April Showers Bring May Weddings

May 3, 2012 by Thalia Event Design

Spring Wedding CeremonyThe spring wedding season is in full swing here in Arizona, and so we thought we would do this time of year some justice by devoting an article all to the art of putting on a top notch spring ceremony. There are tons of things you can do to create a colorful, lively springtime inspired wedding ceremony, cocktail hour, and reception no matter what size your wedding budget happens to be. Here are a few of those ideas to help with getting you started.

Spring Wedding FlowersSpringtime = Flowers. There is no theme more apt to incorporating flowers than a springtime one, so don’t hold back if this is an important part of your wedding decor. The wonderful thing about flowers is that there are so many varieties to choose from between peonies, ranunculus, orchids, roses, succulents, lilies, daisies, and an endless list of additional options. Find out which flowers are in season in your area, which will help both your budget along with your local economy and environment, and place as many of them as you want throughout your wedding. Use them in your bouquets and boutonnieres, your centerpieces, altar and aisle arrangements, whatever you wish really. Remember to compost the flowers after the wedding too!

Keep Things Light. Spring is all about the rejuvenation of life, so have your color scheme on the light side to reflect this idea. No one associates eggplant or navy with spring, so keep your palette closer to pastels in shades of oranges, yellows, pinks, and the like. You can easily incorporate some fun crystal embellishments on your linens or other fun accents to help bring in some luxury and glamour.

Blue Skies Daytime WeddingConsider a Daytime Wedding. Spring weddings are excellent for the bride and groom who want to get married during the day instead of at sunset or later in the evening. Some couples prefer this option because it’s normally much more cost effective than hosting an evening wedding, and if you host it on a weekday then that normally will help even more. The great thing about a spring wedding is that a clear day full of sunshine and blue skies is what most of us associate with spring, so hosting a wedding during the afternoon plays right into the event’s design. Daylight and sunshine will bring a natural ambiance to your event that you simply can’t pay for no matter where you go.

Considering a Short Bridal Gown? One great thing about spring is that dependent on where you live things may already be pretty warm outside, and if you are a modern bride with an eye on a shorter style of gown this could very much play in your favor. Spring weddings lend themselves to shorter, contemporary wedding gowns that have become more popular in recent years, and while you can easily still choose a long gown to incorporate into your spring wedding you will want to go in knowing you have more options given your theme. A girl can never have too many options!

 

Photo Credits: Matthias Rhomberg, Andrew Morrell, Adam Belle

No Comments / Tags: , , , , , / Posted in Decor, Floral, Planning

How to Host a Successful Green Meeting: Benchmarking

April 10, 2012 by Thalia Event Design

It might sound a little like that old Business 101 class you took your freshman year in college, but much like measuring the success of a business model it’s extremely important to also determine the level of success seen by your green meetings. Not only do you want to know if your meeting met the needs expected by your company, but you will also want to know if your Green Business Meetingenvironmental efforts were beneficial and what improvements can be made for the future. If you aren’t receiving this data then you don’t really know if your green meeting truly met the criteria for being eco-friendly or if it was simply a nice attempt gone awry.

In order to monitor your meeting’s green efficiency, one of the best places to start is with benchmarks. Benchmarks are guidelines that you want your event to meet or exceed, so they are fairly straightforward in most cases and allow you to easily see where you fell in relation to your benchmark. A nifty little trick that can be employed throughout the process of planning a green event. There are about a million things you can choose to benchmark for your meetings, so start by writing down the main areas where you have implemented environmental controls within your event. You can then move onto gauging other areas of your meeting and finding benchmarks for components that are considered priority or high risk.

Next, you will need to determine how you will rank the outcome of your event compared to your benchmarks. It’s common to rate your outcomes from 1-5 based on the level of success seen. Collect this data and monitor the results as they are received. You can consider this a treasure trove of information if you are serious about greening your own events. You won’t find anything better for making improvements to the schematics of your next event and making adjustments where you find results to be lackluster.

