Going Green With Style: Wedding Attire

Your wedding dress is a pretty important part of your wedding day, so when it comes to going green on this aspect of your wedding, there are some choices to make. First of all, it takes fuel and, sometimes, overseas labour to make those beautiful wedding gowns. A lot of times the gowns are made with non-organic materials and while this is just a small factor none the less, it is a factor. Here are some ways to go green with your wedding gown while keeping with style and helping good old mother earth.

Consider buying your wedding gown from an eco-friendly vendor. Get Conscious has some beautiful wedding gowns that are made from hemp and are eco-friendly (see pictures below). They can also custom design a dress for you out of their earth friendly materials. Some other great resources for eco-friendly bridal wear are Thread Head Creations and Rawganique.com. Rawganique is a full on organic linen shop with men's wear, women's wear, towels, sheets; you name it in linen, it's there! This would be a great shop to get the groom and groomsmen outfitted for a casual wedding.


Donate your wedding dress to a charitable cause. The I Do Foundation accepts dress donations that help to raise money for a charity of your choice. Bridal Garden is also a great charitable cause. A resale shop in New York, Bridal Garden donates their proceeds to children's charities in New York. I know a lot of people are doing "trash the dress sessions" after their wedding day and I will agree you do get some amazing pictures from them, but they are wasteful, and therefore, not eco-friendly. Sorry guys, just telling the truth!

Wear a vintage wedding dress. I read an article one time about 3 sisters who all wore their mom's wedding dress, but had it altered and the design changed for each of them so it looked like 3 different dresses. I wish I could find that article again, but talk about meaningful! And totally eco-friendly!

Bridesmaid dresses
I hate to say it but most of these dresses are worn for the wedding, then they find a permanent home in the back of the closet. For a more eco-friendly take on this, let your bridesmaids choose their own dress but in your specified color. That way the dress has a larger chance of being worn more than once. Plus it makes for a fun and interesting bridal party! Another idea for bridesmaids dresses is, again, donate them to charity. The Glass Slipper Project and Fairy Godmothers Inc. are both charities that work to put dresses in the hands of underprivileged teens who can't afford a prom dress.

All in all, charities and buying dresses made from organic sources are your best bets to going green with your wedding attire. Good luck with your efforts to go green!