Social Conscience Bride – Green Weddings (eco-friendly) are in for 2011! Brides are taking it up a notch with textured linens, organic makeup and vegan or organic wedding cakes and desserts. The recyclable wedding gown is eco-friendly hemp and organic silk.  Location, location, location! When planning your green wedding or event, you should consider a few things before you decide upon a location. How many guests will you be having? Remember the fewer the guests, the lower the carbon footprint! What time of year is your wedding? Do you want an indoor event or a garden wedding? Casual or formal, or perhaps somewhere funky like a hip nightclub? Narrowing down what you want in a venue will alleviate a lot of unnecessary stress when you begin looking at venues.

One thing to consider is that if you have both your ceremony and reception at the same location, you will alleviate the need for your guests to travel to two different places. Look for locations that offer recycling of the empty liquor bottles. Look for locations that include table, chair, and linen rental, as this eliminates quite a bit of shipping and carbon production. One beautiful hidden gem (that is also very reasonable) located near downtown sarasota and the arts district is the Sarasota Garden Club as well as the prestigious Indigo Hotel.  You won’t believe the beautiful retreat settings in Sarasota that are only 5 minutes from the airport!

Look for a garden setting if you choose an outdoor event. Look for one with either an inside option or a permanent tent. Look for one that already has tables and chairs for you to rent from the facility to prevent having to rent and truck everything in. One such treasure  is Selby Gardens. The gardens is a beautiful historical landscape known for it’s beauty, orchid collection, banyan trees and bamboo.  Also it’s the place where Marie Selby became the first woman to cross the country by car..  Try to find a location that incorporates at least a few Green practices into their operations.

If you do happen to have your heart set on a destination wedding, keep your guest count to a bare minimum and look for a place that offers green wedding packages. To find great eco-friendly hotels and accomodations check out EC3.

Wedding Favors – There are fabulous green favors to choose from and some websites where you can find them. I love the idea of planting a memory by planting a tree. There is even a website I found that has plan-table placecards and wedding invitations. You cannot get more environmentally friendly than that!  Green Wedding Favors

Sarasota Caterer: Zest! Of Sarasota is Sarasota’s original green catering company.

Photographer: In addition to being digital, I try to make all my  business decisions with green practices in mind. I have gone went completely digital and electronic by using electronic faxes, digital documents, even digital catalogs and magazine subscriptions. My Sarasota wedding photography  company offers online digital proofs and they use recycled and recyclable papers and packaging when necessary. Look for businesses that work within “green” business perimeters.

Most of all, have fun and enjoy planning your Sarasota green wedding.