Benchmark GraphSome of the areas you can choose to benchmark for your own event to decrease consumption, waste, and the money spent on these things could include the total kilowatts of electricity used at the event; the cost of electricity; how many event participants (guests, exhibitors, sponsors, etc.) themselves are green; the amount in pounds of garbage collected at the event; or even something as small as simply how many bottles and cans were disposed of at the bar. Like we said, there are a million things you could choose to benchmark. Choose those that are both related to your event and are also able to be accurately tracked. What good is the data if you find out it isn’t accurate in the end?

Once you have the results of your benchmarking, make sure you keep a record of it as well, especially if your event is recurring. You’ll need it to make those event improvements we discussed, but you can also refer back to the data in the future to determine how much improvement has been seen from one meeting to the next. Benchmarking is all about the monitor and control portion of the behind-the-scenes planning of your events, so always keep the data you collect as you never know when you may end up needing it down the road.

 

Photo Credits: Phil Whitehouse, Timmy Denike

No Comments / Tags: / Posted in Consumption - Energy, Consumption - Water, Planning

Three Tips to Making Your Easter Party Energy Efficient

April 6, 2012 by Thalia Event Design

"Easter" BunnyWith Easter a mere couple of days away, we thought it would be fun in celebration of the holiday to mention some simple ways to take your Easter party to the next level of eco-friendliness. The good thing about Easter parties is that they are pretty much always held in someone’s home, so these tips can also be applied to those do-it-yourself parties you may be hosting throughout the year.

There are tons of options for creating a sustainable holiday celebration, but there are three in particular that will have a larger impact on your overall event than others may. So sit back, read on, and find out the things you can do to have the biggest affect on the sustainability scale during this Easter weekend.

1.   Serve Locally Raised, Organic Cuisine: Absolutely, without a doubt, our number one pick for greening your Easter event. If you can only do one thing to make your event sustainable, choose to purchase your menu items from a local farmer’s market. You’ll be able to find ingredients that are pretty much always locally grown, and nine out of ten times you’ll also find organic options there. Buying organic helps you to decrease the amount of greenhouse gases released into the environment from commercial farms, and you’ll also Easter Candy Wrappershelp your local economy by keeping your money within local hands.

2.   Recycle Those Candy Wrappers: Most people don’t know this, but there is actually a company that you can donate things like candy wrappers to who actually recycle them into household items and other useful consumer goods. The company is called Terracycle, and they offer recycling services for just these types of items. The same goes for other types of food packaging like chip bags, juice pouches, and so much more. We recommend keeping them in mind after the holiday as well for your everyday recycling of these kinds of common household items.

Easter Dinner Leftovers3.   Donate Leftover Perishable Food: Another thing that is bound to happen to some families is the inevitable mass of food left after everyone has finished stuffing themselves on turkey, ham, prime rib, or whatever else your family traditionally serves on Easter Sunday. Some families will end up with much larger quantities than others due to family or friends who were unable to attend or simply having bigger eyes than stomachs when they did their holiday grocery shopping. If this is you then why not try donating that perishable food the next morning? Contacting organizations like Waste Not to find out about donating this type of food can instantly green your celebration. Around 40% of the food we buy in America ends up in the landfill, which accounts for 17% of all landfill waste, so don’t send your leftovers to the dump. Help someone else in your community who’s hungry by donating those leftovers to a perishable food bank, and you’ll benefit the environment by preventing that food from creating large amounts of methane and groundwater pollution while it rots in a field of trash.

 

Photo Credits: Yoko Odenosuke, Louise Docker, Jeff Fleischmann

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Event Diagrams – So, So Important!

March 27, 2012 by Thalia Event Design

Today’s topic is a little different than the norm, but we figure why not spice it up every once in awhile? If it’s good for a marriage then why not for a blog?

