Greening Your Wedding: Think Light

Daylight, that is. God supplies us plenty of lighting through the sun - especially during the traditional wedding seasons of the spring and fall. Make use of it.

• Plan a garden wedding
• Plan a beach wedding
• Get married by the lake or river
• Rent a hall during daylight hours with ample windows so that a minimum of lights are required

Finding a location or facility that works in this way is not as hard as it may seem. I know a church whose north facing back wall of the sanctuary is mostly glass, looking out onto their own private garden. This facility rarely needs general lighting during daylight hours.

Of course, there is nothing like an outdoor wedding for beauty and unless the wedding or reception is held in the evening, there is no need for lights. Instead, time your ceremony so that the two of you are literally riding off 'into the sunset' on your departure. It is a picture perfect way to complete the public celebration of your wedding and begin your private celebration.

Backyard Wedding Plans Save Green and Are Green

Hollywood has long extolled the virtues of backyard weddings. Don't believe me? Go rent copies of the movie Father of the Bride or Thirteen Going on Thirty, to name just a couple that come to mind. But did you know that a backyard wedding can save you money (or at least make certain that you get the most out of your money) and help the environment?

Let's tackle the second one first. The backyard wedding can help the environment because:

• When family and friends already live close-by a backyard wedding minimizes the need for people to drive, saving gas and congestion on the roads.
• Since backyard weddings are easier to mount during daylight hours of the long spring and summer days, less electricity is used.
• Most backyard weddings hold both the reception and the ceremony in the same area saving the need for extra driving.
• Garden weddings make use of the beauty of nature the owner has cultivated for their enjoyment anyway - or they bring in plants to landscape the area, creating a natural landscape that can be enjoyed and will create new oxygen for years to come.

A backyard nuptial celebration can save money for the new couple because:

• No venue rental.
• Usually less need for flowers to dress up the grounds.
• No need to hire wedding car - except, perhaps, for the 'get-away'.
• Decoration (landscaping) can be done by family and friends months before the event (depending on location).

Is your backyard not "nice enough" for a wedding? Dress it up. Spend some of the money that would otherwise be spent on venue rental to landscape the yard. If the yard is Mom or Dad's they might even be willing to spend a little more on landscaping or a gazebo for the event since they will have it to enjoy for a long time afterwards - a place you can always come back to to relive that glorious garden wedding day!

Tips for Creating Your Backyard Wedding

Late last week I promised I'd provide some tips on how to create a backyard wedding setting. I was intending to do that this past Saturday but... life happened. So here we are. A little late, but the info is coming just the same.

One note before we get started: Before anyone sets out to create a backyard wedding setting they need to take the time to think two things through: First they need to think, very specifically, about exactly what type of garden wedding they want whether it's calla lily themed, Victorian, butterfly, bird (very popular this year), flamingo, or something else. The danger of not taking the time to think it through is that you will end up with a very vague kind of garden wedding - in other words, a nice wedding in a nice backyard. And that is probably not exactly everything you were dreaming of.

Secondly, and this follows closely with the first. Once a bride has considered what she'd like then she has to consider not only what she can afford, but how much she needs to create an effective theme. In other words, is a butterfly wedding just that if the only butterflies present are in the brides hair? How much do you need to create the image you are looking for? Ultimately the answer to that question is up to the bride - though nearly everyone is likely to have an opinion.

So, these ideas for creating a backyard wedding are more generalized. It's up to the bridal party to find a way to make them work in the theme and yard available.

• Take most of the money you would have spent on flowers from a florist to decorate your wedding and spend it instead at a nursery on live plants. This way you can create an oasis that you will be able to enjoy for years to come. Just remember, to choose plants that are either highly likely to be in bloom on your wedding date or that are so decorative that blooming is not necessary.
• Using the money you would have spent on renting another location, build a gazebo, a wedding arch, or a covered path.
• Save money by having a work party to shape the garden in your backyard. Have friends that can bring tools and work gloves. You provide the rest. Have the entire plan mapped out in advance. Have plenty of music and refreshments to make it a fun day as your entire party gets to see your wedding venue take shape in front of your eyes.
• Have a shopping party with some of your closest shopping companions to search for the accent pieces you need. Maybe it's as simple as a butterfly themed gazing ball, maybe you'll want colorful fabric butterflies to affix to the wedding gazebo. Maybe you want live butterflies to release at the end of the ceremony (check local ordinances).
• Of course, choose a wedding favor that will serve as both additional decor for your wedding and serve as a visual reminder of your special day. For example, a bride choosing a calla lily wedding might choose a beautiful, yet practical, favors like a calla lily bookmark, a glass calla lily themed coaster, or a calla lily bottle stopper (Hint: getting a mixture of all three so that your guests can make a choice and or trade with one another raises your chances that your favors will be kept and treasured).
• Be sure to have covered area to accommodate your wedding party in the event that the weather doesn't cooperate and to display your wedding cake (cakes and heat don't get along very well). There are any number of ways to accomplish this, but the simple option is to rent a tent for the wedding.

Creating a backyard wedding venue is a great opportunity, not only to personalize your wedding but to give you and your family something tangible to keep and enjoy for years after your wedding day.

Benefits of Backyard Weddings

We've all seen movies and TV shows where a wedding is set in someone's back yard. Of course, the yard is always impossibly landscaped. The grass cut in such a way that would make any NFL grounds keeper proud. In short, the way Hollywood portrays it, backyard weddings are only for those rich enough to employ an entire staff.

Fortunately, that's not true. Anyone with a yard, or access to a yard that they don't mind you sprucing up, can have a garden wedding.

It doesn't matter that your yard is not as big as the one CSI Miami staged their wedding scene in. It doesn't even have to be as big as the one in Father of the Bride. It only has to be big enough to give you room to celebrate with your friends and family.

Remember, nothing says hope for the future more than a garden wedding in spring or early summer when the blossoms decorate the trees and new growth is all around you. It’s an idyllic setting. Take a look at your yard and dream about what you might be able to do to create the setting for your wedding.

Tomorrow or the next day I will write some specific suggestions for what kinds of things you can do to create that perfect spot, but it's better that you dream a little first and come up with your own ideas.

I will say this, though. Creating a backyard wedding garden is a great way to make your wedding money work for you - by putting the money you would have spent on the rental of a wedding location into enhancing the location you already have!