It's a nice day for a green wedding

A little less than two months ago my long time boyfriend proposed which started my quest to have an awesome yet green wedding. As has been stated in other blogs I found that there wasn't much information on having a green AND inexpensive wedding. Most of the stuff out there is greener alternatives to traditional wedding junk which just isn't my style. Because of this I've had to get creative and while I doubt we'll manage a 100% eco friendly wedding I'm going to do everything I can to get as close as possible.

1) The wedding dress: I'm still not positive what I'm going to do about my dress. I am thinking about sewing my own with some pretty unbleached linen I have, but that is just so daunting. I'm just not sure I'm skilled enough to produce the kind of garment that I would want to wear on my wedding day. The other alternative is to buy a used dress and then sell it again. Supposedly there are also dress rental services but the wedding is out of town so it would probably get pretty expensive renting it for the entire time I'd be gone.

2) The location: I'm really fortunate to know people affiliated with an organization back home that owns about 100 acres that they are willing to rent out. The idea is to have an outdoor wedding and reception and then afterwards have a camp out/party. The only problem with the land is that it's about 45 min away from the city. One of the things we will be asking for in our registry is for people to offer their cars for carpools. We may also think about renting a van for the people who won't be staying the night so there is less driving.

3) The catering: And by catering I mean us cooking a lot of locally grown/raised food and asking friends to help out with some potluck stuff. Instead of using disposable dishes I had the idea of hitting up local Goodwills and talking to the managers about offering a bulk discount on plates, cutlery and glasses that we would then wash and donate back the next day. I'm also making cloth napkins out of fabric I find at thrift stores with a bit of embroidery that the guests can take home with them as favors.