Today we’re talking about creating your event diagrams, something that is so important when planning any event but is often overlooked by the DIY event Event Diagramhost. Why are these diagrams deemed so crucial you may be asking? Well, these are basically the holy grail on your event day. They tell your vendors where to place things, they help keep you organized when the inevitable thousand questions come your way when setting up your venue space, and even better they provide one stop shopping for your event helpers so that you can prevent having to field even more questions when putting everything together. All in all, you never want to have your event day come around and not have diagrams of each of the spaces at your event.

Now, if these diagrams are so important then what exactly should you plan to include on them? The primary goal with diagrams is to give a full picture of the placement of each of your event items, for instance tables, chairs, decor props, stages, dance floors, and the like. We normally advise to start with the central, or largest, component of your decor; this is often the stage or dance floor. Build your diagram out from there. You’ll find it much easier to build an event space around a single focal point instead of getting overwhelmed by trying to figure out everything at once.

Table LayoutOne thing to know when building an event diagram: Be very careful when planning the ratio of chairs to each guest table. You’ll find many diagrams out there that tell you it’s very feasible to fit eight people to a 48″ round table, but we’ll tell you now that unless your guests enjoy feeling like they are eating their meal shoulder to shoulder inside a pressure cooker this is really not a good idea. For the record, if you want to be courteous and accommodating to your event’s guests then don’t fit more than six people to a 48″ round. For every additional 6″ you add to a round table you can add one additional person to keep it comfortable (e.g. 60″ round would have eight people, 72″ would be ten, etc.). Square tables, schoolies, half rounds, and banquet tables all have different specifications, so keep this in mind. Most companies will give you a range when planning how many people to fit to each table, so if you’re ever in doubt err on the side of caution by selecting the smaller number in the range.

Finally, if you want to be really on top of the planning components for your event then plan to complete and send out the diagram to all event vendors and helpers about a week before the event. The best idea is to send this out along with your day-of itinerary, which details the schedule for the set and strike of your event along with actions to take place during the party. Your vendors will thank you for making things so organized and simple for them, and you will find that your event day goes much smoother because everyone will already be on the same page before the big celebration begins.

 

Photo Credits: Curtis Palmer, Eric Schmuttenmaer

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Hosting a Green Event at a Resort: The Do’s and Don’ts

March 11, 2012 by Thalia Event Design

Arizona Resort VenueWe’ve had a few people ask this question over the last few months: Can I have a green wedding, event, party, etc. and still have it at a resort? Some people really love the ambiance that comes with a beautiful, oftentimes amenity filled resort hotel, and having to give that up in order to host a sustainable event is very difficult for the person who’s heart is set on a certain place. So, how do you work these two needs, hosting an eco-friendly event while keeping it at a local resort, into being one and the same? Well, luckily it’s not nearly as hard as some people might think.

The short answer to the question is yes, you can still host a green event at a resort. In some cases, it’s even better to have the event at a resort as opposed to the alternatives, especially if you have a lot of traveling guests. Of course, that doesn’t mean that all resorts are created equally. As with everything else in your event, you will want to do a bit of research to figure out which resorts will be able to accommodate your event needs both for your guests and from a sustainability perspective.

The best way to begin your search is to look into venues that have qualified sustainable practices in your area. If you can keep it limited to only locally owned venues as well that’s even better, but this can sometimes be difficult with resorts since most are owned by either national or global companies. When the latter is the case, try to keep things domestic before going international. You’ll still keep more funds within the country in that case, and that’s more economically sustainable than having money leave the US.

When it comes to green venues, look for those that have their company’s commitments to sustainability written down and publicized on their website. Contemporary Hotel RoomFind out about their internal conservation practices (e.g. low flow bathroom fixtures, multi-day laundry service, adjustable lighting, etc.), and another good find is whether they help support any eco-friendly causes. The absolute top mark you are seeking with any green venue is LEED certification, which means their building has met high sustainability standards and undergone a rigorous qualifications process to attain their LEED status.

