amber & Derek were married October 17th at Plymouth Congregational Church in Grand Rapids followed by a reception at the beautiful Fredrick Meijer Gardens. Amber shared her huge list of all the eco-conscious choices she made when planning and I thought I’d share it with you at the end of this post. Amber and Derek are so much fun to be around, they are both kids at heart who love to laugh and the entire day was filled with joy. Amber was just radiantly smiling all day long. 
Ken and I had such a great time we felt more like guests than the hired “help” and even ran into my old boss (which was a good thing). We felt right at home with this crowd and so happy to be a part of the celebration.
lol!
Before the ceremony, we hung out at the playground of Amber’s elementray school for some fun times on the monkey bars and these are my fave shots of the day!
no idea really…we just found it in the closet and thought i’d be cool…:)
I loved her streaming ribbons in place of a veil……
Tofu + Bacon = Love
Amber’s sister set up a photobooth for the guestbook and brought silly hats…their guests loved it!
Thanks for the inspiration Amber!!!
All of the paper products for the wedding (invitations, programs, placecards, signs) were made using recycled paper and cardstock that we ordered in one large bulk purchase to save on shipping.
The guestbook was made of recycled paper and bamboo, and it is absolutely gorgeous!
My engagement ring was my great-grandmother’s, so no conflict diamonds or ecologically unsound mining practices for us! Derek’s engagement ring was titanium, which has a much lower impact than gold mining. My wedding band was made by Green Oro, a company that only uses recycled metals and sustainable practices, while Derek’s was a combination of titanium and rosewood made to his design by an etsy seller. I love how it blends natural materials with modern ones, and we’re both so happy with them, even if people keep telling us they don’t match but I happen to think that they do, in spirit if not in design.
We asked the female members of the bridal party to pick their clothing in any of three colors and to find something they liked well enough to wear again. And I will definitely find a way to wear my awesome green shoes again, they are so comfy! I’m still debating what to do with the ribbons from my hairpiece, but I’m sure they’ll find their way into some crafty project or another.
I gave my ladies wraps from Nimli, which sources only environmentally sustainable and worker friendly products. I also gave them reusable totes and some organic foot balm for dancing recovery purposes.
Derek gave his gang individualized cuff links made from recycled antique typewriter keys that we found on etsy.
The decorations were made as greenly as possible. All of the vases and cake stands were made from Goodwill and Salvation Army finds which I collected over the past year (the cake stands were mostly plates and fun
candlesticks/vases/bowls/etc that we glued together).
While we kept a couple for nostalgia’s sake, most found their way right back to Goodwill after the wedding for someone else to use. The votive holders and many of the candles were reused from a previous function and will undoubtedly be used again.
The flowers were done by Amy Albert of Country Blossoms and were absolutely gorgeous. She made the bouquets and boutonnierres, but we arranged the centerpieces ourselves and added a few more ornamental grasses and flowers
from my parents’ gardens. I’m so happy everything was locally grown and seasonal!
We did wind up creating a couple of “traditional” registries but we also made sure to highlight the charitable registries on our wedding web page. We encouraged our guests to donate through Changing the Present rather than giving us a tangible thing, and we were so happy to see that many chose to do so. We registered for a couple of environmental causes (Sierra Club and Carbonfund) as well as an organization that buys books for impoverished children who might otherwise never have a book of their very own. Derek and I both taught reading classes to children in Chicago and northern Indiana for a while, so that was a cause near and dear to our hearts and it was great to see people making donations in our honor. We’re still plan on totaling up the number of guests who traveled long distances to be with us that day and will make our own donation to Carbonfund to help offset their travel once we have the final numbers.
