Stay Close to Home
You don't have to sacrifice your beliefs to have an earth-friendly wedding. You can still have a traditional or religious ceremony at a place of worship and then have your eco-elegant reception at a great green location. Just be sure to choose a location that both of you agree on, whether it is a place with personal meaning or a place that you both feel comfortable in. Find a place that speaks to you. You want a location worthy of the occasion. It is here that you will exchange your vows and express your love for one another, so the setting should reflect the event. Staying close to home is a wonderful option. It's easier to plan and easier to decorate and keep in touch with all your vendors. It saves the time and expense of traveling and cuts down on transportation-related pollution.
Where is the number-one location to get married in the United States?
Las Vegas, Nevada, tops the charts with an average of 114,000 weddings per year. Gatlinburg, Tennessee, is in second place with around 42,000 weddings a year.
Green Options
Having your wedding and reception in the same place is a very green option; it combines everything in one nice, neat, eco-responsible package. No traveling back and forth between venues and no need for special transportation to get you from one place to another. Open your mind to what is in your area. You don't have to get married in a traditional wedding location. Historical landmarks, museums, parks, gardens, art galleries, aquariums, old saloons, greenhouses — there are many exciting possibilities out there; you just have to look for them. Check with your local area chamber of commerce, your city's official website, your county parks, or your yellow pages to see what amazing possibilities lie in your own backyard.
Genesee County, Michigan, has the usual wedding chapels, churches, and other cookie-cutter wedding venues and plain rental halls. But if you look a little more closely, the Genesee County Parks have a wide range of exciting options that can be utilized for weddings, including the historical nineteenth-century Crossroads Village and Huckleberry Railroad. It features a quaint little church, several beautiful historic homes, a modern dining hall, and the Genesee Belle, an authentic style paddle-wheel boat. There are also many beautiful parks with river and lakefront views, pavilions, and possibly a gazebo or two. Genesee County is home to the city of Flint, which has a thriving cultural area that includes the Flint Institute of Arts, Sloan Museum, the Sarvis Center, Whiting Auditorium, the Applewood Estate, and the Whaley Historical House, a restored Victorian mansion. Many of these cultural centers have rooms and areas available to rent for special events and weddings.
Destination weddings have increased by 400 percent in the past fifteen years. All that travel releases tons of pollution into the air. Stay close to home to avoid having to worry about offsetting all those carbon emissions.
Finding Local Green Options
Other close-to-home options include restaurants, hotels, or country clubs that offer organic menus or follow green practices such as recycling and buying fair-trade or locally grown products. If you want a green location or at least an eco-conscious and socially responsible one, you can search for green restaurants at www.dinegreen.com and green hotels at www.greenhotels.com/members.htm. You can look for other green businesses in Co-Op America's National Green Pages listings at www.coopamerica.org/pubs/greenpages.
If you can't find a green location, find one that supports a good cause. Maybe your local museum has an event center or your public library has a meeting room that can be utilized for a wedding. Look for historic landmarks, buildings that have been renovated and opened to the public, or nonprofits and cultural centers that support the arts or other local charities. There might be a school or college campus with a fabulous area that is suitable for weddings. Look at local locations in a new light, and you may find the perfect place.
