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There were an estimated 37,130+ weddings in the San Francisco Bay Area last year. Chances are, you’ve got a few invitations and save-the-date magnets for the current wedding season stuck to your refrigerator door right now, and you may have noticed one or two of them with a common theme: they’re green weddings, one of the biggest trend in weddings this season and for the foreseeable future.
What exactly is a green wedding and what’s expected of you as a green wedding guest? Here are three tips for green wedding etiquette to get you through this year’s wedding season.
What is a Green Wedding?
A green wedding has two goals: to cut down on spending for the bridal couple and to cut down on waste and impact on the environment. Considering the average San Francisco wedding will cost upwards of $42,000 in 2009 and generate a sizeable amount of waste headed straight for the landfill in just a few hours, even the smallest effort to green up the process can have a considerable impact. It could mean fewer guests, organic or locally grown food, a no-gift-wrap policy, or it could just mean the color green will be featured prominently in the bridal decorations. The term is so broad that the reality of the event will vary widely from couple to couple.
Green Wedding Etiquette Tip #1: Common Courtesy
The first and most obvious green wedding etiquette tip is common sense: if you’re a smoker at a green wedding and simply can’t drop the habit for a few hours, then make sure to take your smoke far, far away from the other guests. This means no smoking in common areas or near anyone else if it’s an outdoor wedding. If you’re a girl who loves her aerosol hairspray or is big on the perfumes, you’re going to make your life and everyone else’s a lot easier if you tone it down for the day. The fewer scents you bring to the party, the less likely you’ll disrupt someone else’s experience or provoke an allergy attack in an elderly guest.
Green Wedding Etiquette Tip #2: Give Green
Most newlyweds register extensively for the exact gifts they want, so you can guarantee that your gift makes its way into their new home (as opposed to the re-gift pile, or worse, the trash) by picking something they’ve asked for. But if you want to give something more personal, you can respect their green wedding theme by getting their favorite artist to paint something just for them or choosing a gift from a local craftsperson using eco-friendly materials. Of course, there’s nothing greener than money.
Green Wedding Etiquette Tip #3: Communicate
If you have any questions about what the bride is hoping to achieve at her green wedding, either the bride herself or her maid of honor will likely be more than happy to fill you in on the details. If it’s important enough to make it apparent on the wedding invitations, then it’s important enough for you to make the effort. Your green wedding etiquette could be the best gift for the newlyweds.
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Comments
These are great tips and I am so glad to see the Examiner supporting green weddings. Couples can find hundreds of tips and tricks for going green and for saving money on their wedding with The Green Bride Guide
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