I must admit, I am ever so slightly jealous of this Chicago wedding. It has more of a green thumb then I could ever hope to muster and the result is a delightfully eclectic soirée in Chicago all caught on film by Lark Photography. The bride and groom wanted to create a day that was not only a reflection of their love and commitment but environmentally conscious (like really, really conscious) to boot and all hand-crafted, sourced, DIY’ed. Impressed? We are too! See the whole eco-friendly shindig in the gallery.
Click here to see the entire image gallery!
From the Bride… Environmentalism + social justice + a good time. How to fit them all into one day? From the day we started planning our wedding, to the day before David broke the glass, we kept on scheming up new ways to do things. Everything was DIY. We printed the invites, painted the jars, folded the signs, sewed the programs, cooked up the favors, and on.
Guests only received one beverage glass, a mason jar, the whole afternoon, table scraps were composted, and no cut flowers were used. Nearly everything for our day was sourced in a socially responsible manner and forgoing a wedding cake for our 350 guest-count wedding allowed us to donate to some our favorite causes, plus no one missed the cake with the delicious root beer floats they had for dessert!
We tried to make sure that everything was reusable. Guests filled their one beverage jar at the granola station for a snack on the way home. Our centerpieces, locally grown potted plants and artifacts from the venue, Architectural Artifacts – an architectural salvage store in Chicago, were free for the taking (well, not the artifacts, just the plants). Our chuppah poles were foraged wood that was returned to the forest and Eli’s parents sewed the fabric for their own wedding 30+ years ago, and our programs were crafted from fast-growing renewable trees. We scoured Etsy for artisan’s whose work fit our vision and put our friends’ talents to use; one of our friends designed our tree logo and painted our ketubah, another, a torah scribe, wrote the text.
We tried (and only somewhat succeeded) in incentivizing our guests to arrive in a carbon neutral manner. The Eli-Dave Transport Challenge (EDTC) offered prizes like fair-trade chocolate or a tree planted in one’s name for taking carbon-cutting measures or not using a car all weekend. We even left the wedding on Chicago’s train, the El!
Wedding Venue: Architectural Artifacts / Wedding Photography: Lark Photography / Event Planning and Styling: Anticipation Events / Videography: I Do Films / Band: Stu Hirsch Orchestra / Catering: Karyn’s / Ice Cream: George’s Ice Cream and Sweets / Service Staff: Service Is Us / Wedding Invitations: The Bride & Groom / Centerpiece Bicycles: Ten Thousand Villages
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I love this wedding so much! Incredible details!
In love with the ice cream bar!
This is so sweet in its thoughtfulness! Any info on the sources for the dress and the boutonnieres/bouquet?
I love this wedding and the ethics going with it!
Thanks for your lovely comments!
The dress was from the Bridal Garden in New York, which is a non-profit used and sample sale bridal shop - http://www.bridalgarden.org/ . It's a Lela Rose gown.
The flowers were made by onehappygirl on etsy: http://www.etsy.com/shop/onehappygirl?ref=pr_shop_more
I would highly recommend her!
Also, the invitations were actually made by invitesite.com, and we printed and assembled them ourselves.
-Eli (the bride)
Thanks for the info, Eli--and congratulations, not only on your marriage but also on working so hard to have it honor the earth!
I love the piece used to display your granola/candy bar. Is it something you purchased or was it brought in from your caterer? Your wedding is gorgeous and so wonderfully eco-friendly!
I want that ice cream! So great! Love the eco friendly theme. My sister would die for a wedding like this
Thanks, Stellaluna! The candy display was actually a piece on sale at the venue, Architectural Artifacts, which is an architectural salvage store in addition to a venue. They let us use their items as decor, so we found the perfect piece to use for the granola/candy station.
What a charming wedding, love the plants, great idea