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Reduce. Reuse. Recycle.
July 8th, 2007 @ 6:31 pm by Guest
by Andrea
I’ll admit. I didn’t really plan on having a “green” wedding. But a lot of what we are doing is really turning out to be quite environmentally friendly! We ended up ordering recycled paper for our invitations and envelopes, which was almost purely coincidence. But, it was the right color and I will admit to feeling a bit better about the price knowing it was recycled. And what’s leftover from the invitations, we will use for the programs. Pretty good deal. However! This is not a post about invitations, it is about my centerpieces!
I really wanted to keep this aspect simple for several reasons.
1) I plan to only have one or two variations of flowers, mainly the mini gerbera daisy
2) I am making them myself and want to do them ahead of time
3) I need this to be cost effective so I can focus my wallet on more important (to me) things
I knew that it would basically consist of a simple vase with a few of the flowers, but just those things wasn’t doing it for me. So in a brainstorming session on the phone with my mom (usually at 8am when I am driving to work), it came to me! My fiance and I have been buying milk in glass bottles ever since we found out that Harris Teeter sold it. So, we each switched to quart sized bottles and have been stowing them away.
During the collection process I have been in a ribbon quandary. One ribbon or two? Bow or label? Stamped or printed? I finally found my answer at myownlabels.com where I found JUST the right thing! The great thing about this website is that it doesn’t have a minimum order, so it was a cinch to just order enough labels for the centerpieces. Once they arrived, it was just a matter of putting them together! I started with this:
And I ended up with this!
The silk flowers are just to see how it will come together, but I will have fresh flowers for the big show! I love the way they turned out! I can’t wait to see the whole table put together with the antique linens and china dessert plates. And the best part is, after the wedding, we can return all the bottles to Harris Teeter and get our deposit back!!
6 Responses to “Reduce. Reuse. Recycle.”
We love the idea of using bottles for centerpieces instead of vases. We’ve collected about 200 Sobe and Izze bottles (from friends & college students) and we’re making long rows of bottles,each with a paper flower or two, to line the hallways and sidewalks.
those look great! good tips 
I read a really awesome idea that kind of incorporates the reduce, reuse idea…but with a twist. Ask wedding guests to send a scrap of fabric from a meaningful old garment and to write a brief paragraph on why they chose that piece to represent them. Have them to mail the pieces of cloth back with their rsvp card. Then have the pieces sewed into a family and friend quilt!!! I plan to go a step further and to ask for each person to say a little prayer for my marriage and our lives before returning the scrap of fabric. Then each time I look at my beautiful quilt I will remember all of the loving family and friends that are important to us!
I LOVE EVERYTHING!
It really is “Easy Being Green!”
Gotta love the teet!
RE Ellie’s idea — To be honest, I would feel really put upon and not participate. That would be a major pain and time issue, plus I donate clothes I don’t need anymore, and if it’s in my home still, I am wearing it or it’s so sentimental that I am not chopping it up.
great idea ! i was thinking about this too actually, because i really didn’t want to throw away my FUZE drink glass bottles and the recycling center is a bit far. it takes a bit more thinking, but i am aiming to ‘go green’ as much as i can. thanks for sharing your post!
