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Have
a Simple, Small, Green Wedding
by: Debra Lynn Dadd
A wedding is one of life's major rites of passage. It is certainly
something to celebrate! Today, wedding books and magazines promote
large weddings so that more and more wedding products can be sold.
Wedding expenditures run into many thousands of dollars. And after
this major outlay of money, most of what is purchased is never
used again.
On the Spring Equinox 2004, my ex-husband (yes, that's right!
my ex-husband!) Larry and I remarried. We had been together for
almost seventeen years, and had divorced several years ago when
our relationship problems seemed impossible to resolve. But we
still loved each other, so we figured out what to do to make things
better, and are now happier than ever.
In planning our wedding, we wanted to keep it simple, small, and
full of meaning. We wanted a ceremony and celebration that would
be easy to prepare for and manage. We wanted an intimate occasion,
surrounded by our closest friends who would participate with us
in the intention of our union. And as we planned our wedding,
we used the same guidelines for health and the environment that
we practice in our daily home life.
Since most books and articles are about planning big weddings,
I want to offer some tips on planning another sort of wedding
that can be beautiful and meaningful in it's own way.
· Make it your day. Each wedding can and should be a unique
expression of the couple getting married. So create the day just
the way you want it, to please the two of you.
· Choose the wedding traditions that are important to you.
When it comes right down to it, the essentials of a wedding are
the two people to be married, the minister or justice of the peace
who performs the ceremony, the ceremony itself, and the guests
who witness it. Everything else is decoration and tradition. Learn
about wedding traditions and choose to do those that will make
your day special.
· Write your own ceremony. The entire reason for having
a wedding, really, is the ceremony. The most important aspect
of a wedding is not the decorations, but the vows and intentions
that are stated in the ceremony and that you give to each other.
Research the time-honored patterns to wedding ceremonies and follow
this pattern in your own personal way.
· Invite meaningful guests. When you have a small number
of guests, you can spend more time with them and really experience
their presence. Minimum is just the two of you, the minister,
and a witness. Invite family and friends with whom you have real
relationships. Eliminate those that might be invited out of social
obligation.
· Have your wedding at home, either indoors or in your
garden, or in a park. Rather than spending a lot of money on floral
arrangements, we put that money into tidying up our back yard
and planting perennial flowers that we are still enjoying today.
Looking back on our wedding day, we are very pleased with our
simple, small wedding. We were able to relax and enjoy the day
and experience the love and support of our best friends. Best
of all, we still had energy left for the honeymoon...
For many more details on planning your simple, small, green wedding
(including choosing flowers, rings, clothing and reciption, and
photos of Debra's wedding), visit http://www.debraslist.com/wedding,
and click on "You are invited to... My Simple, Small, Green
Wedding". Debra is also available as a consultant to help
you plan your wedding.
About The AuthorHailed as "The Queen of Green" by the
New York Times, Debra Lynn Dadd has been a consumer advocate for
products and lifestyle choices that are better for health and
the environment since 1982. Visit her website for 100s of links
to 1000s of nontoxic, natural and earthwise products, and to sign
up for her free email newsletters. http://www.dld123.com
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