Posted by Karissa Rigano on Thu, May 19, 2011 @ 11:21 AM
I recently sampled an amazing biodynamic wine from the Benzinger Estate in Sonoma which got me thinking about what the greenest wine from New England could possibly be. Obviously, in this Green Wedding Business- I always want to suggest local wines to my clients. Although tempted to suggest one of these amazing biodynamics, it seems rediculous to ship these wine to Boston if I can find something that is as good, close by. Now, I do not claim to be a wine expert- by any means. But in my research, I discovered the Shelburne Vineyard in Shelbourne, VT.
Not only are these award winning wines close (200 miles from Boston, as opposed to Benzinger's 3,000 miles) they have been Certified Organic for 11 years. Besides its low-impact farming practices, like hand-weeding to minimize herbicide use, Shelburne’s winery and tasting room is also built green with energy-efficient 8-inch-thick insulated walls, stone-cement floors and a wooden tasting bar — all constructed from local materials. Hot water arrives on demand, appliances are Energy Star, cleaning supplies are eco-friendly, packaging is made from recycled materials and the parking lot is paved with local permeable stone to cut runoff.
If you dream of a green wedding at a vineyard, Shelburne Vineyard is an amazing eco-friendly wedding venue, as well.
Posted by Karissa Rigano on Thu, May 12, 2011 @ 09:51 AM
So sorry it took me so long to get these posted. Things have been a bit crazy lately.
Emily and Sean had a beautiful Green Wedding at the historic estate, Moraine Farms in Beverly Massachussettes on September 3, 2010. As an wedding planner, this wedding was a first for me. It was the first time I have ever had to deal with an unwanted and uninvited guest- Hurricane Earl. It was a crazy, rainy, but amazingly fun night.
Thanks to Peter Rufo Photography for the use of the photos. The poor guy was sick the day of the wedding- and still managed to get the most amazing shots! A true professional! 
Green weddings are all about making earth friendly choices. Emily and Sean chose to:
Have their wedding ceremony and reception at a Historic Estate- which is owned and ran by a non-profit, Project Adventure.
Use earth friendly invitations from Foosie Design.
Use a local and sustainable personal chef as caterer.
Used local and seasonal flowers from Tendercrop Farm, in Newburyport, MA for bouquets and dried lavender for table arrangements. Which my staff and I lovingly arranged.
Make a donation to Children's Hospital Boston, in lieu of favours.
Posted by Karissa Rigano on Thu, May 05, 2011 @ 10:05 AM
Just how green was the Royal Wedding? While, the carbon footprint produced by Prince William and Kate Middleton's wedding last Friday was surely giant — think of the resources used and the thousands of people traveling to be there — at least the royal couple made some attempts to minimize their impact and give a nod to eco-friendly themes.
Prince William and his bride chose seasonal flowers and locally grown food, among other earth friendly wedding materials. And facilities were powered in part by renewable energy. All documents were printed on recycled paper and using FSC-certified wood and scaffolding in the building of the media stands. The carbon emissions of the wedding were also offset as part of the royal household's annual carbon footprinting exercise.
The 1,500 guests dined on sustainably sourced food and drink, and Kate chose azaleas and lilacs among many other local, seasonal flowers, and during the ceremony at Westminster Abbey, the couple walked down an avenue of trees, which have been replanted at the Prince of Wales Highgrove Estate.
Finally, the adorable Aston Martin that the couple drove off in, had been converted to run on 100 per cent bioethanol fuel distilled from surplus British wine in 2008.
All of this will surely not offset the carbon impacts of the entire affair. But still it’s good to see the royals are setting an example at this highly watched event, though not so surprising given Prince Charles' environmental record.
Posted by Karissa Rigano on Wed, Jul 07, 2010 @ 09:15 AM
If you are having a green eco wedding, the dress your flower girls wears should be as Earth Friendly as your own Green wedding dress. Conscious Clothing has been making environmentally and ecologically-conscious hemp, hemp/silk wedding gowns and wedding party dresses for environmentally-aware people for years. In addition, Conscious Clothing has a hemp/tence fabric perfect for the eco vegan bride. They also do custom designs.
$225.00 at Conscious Clothing
Posted by Karissa Rigano on Fri, Apr 30, 2010 @ 04:33 PM
Sometimes I watch these wedding shows on cable (you know the ones, where they spare no expense- fly in all their flowers from Amersterdam and Sylvia Weinstock shows up at the venue to personally adorn the 6 foot cake with sugar roses) and I wish there was some way I could plan a High End New York Style Loft Wedding without sacrificing my green wedding values.
The venue in my version would not be some Manhattan Penthouse but the Artist for Humanity EpiCenter in South Boston. Not only is AFH a blank slate for the perfect loft wedding, but it is an energy-sustainable Platinum LEED Certified (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Facility. It's the only one in Boston and only one of 14 in the US. Your not going to get a Greener Wedding Venue than this, nor a more stylish one. This is not your typical crunchy green wedding.
Among the venue's Eco-Friendly features are open, unobstructed spaces to maximize natural lighting (a huge bonus for your photographer); a solar array roof that provides 65 percent of the building's electricity; energy-efficient lighting fixtures and a water reclamation system for on-site use. The interior features a 5,000 square foot atrium gallery with a wrap around mezzanine (perfect for a cocktail hour).
Not only is AFH a beautiful venue, that with some local/seasonal catering and organic flowers (and a few Gobo Lights here and there) the AFH is a non-profit art apprenticeship program that allows urban teens to create wonderful works of art after school, bond with other teenagers, build relationships with wonderful mentors and learn about environmental issues such as sustainable energy and green living (heck, these talented kids along with an architect designed this amazing building).