If you are going to host your event at a resort, ensure that you are really getting everything you need to help further your eco-friendly efforts. Do they have an onsite shop that offers basic convenience items? How about restaurants? Will your guests need to leave the venue for breakfast, lunch, or dinner at any point? If you have overnight guests, the resort should absolutely be able to provide all of the room accommodations you need as well; this one’s kind of a no brainer, but it’s worth mentioning anyway so that it doesn’t get lost in the mix.

Doing your research always opens up more possibilities for your event and expands on the things you may already be thinking about incorporating into your special occasion. Your venue is no exception to this rule, and there’s no reason for you to limit yourself to non-resort venues when there are plenty of highly sustainable locations available if you’re willing to do a bit of work to find them. Now go find that perfect resort you’re wanting for your big bash!

 

Photo Credits: Brian Doe, Sarah Ackerman

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How to Measure Your Event’s Carbon Footprint

March 2, 2012 by Thalia Event Design

With all this talk we’ve been putting out there about green events, we thought it might be a good idea to explain how you actually get down to the nitty gritty and find out how to measure your own event’s carbon footprint. Unfortunately, that means that today’s topic will be math centric; however, this is one "Carbon" Footprint in Rockcalculation that you definitely need to understand if you are serious about putting on a green event. The bottom line with carbon footprints is that they numerically display how many greenhouse gases were created due to your event, which allows you to pretty quickly determine if your event really is green or simply greenwashed. So, where do you begin?

Electricity PoleWell, one of the easiest places to start is with the utilities used at the venue itself, specifically electric and gas usage. Request the venue provide you with their electric and gas bills for the two months prior to the event. Add up all usage, which is normally displayed either in therms for gas and kilowatts for electricity, and divide it by the number of days between both months (normally around 61 days total). You’ll now have the venue’s average electricity usage on a typical day. Once your event is concluded, request these same bills for the days during your event. You may need to do some additional calculations here, so first decide if your event’s venue falls into either of these categories:

  1. Your event space only account for a portion of the venue (e.g. a courtyard of a resort, one floor of a two floor specialty venue, etc.).
  2. Your venue had multiple events taking place on the same days as your celebration.

If your venue falls into the first category then you need to find out what percentage of space your event took up in relation to the overall venue. Ask your venue’s sales manager for these figures and divide the event space used by the total venue space to get the right percentage. If the venue falls into the second category then you’ll also need to account for that event’s energy usage, so begin by calculating the space used by that event. Take the amount of space used by your event and divide it by the space used for the second event to determine what percentage of space your event used compared to the other. You will then need to multiply the amount of energy used according to the utility bills by the percentage you come up with. The final step is to multiply any gas usage by 13.4 and any electricity usage by 1.3 to determine your carbon emissions in average pounds.

Rusted Gas PumpThe second part of this puzzle is specific to transportation. You need to determine two things for each mode of transportation used to get guests to the venue location. First, what types of transportation were used to get guests to the venue and how many of each were used? Second, how many miles were traveled by each type? You’ll want to account for each and every mile, so begin by researching the proper estimation of carbon emitted from each mode of transportation. Based on global averages, a train’s multiplier may be .0287 while a boat may surprise some people by being much higher at 1.04. Take the estimation and multiply it by the total number of miles for each type of transportation to convert your event’s transportation carbon footprint to pounds.

Add together your event’s carbon footprint, converted into pounds, for all energy and transportation. Remember to also add in any additional greenhouse gas emissions created by your event, such as any foods or flowers you chose to have flown in or decor that was transported to the venue from outside providers. These calculations vary significantly based on what your doing within your event, so we recommend using lump sum figures for these aspects. Don’t try determining the individual carbon footprint for every orchid you have flown in for your event (and hopefully with having a green event you don’t have this taking place anyway). Instead, determine what the overall carbon footprint is for the whole order of flowers. You’ll save yourself a big headache by simplifying the process this way, and it will eliminate a lot of possible error with the calculations as well.

