Check out my latest press release:
More and more couples are incorporating environmental values into their wedding planning, but many don’t know where to start. “Green Wedding: Planning Your Eco-Friendly Celebration” is the perfect holiday gift for them. The only hardcover on the subject with pictures showing how stylish green weddings can be, this coffee table book by Mireya Navarro, an environmental writer with The New York Times, guides the groom and bride in their planning process from engagement to honeymoon.
An emailed invitation? No party favor?
“Green weddings by definition stand against waste and excess,” Navarro says. “This means that the groom and bride will try to conserve resources, such as paper, and make sure nothing they or their guests spend money on ends up in the garbage or in a closet collecting dust.”
Navarro, whose website is www.MireyaNavarro.com, is an expert on how to find environmentally-friendly alternatives to each element of the traditional wedding and on how going green can help couples save money. With the 2010 wedding season coming up, she also has a few words of advice for guests who may be encountering their first green wedding this year, including:
*Prepare for the New Green Etiquette: “Do not expect a paper invitation,” Navarro says. “Often you will get it – on recycled paper, of course – but increasingly most wedding-related communication is done electronically through a wedding website. Guests are asked to RSVP and even select menu items by email!”
*The New Giving: “Don’t be surprised if the registry directs you to donate money to a worthy cause favored by the groom and bride. Party favors? Not a chance, unless you can eat them or do something useful with them. Many couples don’t want to get the useless vase that will never be used or the useless favor that ends up in the trash. Practical or philanthropic wedding gifts are in.”
*Fruit Décor is all the Rage: “Centerpieces featuring oranges and apples are replacing those with roses and orchids. Many couples fret over the limited reuse value of cut flowers, so they’re going for fruit, veggies and potted plants for décor. You may go home with an apple!
When couples plan their wedding with the environment in mind, Navarro explains, they are trying to minimize the event’s carbon footprint. That means reducing all those global warming-causing greenhouse gases released into the atmosphere through human activities such as the use of electricity use and transportation. Avoiding the unnecessary, such as the invitation with layers of paper or the single-use decoration, is one way to save both on the resources that went into making the items and on the wedding’s price tag.
“…Overall, this serious and stylish guide is inspiring and practical, and it proves beyond any doubt that green can be gorgeous.” Bookpage.com
“…The couples photographed in “Green Wedding” are beaming just as brightly as those who didn’t treat guests to an all-organic menu, trade party favors for a charitable donation, or offset the carbon emissions of their out-of-town guests’ travel.
From the gift registry to the decor to the honeymoon and beyond, Navarro has taken on the challenging task of sifting through the products and services that are truly green — in a new and rapidly growing industry, it’s easier than ever to slap “eco-friendly” in front of a company name — and has come up with a list that will allow you to consider the earth without compromising your dream celebration. TodayShow.com
“…Readers will learn ways to trade in a white wedding for a green one and manage to help shrink the billion-dollar wedding industry’s carbon footprint.” AM New York
“…Her book focuses on throwing a wedding using alternative products without sacrificing style or fun.” Brides.com
GREEN WEDDING (Stewart, Tabori & Chang / ISBN 978-1-58479-712-8 / January 2009 / $35.00) features stories of couples who have “greened-up” their dream weddings and in so doing are inspiring others to follow their example. This authoritative guide explains how couples can minimize the environmental impact of their wedding by using alternative products and services that can reduce planetary harm while still ensuring a joyous and elegant celebration.
“GREEN WEDDING” includes gorgeous photographs that provide endless ideas for decoration, design, and style. It presents ideas on everything from planning the ceremony and reception, to offsetting the global-warming impact of guests’ travel, to designing a menu with seasonal and local foods. And because environmental responsibility is not just a one-day affair, GREEN WEDDING also includes chapters on ecotourism honeymoons and on sustainable living throughout married life.
About the Author:
Mireya Navarro is the environmental writer for the New York Times covering New York and the region. She shared in the Pulitzer Prize in 2001 for the Times series “How Race is Lived in America.” In 2007, as the Times’ Sunday Styles correspondent in Los Angeles, Navarro wrote an article entitled “How Green Was My Wedding,” chronicling the emerging trend of couples deciding to have earth-friendly weddings. The overwhelming response to the story—it was one of the most frequently emailed Times articles that year—inspired Navarro to expand her ideas and explore the subject in depth. The result is this brilliant new book. Visit her at www.mireyanavarro.com
GREEN WEDDING:
Planning Your Eco-Friendly Celebration
By Mireya Navarro
ISBN: 978-1-58479-712-8
Stewart, Tabori & Chang
Publication date: January 2009
$35.00 U.S. / $39.00 Canada
December 12th, 2009 | Category: Uncategorized | Comments (1)
