My daughter received a beautiful and brilliantly-worded wedding thank you card the other day. Her husband’s uncle and his partner finally decided to marry after many long years of being together. The couple sent out gorgeous, professionally printed wedding invitations in white and gold. After the wedding was over, the newlyweds dutifully sent their matching thank you notes. What was inside, though, was truly thoughtful and quite different.
On the front of the card was a wonderful picture of the radiant bride in her gown, and the handsome groom in matching white tuxedo …

If the event is one at which guests usually bring gifts, you might add to the invitation that the couple is interested in the environment. But do not make it sound as though, the guests are obligated to bring eco-friendly gifts. This may be difficult for most people to do and may cause hard feelings. For those individuals that would like to try and bring something “green”, try looking for items such as non-toxic cleaners, all natural bath products, rice paper note cards or even a soy made garment.
Indeed, the …

If decorating the tables with fancy candles, try using organic soy candles or palm oil based candles with all cotton wicks. The idea is to avoid petroleum based candles and lead wicks which are toxic when burned.
Also, make sure to ask the location if candles are acceptable. Some venues do not like the drippings on the furniture or the table linens.

When purchasing supplies, try to buy in bulk instead of large quantities of small packets. This way, there will be less packaging to throw away. This is particularly important when you are holding the reception in your home, garden, or self-serve hall. You might not have much choice in a banquet hall when they purchase the supplies for their own inventory.
But the reception is not the only event at which party supplies are needed. Don’t forget to buy in bulk for bridal showers, the wedding rehearsal party, the stag, …

Undoubtedly, it will be hard to replace paper napkins altogether at most functions. For the wedding reception, the couple may opt for fancy linens on the table which would mean that each guest would have a cloth napkin as part of his/her place setting. And, in fact, this is quite elegant for most weddings.
But for other functions, cloth napkins may not be feasible. An informal barbecue reception outside, for example. To remedy this, choose napkins that are made with recycled paper materials and avoid colored and/or patterned napkins. The dye …