Once you’ve added everything together, you now have your event’s official carbon footprint. Hopefully you are seeing a nice, low number compared to the venue’s averages, but if you aren’t don’t give up. If your event hasn’t take place yet then you can still make adjustments to your plans to account for greener actions, and if if has already happened then you can build upon this knowledge for future soirees. It all begins with knowledge, and now that you are armed with these numbers you have taken the first step to understanding the real intricacies of ensuring your event is truly green. Congrats!

 

Photo Credits: Jon Smith, Nannette Turner, Clive Darr

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Don’t be an Energy Hog! How to Decrease Consumption at Your Event.

February 16, 2012 by Thalia Event Design

Energy is a subject that in recent years has become more sensitive a topic than most of us would have originally been willing to bet. Recent worries over the Strait of Hormuz and our world’s oil trading abilities has concerns rising, and we continue to consume more and more resources that our earth either cannot replenish fast enough or at all. The controversy of the Keystone XL pipeline is Renewable Energy Abstract Artstill brewing, and even President Obama has immersed himself within the calling for sustainable energy resources. So, with all of this discussion on green energy taking place, of course we are going to take the time to jump in and tell you how to decrease your own event’s level of energy consumption. We’ll even up the ante and include tips to decrease water consumption as well, which is the other bane to every green event.

Now, we’ll be honest that this is a huge topic that can easily take up tons of pages of information not to mention days worth of time. There’s a reason that there are entire college degrees based on this stuff, so our focus is going to stay limited to only water and energy consumption for today beginning with the former. Water is such an abundant resource that most people don’t always remember to consider the need to limit water waste. Two thirds of the planet is covered in the stuff after all, but that doesn’t mean that it is a commodity that should be used without purpose and efficiency. Scientists have been warning us for years that the amount of water consumed on an average day is at an unsustainable level given current growth patterns and future estimates. If we don’t change our habits soon then future generations will find it increasingly difficult to find viable water sources.

So, what can you do to decrease the amount of water that gets used during your event? Here are just a few ideas to help you get started on the road to conversation:

  1. Ask your venue if they have installed any WaterSense fixtures in their bathrooms. These fixtures can conserve gallons of water with each use, and at an event this can add up faster than most people would be willing to bet.
  2. Find out about the cleaning practices of your venue and vendors. Does your caterer rinse food off dishes using water or remove it before beginning the wash cycle? Does your linen vendor mandate that washing machines be full prior to being run? Does your venue implement a non-misting sprinkler system to help their grass retain more water?
  3. Ask if any of your event’s service providers implement a water recycling program. Not only can a water recycling program be incorporated into your event by your planner, but you can take this initiative even further by working with vendors and venues that also find value in this effort.

ReservoirThese are just a few of the ways that your event can take water consumption into consideration and can begin looking for ways to reverse the damaging effects it can have on the environment. There are also options like rainwater harvesting for the super eco-chic event host in all of us, and investigating water uses through both indoor plumbing and outdoor needs can also help shed quite a bit of light on exactly how much water you can expect to be used during your event and where you might be able to scale back some.

So, now we tackle the monster that is energy consumption. Energy gets used all around us and in a variety of ways. When it comes to your event alone you will want to consider a plethora of areas if you truly want to limit wasted energy, and this will actually begin all the way back at the offices of your service providers. Their own internal practices will bring to light how eco-friendly they truly are in many cases. For instance, having a simple recycling program doesn’t make an office green. Do they use CFL lighting or adjust their thermostats to moderate levels in the summer and winter? Do they turn off computers at night and switch off monitors when not in use during the day? What about their office building itself; is it LEED certified or offer any sustainable benefits like the WaterSense bathroom fixtures?

