Something Old, Something New, Something Green

THE PROCESS
We got married in November. And while it was a wonderful, amazing, gorgeous and all around fantabulous adventure, I’m happy it’s now behind us. Being a do-it-yourselfer, I planned and prepped the whole shebang. It was an endeavor but I wouldn’t have had it any other way. I guess I kind of consider myself a somewhat granola, hipsterish type so friends and family were not surprised by our Reduce, Reuse, Recycle “themed” wedding at Springdale Farm. I put quotation marks around themed because it’s not so much as a theme but our lifestyle, really. Also because I don’t like to spend money on things I can (or at least think I can) do myself (see Dino-rawrs).

I knew that we could plan a wedding that was a reflection of us without spending thousands of dollars on items that were going to be used for one event (again with the thrifty). Once that seed was planted, I started looking for ways to make that happen. Following sites such as craftgawker.com and pinterest.com, an idea to use mason jars as a flower vase translated into using a spaghetti jar as a centerpiece. I wanted to use as many things that I already had or could easily get. That’s where friends, family and our new neighborhood (yay Brentwood, you rock!) came into play. I reached out to family and friends and posted a notice on our neighborhood listserv asking for glass jars, wine bottles, tin cans, fabric and anything else they thought might make for cool decorations for a farm wedding. The response was overwhelming. I’d come home to find bags of recyclables on our front porch. People were emailing me asking if I needed candles or glass votives that they had left over from their own weddings or if I wanted to borrow the 100 wine glasses in their garage.

For items we needed to purchase, such as vintage crocheted table runners and doilies or silverware, Craigslist, eBay, Etsy and various thrift stores around town were the answer.

My bouquet was a dried flower bouquet from Etsy that is now part of the decor that sits on our dining room table.

Most of the dinner and dessert plates were purchased by my mother-in-law from thrift stores in Houston. Side note, she accidentally purse-dialed me and I got to hear her conversation with one of the ladies at a thrift store. It went something like this, “They’re having an outdoor wedding. They’re vegetarians and they recycle. They’re recyclists.”

I really tried to buy my dress second-hand, but just couldn’t find “the one”. Craigslist is all about right time, right place and I couldn’t search forever. It was on sale for over half-off and I saved money by wearing my old, comfy cowboy boots if that counts. Flip side, my husband was able to find his vintage 3-piece suit on Etsy. A few alterations and it was good to go.

My necklace was commissioned to my dearest friend Amy Huff. I sent her some pearls I had won at a benefit and she used those, along with some vintage pieces she had picked up and made a stunning addition to my wedding ensemble. Love her.

NOT YOUR ORDINARY BRIDAL SHOWER
There’s probably no surprise that there was no traditional bridal shower for me. Instead, I invited family and friends to our house for a wedding craft party. In lieu of gifts, I asked that they give me their time and help with making the décor for the wedding. It was such a huge success. We got done in one afternoon what would have taken me weeks on my own. It was great having them actually be a part of creating the wedding, not just attending.

We painted and adorned glass jars and bottles for the floral centerpieces that were the favors the guests took home. We drilled holes in tin cans and cut the bottoms off of wine bottles for luminaries along the paths. Cloth napkins were cut from fabric scraps and rolled on silverware. Donated card stock was used for our invitations and tags for the wedding favors. I also made cake/macaron plates by gluing painted candlesticks to the bottoms of china plates.

Most of the ideas came from various websites, but with my twists and tweaks. I wasn’t ever looking for anything particular. I would stumble across different ideas and add them to my Pinterest board. I ended up choosing the projects that would work best with the items we had collected.

ZERO WASTE
To help with our wedding day green initiatives such as composting and logistics, we worked with Emily Khan of Green Fern Events. With her assistance, we were able to have a ZERO WASTE wedding! How you like them apples?

As a result of our recycling/food compost efforts as well as implementing many green strategies to the wedding planning process, we only had one 17 pound bag of trash post-event. Everything else was either recycled, set aside for re-use, or composted.

RECYCLABLES: 59 pounds or 42%
ORGANICS RECYCLING: 68 pounds or 49%
TRASH: 12 pounds or 9%

RESULT: 91% of the waste generated from the party was diverted from a landfill! Anything over 90% is considered ZERO WASTE.

THE FOOD
By the way, need to give a huge shout-out to Meg Schwartz of Spoon & Co who created an amazing seasonal menu, sourced from local food purveyors. Read on to get your mouth watering:

Passed and Stationary Appetizers

• Artisan Cheese Board with Pickles and Preserves served with Warm Bread and Crackers
• Warm Goat Cheese & Hemp Seed Cakes with Candied Jalapenos
• Texas Pecan & Quinoa Flatbread with Avocado, Almonds & Microgreens

Buffet Dinner

• Mom’s Organic Baked Fried Chicken and Gravy
• Mac ‘n Cheese with Full Quiver Cheddar
• Roasted Spiced Butternut Squash and Fall Roots with Thyme and Orange
• Brussels Sprout Hash with Fall Greens & Smokey Roasted Tomatoes
• Big Leafy Salad with “ Best of the market Bits” and a Herby Vinaigrette

RECOGNITION? WHAT?
Turns out that there was some interest in my wedding theme. Who knew? My story got picked up by the Austin-American Statesman and got a nice little write-up. Click to view a scan of the article.

MORE PHOTOS TO ENJOY

If you’re REALLY interested, you can see more photos at www.suzanneandjairy.com.