You can rest assured that by choosing Artists for Humanity EpiCenter for your Green Boston Wedding Venue..you are truly supporting the community as well as making a choice to help the environment.
Posted by Karissa Rigano on Thu, Apr 22, 2010 @ 01:19 PM
I get an email everyday from the p
eople over at Google telling me who is blogging about Green Weddings. Being that this is "Earth Day"...I have noticed that this email is getting longer and longer with suggestions from every wedding blogger around on how to be "Green". One suggestion on almost all of these blogs is to use Soy-Based Inks when doing your printing. This morning I read an article from the Toledo Free Press. The article states “In fueling the demand to be green and support the U.S.farming economy, (Greg) Shapiro said, 'We have converted to 100 percent soy based inks.' H.O.T. Graphics uses a non-toxic soy bean ink made from soy bean oil, which is commonly found in such foods such as salad dressing."
My initial response was, “WAIT A MINUTE…THIS DOESN’T SEEM RIGHT?” In 2009 92% of the Soybeans in the U.S. were a Genetically Modified "Roundup Ready" variety created by the company Monsanto. (If you don't know the company Monsanto, please view the film Food, Inc.) So it stands to reason if almost all of our soybeans are these GMOs, then using Soy Ink is supporting Monsanto and therefore NOT as Green as people would like for us to believe. While I realize that Petroleum based inks are not Green, saying that Soy Bean Ink an environmentally friendly alternative does not make much sense to me at all.
In an effort to get to the bottom of this, I contacted several Green printers and Monsanto. As of this moment, only the people at Greenprintersonline.com have gotten back to me. According to them, they are concentrating on the Low VOC of Soy Ink. But by doing so, they are failing to see that supporting Monsanto and the Roundup Ready Soybeans are having an adverse effect on the Earth.
I am not a scientist, I am a wedding planner. So, I cannot give any real statistics on what is worse for the environment? Traditional Printing or Factory Farming. But, until I get some real evidence that Soy Ink is actually better for the Environment and not just a ploy to line the pockets of Monsanto…I cannot in good faith recommend this printing method to my clients.
Stay Tuned...I have reached out to Treehugger.com to help me figure this one out. Hopefully, they can give me the answers I am looking for.
Posted by Karissa Rigano on Thu, Apr 15, 2010 @ 12:01 PM
Let me start by saying, I hate wedding favors. I even hate green wedding favors. I know, I know...as a wedding planner- I should probably embrace this industry of needless junk, that litters my china cabinet. Little candles (even if they are soy), a crystal jar (that I use at Christmas to hold glittery ornaments), tiny bottles of wine that I can drink later, a weird little chicken made from recycled plastic bags (that I have no use for, what-so-ever).
For some odd reason, this 400 year old tradition of wedding favors seems so important during the planning processes. Either to the Bride and Groom themselves or (in my experience) to the Bride's mother. Why Mother's of the Brides are SO attached to favors, I will never know. What I do know, is at the end of each reception, I look across the room and see over half of these little chotskies sitting around, left behind. What a waste.
Honestly, there really are only two favors that I like. A donation to a charitable cause and some delicious little treat that I can devour right there on the spot and not have to worry about forgetting it, or how to get this home on the plane, or what in the world should I do with this junk once it is in my house. I especially enjoy when people have enough foresight to incorporate BOTH of these favors! Some musician friends of mine did this successfully, when they made a donation to VH1's Save the Music and gave delightful little chocolate eighth notes.
If you decide to go this route, there is a very nifty little website that you can turn to for guidance when choosing the recipients of your generosity, www.charitynavigator.com will help you figure out which charities are highly rated for being the most useful, best organized and efficient with their
donations.
And for the perfect pairing, check out the delicious stone ground organic chocolates from Taza Chocolate. Taza Chocolates are a real treat. They are delectable and responsible. Taza Chocolates supports sustainable agriculture and direct trade by buying direct from organic certified farmers in the Caribbean and Latin America (not Africa or Indonesia). They have made it a point to keep their factory green by recycling, using CFLs, and running equipment only when actually in use. They use recycled materials for packaging and even go as far as using pedal power to transport their products to various retailers around Boston through Metro Pedal Power.
Posted by Karissa Rigano on Wed, Feb 03, 2010 @ 09:48 AM
 |
This year Merrimack Valley Magazine has featured Green Wedding Vendors in their Bridal Guide Issue, and Earthly Delight Event Planning is pleased to announce that we are one of their featured vendors! We would like to send a big thank you over to Merrimack Valley Magazine for taking notice of the work Green Vendors are doing in our area to make Weddings better for the world we live in. The Merrimack Valley Magazine Bridal Guide is on News Stands now. |
Posted by Karissa Rigano on Mon, Nov 23, 2009 @ 09:24 PM
This New Hampshire green wedding was located on the groom's family's farm. The area was surrounded by rolling hills and beautiful scenery. The couple couldn't have asked for a more beautiful fall day for their wedding. The couple incorporated many different cultural traditions into the ceremony including a Chinese Tea Ceremony and Scottish Bagpipers, making the wedding beautiful and unique. Congratulations to Michelle and Angus!
Posted by Karissa Rigano on Mon, Oct 26, 2009 @ 09:22 AM
What goes better with a green wedding than a green honeymoon? Go to the Island Outpost site and take a look at one of their several properties in Jamaica...They have also stated their Green philosophy online along with a 35 point synopsis on how they protect the environment with regards to energy management, chemical husbandry, design, facilities, and community.
"Island Outpost is committed to minimizing the impact of our properties on the environments they inhabit. We strive to preserve and enhance the habitats of all marine, bird, and wildlife, and the wealth of vegetation that surrounds us. The natural sights and sounds around you surpass anything we could create."
Island Outpost's resorts are also a perfect location for a Green Destination Wedding.