Within your event itself you have a massive opportunity to decrease energy uses, and one area that is easiest to do this is audiovisual. When it comes to your AV electricity is a huge component. Ask your AV vendor to use the smallest size of equipment and lighting that is appropriate for the size of your event. Having oversized equipment and lighting not only wastes energy but also drains your wallet, so do away with this unnecessary extra. Also ask that Event Stage Audiovisual Equipmentthe AV department turn off all equipment following the completion of testing until approximately forty-five minutes to a half hour before the event starts; this will allow plenty of time for the equipment to warm up without wasting energy idling for potentially hours. Look into your catering kitchen as well to find out about their cooking and cleaning practices. If they actively look to conserve energy in their kitchen and food preparation then they will be able to actively tell you about it.

One of the best things you can do to green your event though is actually the same as greening your home. Look for renewable energy options. Is there any way to power components of your event with energy from solar, wind, or hydroelectric sources? You can also look into powering items through the use of biofuel. For instance, if you need group transportation during your event, say from a parking garage to the venue or between venues, then you could look into using a trolley powered by biofuel. Renewable energy is your best friend when reducing energy consumption at your event. Just start getting creative and you’ll be amazed by how many amazing options begin to pop out of the woodwork!

 

Photo Credits: Berkeley Compton, Meetings Podcast, Elliott Brown

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CFL LED What? Decoding Eco-Friendly Event Lighting.

January 30, 2012 by Thalia Event Design

LED Uplit WaterfallWe love, and that is to say without any hesitation that we absolutely love, everything about event lighting. No matter whether you have a large, small, or somewhere-in-between budget, there is so much flexibility when it comes to lighting concepts that it’s easy to make a dramatic statement in your event. Lighting can transform a room and make you feel as if you are walking through the middle of a Mardi Gras festival cloaked in vibrant purples and greens or moving on the dance floor of a Latin lounge swathed in fiery reds and oranges. Evening parties all around can add breathtaking, eye popping displays to their decor through the use of good lighting, and when it comes to making sure your lighting design is eco-friendly there are a few acronyms to keep in mind.

Light Bulb AssortmentIn the event lighting world, there are two types of bulbs that reign supreme: LED and CFL. LED is the primary type of bulb that dominates the green movement in the lighting arena, and CFL trails behind with a more limited usage due to it’s increased limitations and environmental hazards when compared to the almighty LED leader. While both are much more energy efficient than the traditional incandescent light bulb, LED bulbs lead the pack for the following reasons:

  1. They require only half the electricity to power as a CFL bulb, and they take only one tenth of the energy required to power a incandescent light.
  2. They have no mercury in them while CFL bulbs contain an average of 5mg of mercury.
  3. Bulbs that are LED lit are made to be more durable and will stay cool over time, making them the more efficient lighting option.
  4. LED bulbs has a wider array of uses compared to CFL bulbs, making them more popular in lighting equipment. For instance, the color spectrum available with LED bulbs covers the largest range of colors available from any bulb on the market.

If you have the choice, always opt for LED lighting over any other option. It’s the more advances technology and offers a high quality light display with a low environmental impact. With that being said though, if LED is not available then don’t hesitate to go with a CFL lighting design in its place. CFL lighting is still leaps and bounds ahead of incandescent bulbs, and you can achieve a high Green Uplighting on Treequality, innovative look very easily by using equipment powered with CFLs. The good news with sustainable event lighting is that it costs vendors less money to supply equipment that uses LED or CFL bulbs, so it isn’t terribly difficult to find. It’s unlikely for you to be stuck with an outdated and unsustainable lighting design that uses incandescent bulbs due to this.

Almost anything that requires lighting has an LED or CFL option, from large stage uplighting projects all the way down to the individual battery powered tealight and votive candles. Talking to lighting vendors will help you find that perfect choice to elevate your event to the next level, and remembering the LED and CFL acronyms will go a long way toward decreasing your event’s energy consumption. You can literally power an event for ten percent of what it used to take just a decade ago, so dive into this piece of your event’s design knowing that the lighting decisions you make will be both beautiful and healthy for our planet.

