Weddings: Recycle, Reduce, Reuse!

As some of you know I am getting married this year. Woo hooo!!!!

As some of you know, "Wooo hooo!!!" is not the only sentiment attached to weddings. Other emotions like worry, stress, frustration, worry and stress come to mind.

For most people, a lot of these feelings surround the money factor--trying to do it all within a budget.

For me personally, my worry stems more from the wasteful aspect of weddings--my inner environmentalist shakes its finger at me. At the same time, I admit I am not totally altruistic--I want to save money, too. When it comes to reducing waste, money is part of the equation.

So, I write a quick note to the brides and future brides out there about a great idea to help reduce your waste both in materials (save the Earth) and in cost (save your pennies).

Rent or borrow! Well, duh, people do this for tuxes and a lot of items already. But, what about borrowing other stuff, like centerpieces?

We have a close friend, now a happily married woman, who was once a bride. Her name is Crystal. She offered to loan us all of her centerpieces for our wedding. She also offered to help set them up at the wedding too. Sounds too good to be true, but she is truly wonderful.

Unfortunately with our no-waste approach to our wedding, the centerpieces that she had did not fit with our idea, so we had to pass on the offer. However, she already has another friend's wedding lined up to use them. What a great idea!

If you have some old wedding stuff lying around you should consider offering them to your newly engaged friends or better yet, start your own rental business, then weddings can perpetually be a part of your life. Okay, maybe not, I'll leave that up to your creative ambition.

If you don't have a friend with centerpieces to share or if you want to participate but do not want to start your own business, there is a bridal fair that happens at least annually in Minnesota called the I do Redo Sale . At the fair brides from the past come and sell their wedding "stuff" at reduced prices to future brides. In this case it's not renting, but it's definitely recycling, reducing and reusing :)

Also, I recently saw an ad for a local business called What a Wedding! For Less!!! It appears that this idea of saving money and resources is catching on. Based out of Woodbury, Minnesota, this company sets up appointments with couples and they currently rent candelabras, vases, envelope holders, cake-serving sets and other items that add that "special touch" to ceremonies at reduced prices. While this idea is not new at all, I'm excited to see people are investing in such practices.

If you are interested in learning more about What a Wedding! For Less!!! you can call 651-739-6331, email whatawedding@aol.com or check out their website.