My Magical JourneyCreating a fabulously fantastic life!

Hello Everyone!

This is my second installment in the Eco-Friendly Wedding series.  I’m thrilled to announce that we have chosen our wedding date – July 3.  I’m so excited!!!!  Imagine me jumping up and down and crying for joy.  Then, imagine my mother and my mother-in-love (”Muvie”) doing the same.  We’ve chosen a beautiful location, and now I’m going to write about eco-friendly wedding dresses.

There are 4 options I can think of right now:

1. Wear something you already own.
2. Buy a pre-loved gown.
3. Buy one from an eco-friendly designer.
4. Make your own.

Which did I choose?  Well, I’ll tell you in a minute.  You’ve got to read the rest of the post to find out.  Hahaha!  Let’s examine each of the options, shall we?

Option 1: Wear Something You Already Own

Do you have you’d like to wear for your wedding in your closet?  For this option, you might have to think outside the box and imagine making adjustments or embellishments to something you already own.  I personally prefer non-traditional looks.  If you do, too, you could get really creative and create a unique look that expresses your personality.

Option 2: Buy Pre-Loved

There are many places you can go for pre-loved gowns.  Check wedding dress stores in your area – there might be one that only carries pre-loved gowns.  You can also check Goodwill, Thrift stores, your local newspaper classified section, or ask around for friends who might have one or might know someone who has a gown.  I met a woman around Thanksgiving who had bought 2 dresses because she couldn’t decide on just one, and the other one was just hanging in the closet, brand spankin’ new!  Online, check out Craig’s List, Ebay, SellMyWeddingDress.com, PreOwnedWeddingDresses.com, and the many other sites available to buy a pre-loved gown (there are lots of them!).

Option 3:  Buy One From An Eco-Friendly Designer

Some things to look for when choosing an eco-friendly designer include their use of organic and fair-trade fabrics and use of eco-friendly fabric dyes.  If your dress is silk, is it Peace Silk?  There are many cool designers out there.  My favorite is NaturalBridals.com.  She has gorgeous gowns that can also be purchased from her Etsy store.  I even wrote her a letter about one of her gowns, and she wrote a sweet letter back!  I love companies like that.  Tara Lynn Studio and Adele Wechsler also have beautiful gowns.  Search online, and you’re sure to find something you like.

Option 4: Make Your Own

This is the option I chose!  When you make your own dress, choose eco-friendly fabrics.  There are many available online.  Another option is to repurpose fabric you already have.  I found the fabric for my dress at Goodwill.  Seriously!  I wanted something simple and cotton, so I went to goodwill and found a brand new queen duvet cover made of Egyptian cotton for $15.  If I end up completing my wedding dress for under $20, I’m going to brag about that for years to come!  Ha!  You can follow the process on The Laughing Princess Sewing Diary.

Which of these options would you feel most comfortable with?

Which dress from one of the eco-friendly designers is your favorite? (Mine is Charlotte from NaturalBridals.com)

I want to preface this post by announcing a TMI (too-much-information) alert.  If you have issues reading about natural female processes, like periods, don’t read this post.

Read the rest of this entry »

Yea!!!  We’re planning an eco-wedding!!!!!  I’m so excited!!!!  Okay, catching my breath now.  Phew!  Mark and I are getting married, and after learning so much about eco-friendly living, we’ve decided to have an eco-friendly wedding.  I’ve decided to blog about the process on the website, so you’ll be able to follow along as we plan our eco-wedding, start to finish.  I think this will be really helpful for anyone else who wants to plan and eco-wedding because there isn’t a lot of focus on this topic.  Most people think living (and partying) in an eco-friendly way means forgoing luxury and elegance.  We’re going to plan a fun, elegant, colorful, meaningful wedding celebration that’s wonderful for us, our family, and our planet.

Several months ago I picked out a dress, invitations, location, and favors.  All those ideas are out the window now with our new eco-friendly plan.  We are broadening our horizons and searching with a new eco-friendly lens.

I hope you enjoy this adventure as much as we will.

Love,

Melanie (and Mark)

I found a wonderful website, called Explore The Cycle, that features Flash animations about how different products are recycled and how single-stream recycling works.  Single-stream recycling is becoming more popular because it makes recycling so easy.  Everything goes in one bin, rather than having to separate paper, plastics, glass, and metals.  The animations are quick and easy-to-understand . . . kind of like Looney Tunes for eco-minded people.  If you are interested in learning how recycling works and what our recycled products eventually become, this is the site for you!

I am lucky enough to live in a town where recycling is very easy.  We have single-stream recycling, which means we don’t even have to separate the recyclable materials.  Up until about a week ago, when Mark and I watched the documentary No Impact Man (which is also available on NetFlix), I thought it was great that most of our waste went into the recycling bin.  However, now I realize that the idea is to minimize or stop creating any waste, whether it is recyclable or not.  This is due to several reasons: Read the rest of this entry »

Mark (my fiancé) and I are constantly learning about how we can change our lifestyle to one that is healthier for the environment.  We recently read about ingredients in laundry detergent and how they harm the environment in the book, Easy Green Living: The Ultimate Guide to Simple, Eco-Friendly Choices for You and Your Home.

After doing some extensive online research, I realized it was easy, cost-effective, and better for the environment to make our own detergent.  I wanted to be sure it worked well before writing an article about it and recommending it, and we finally had the big test Read the rest of this entry »

Part of living metaphysically is recognizing that everything is connected energetically.  In order to thrive we must show love, care, and appreciation for all things, including the earth.  One easy way to care for the earth is to update our shopping habits.   Here are some quick ways we can make our shopping excursions a little greener Read the rest of this entry »