 

Photo Credits: Jen Goldstein, Scott Sandars, Trent TSD

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Why a Wedding Website is a Must for Your Green Wedding

January 25, 2012 by Thalia Event Design

Wedding websites have become very popular over the years and have grown into a tool for brides and grooms to communicate with guests about everything from the invitations and RSVPs to gift registries and even blogging about the process of planning the wedding. There are no limits to what a couple can include on their wedding website, so the appeal of having one is pretty large considering how versatile they can be for each couple. With a green wedding, a wedding website is one of the most eco-friendly ways you can make information readily available to your guests. Considering how convenient it is and that there are many free wedding website templates available online, this is Vera Wang Wedding Website Templateone thing that every engaged couple needs to incorporate in their wedding planning process.

We’ve already said that the options of what to include on your wedding website are really limitless, but there are some things that should always make their way onto the page. For instance, most of the information that makes your wedding invitations should also be included on your website. Items like the location of the ceremony and reception venues along with driving directions, the wedding date and time, and ways for guests to contact you with questions and well wishes. It’s also a good idea to add details about accommodations you’ve made for your guests, both with lodging and transportation. Use your website to communicate with guests about room block arrangements, and if you have planned for any group transportation then include this information as well. The golden rule with any wedding site is to consider if the information is beneficial to guests, and if it is then it’s probably a wise decision to add it.

Engagement PhotographAnother thing that couples sometimes overlook including on their site is the story of how they got engaged. Many guests will want to know the story behind the wedding, and this is a great way for guests to become more familiar with both the future bride and groom. Out of town guests in particular tend to appreciate the proposal story being included since they are more likely to be the people who haven’t met one half of the happy couple.

The wedding trip itinerary should also be hosted on the wedding site, and with this you will also want to let guests know about any activities that have been scheduled around the wedding. For instance, if there will be a formal dinner rehearsal then tell your guests that they will need to plan for formal attire for that evening. No guest likes to be caught off guard with something like this at the last minute, especially if it sticks them with an unnecessary shopping bill to get something appropriate to wear to a specific event. If any of your activities will require guests to bring something out of the ordinary then include a quick note on these items as well.

Black and White Wedding PhotographFinally, and most importantly, you can’t forget photos and video! Your wedding website is the perfect way for you to share photographs and videography from the the ceremony and reception along with photos from any fun moments throughout the planning process. Guests who couldn’t attend your wedding will be thrilled to have the opportunity to see it as if they had been there, and you can include a link for guests who want to purchase printed photos or recordings for themselves. Your family, friends, and all of those new in-laws will love seeing your special day recorded on film.

There are so many more things you can choose to add to your site outside of these items, and if it pertains to your wedding and will help your guests then go for it. You can include a digital guestbook for guests to sign, an area for guest music requests and suggestions, a wedding FAQ, bridal party bios, maps to go with the aforementioned driving directions, the story of how you first met, or even a scanned copy of the invitation or wedding program. Just be careful not to go too crazy and inundate your guests with more information than they may need or want. You don’t want to lose the important stuff in a mix of not-so-important things.

Outdoor Bride and Groom's Wedding WalkSo in short, plan to include, at a minimum, the following items on your wedding website:

  1. Wedding date, time, and location
  2. Driving directions
  3. Contact information
  4. Lodging accommodations
  5. Transportation arrangements
  6. Wedding itinerary
  7. Clothes and Items to Pack
  8. Engagement story
  9. Gift registry links
  10. Photos and video

These details about your wedding will provide your guests with all of the basic information that they need to easily plan to attend your special day. The wedding website is one of the most convenient tools to communicate with your guests, so don’t overlook it in the process of trying to get everything completed. If nothing else, you’ll be surprised by how much time is saved just having a wedding website. We’ll guarantee that you’ll get at least 50% fewer calls and emails from guests with questions about what to bring, what to wear, where to go, how to get there, and all the other fun details that every invitee needs to know.

 

Photo Credits: William Arthur Fine Stationery, Brian Tomlinson, Christina Ramey, Vincent van der Pas

1 Comment / Tags: , , , , , , , / Posted in Engagement, Gift Registry, Guests, Wedding Website

Five Great Tips to Create a Green Gift Registry

January 19, 2012 by Thalia Event Design

Tree SaplingGetting married? Throwing one amazing birthday party? How about celebrating an anniversary milestone? Your gift registry may be required due to any of these reasons or a multitude of others, and if you are interested in hosting a green event then your registry is a part of that as well. I know, greening your gifts may seem a little extreme, but let’s be honest here. If you are hosting a green event already, you probably are pretty eco-friendly at home as well. Shouldn’t your gifts reflect this part of you and your party?

We’re going to walk you through five different ways you can green up that registry of yours without having to sacrifice anything that you want. The days of being limited to having a tree planted in your name are over (though that’s still a great way to go green!), so let’s see what other options you can consider to making that perfect and sustainable registry:

1) Create Registries with Eco-Friendly Retailers: There are a ton of retailers out there nowadays, especially once you consider internet as well as brick and mortar retailers, that specialize in providing green products. You can find a green version of practically everything if you look, and there are a number of places that specialize in selling these different items. Begin with your favorite eco-friendly stores and brands when creating your registry; this is one of the easiest ways to guarantee that the gifts you receive are eco-friendly, and the money the company earns is also being reinvested into sustainable brands.

Wedding Gift2) Incorporate Greener Versions of Items You Request: Don’t want to register with a strictly eco-friendly company? That’s perfectly okay. Some people’s favorite stores simply aren’t sustainable at this time as the green movement is still considered new and developing within the market, and you don’t have to forgo these places simply because some businesses are still working on catching up to being more environmentally sustainable. Instead, try to register for the green items the retailer does provide, and be cognizant that you don’t accidentally add something to the list that doesn’t belong. If you add appliances then look for those with an Energy Star seal, and the same goes for electronics. Many basic household items can be made with post-consumer recycled material as well, so keep an eye out for these choices. Items made with renewable resources and with a focus on decreasing consumption and waste can easily make up the bulk of your registry.

3) Allow Guests to Make Donations to Sustainable Causes Through Your Registry: This one is really easy to do, so there’s really no reason not to if you want an eco-friendly gift registry for your wedding or party. Since your green registry should always been available online for guests to make purchases, work with the registry host to allow guests to make donations to sustainable causes during the checkout process. You can even find organizations that create registries with this as a gift option if you would prefer to have donations made in your name to environment groups. Either way, it’s such a simple and flexible option that we encourage everyone to consider doing this to help a cause, green or otherwise if that doesn’t float your boat.

Palm Leaf4) Work with Retailers Who Donate Proceeds to Environmental Nonprofits: Just like how Target donates 5% of purchases back to educational causes, there are many retailers who also donate a portion of their proceeds to environmental groups. A number of our event service vendors actually fall into this category, and oftentimes a retailer who participates in this type of program will allow you to choose the nonprofit you want to receive the funds. These companies are another great option to make your registry more sustainable.

5) Register with Local Businesses in Your Area: Our last tip for today on this topic is to keep it local, which is our mantra for just about everything if you want to keep it green. Decreasing transportation needs specific to your gift registry is vital to keeping it eco-friendly. On top of that you can help create jobs in your area by keeping money in your local economy, and you do this by buying locally. Don’t ever underestimate the impact that local purchasing has on the environment. If you choose only one of these tips to implement, go with this one. It makes the biggest impact by far on your event, the environment, and your community.

 

Photo Credits: Blaise Alleyne, Walt Stoneburner, Skylar JoCo

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