Flavour Heaven

My favourite vendor of all time has to do with sweets, of 'course. I'm a sweet-a-holic and I don't understand people who don't like chocolate - I have no idea what that would be like...

The best cake lady in the world is Lesia Kohut from LPK's Culinary Groove. None can compare in either flavour, allergy options and sustainability. Everything she makes is as local, organic and delicious as she can make it and she has perfected the tasty vegan cake. You wouldn't know it was anything but buttery deliciousness - until you taste HER buttery deliciousness and then there's no turning back.

Her lovelies are not for the faint of heart in the budget category but if you are big on flavour as well as beauty, it's worth every extra cent.

I dream of cake for my fifth anniversary...3 years to go!

Sari Cake - custom made by LPK's Culinary Groove

Featured in Weddingbells

Men in Green

Not forgetting the gentlement getting married, to brides or each other...they like to look nice too!

Beyond the very sustainable tuxedo rental, many men are opting to go with a second hand suit. Also, treating yourself to a bespoke suite is a  well deserved treat that will look fantastic, fit you perfectly and you can wear over and over.

Not limited to black, the current trend is to lighter colours - depending on the season - with brown and beige being popular for summer and fall weddings and pale gray for spring. Pair this with the new cravat tie and a finer groom none shall see.

 

courtesy of The Tie Specialist

Finding a suit in sustainable fabrics is a little tougher but there are companies around who do offer such animals. Take the lovely hemp suit from BC: Rawganique They have a wide range of options and it's all made in North America and stunning.

Friday Tip - Florals

This week's Friday Tip is about Sustainable Floral Decor

Atmosphere is what all the little bits and pieces and event elements are all about. Lights, decor, music, guests, food, beverages, venue - all come together to create a certain kind of atmosphere. So firstly you want to figure out what kind of atmosphere you are going for - once you've decided that the rest of your choices will be far easier if you keep it uppermost in your mind.

A solid sustainable choice for the 'look and feel' of your event starts with your venue. The more interesting the venue, the less decor you will need to truck in to create an atmosphere. If you are lucky enough to live in or near Toronto, there is a plethora of interesting venues that require little or no decor beyond some mood lighting.

If you are stuck with an empty box, because of location or numbers, you need to look at adding some decor and for most wedding events one starts with the flowers. Or not, lots can be achieved with LED room lighting, candles and mirrors and flowers can be ignored entirely! Or opt for an edible centerpiece - yummm

DIY
If you have any wild spots near you or on your way somewhere, why not pick your own flowers? At least for a wedding bouquet, you can collect flowers the day before. You know they'll be in season, local, fair trade and likely pesticide-free. This works just as wonderfully for dressing a seasonal table or for small arrangements on cocktail tables.


Sustainable Florist
The next step up the event chain is to hire a professional. You'd think most flowers are eco-friendly because they are organic matter and can be composted - but you'd be wrong. The flower business is a cut-throat nasty business that can, and often does, employ people at below live-able wages, raids the land within an inch of it's life and exotic flowers are flown and trucked many un-sustainable miles to get to your local florist.

Welcome the eco-friendly florist - not an easy line to be in. If people are counting on red roses for Mother's Day or the rare purple orchid for their bouquet, it's hard to say no to a client if there was a blight in your local crop or if the only orchids available are not sustainable. This is where some fabulous intrepid people have taken the extra step and chosen to provide the public with both a sustainable model and an education. In Toronto you'll find Eco Stems and EcoFlora (links below). They've put sustainability above giving their clients the moon and maintained offering stylish possibilities.


Asking for local flora
If you don't have one of these fantastic types of people in your neighbourhood you can ask your lovely local florist to provide you with only locally available flora and to please hold the pesticides. Most don't like using stuff that has come into contact with poisons either so it's not a terrible hardship. Some don't  have the connections to local growers, so it can be a challenge finding the variety you might otherwise prefer.

Fair Trade and Organic
Next down the list is fair trade and organic and, thankfully, most florists have some sources for these kinds of stems - yay green marketing trends. Not quite as green as going whole hog local but definitely worth the extra penny IF you can verify that the flowers are fair trade and organic. This is where a little bit of research can help you out.

Silk or Edible
Not the bad thing that 'fake flowers' implies - there may be local artists who make stunning creations out of sugar paste, marzipan or silk. If you think you might use the flowers again, tasteful fabric arrangements made by a local person might be just the ticket (depending on where the fabric came from - yeah I know, I'm tired now too!). See my previous Friday Tip on edible arrangements - way happy with those!

Video on How to Select Sustainable Florals. (Thanks Scott from EcoFlora for sending it around!)

Here are some useful resources and check out the Canadian Seasonal Flower Guide at the end courtesy of Flowers Canada.

Articles

Article from Garden Design Magazine - Identifying Sustainable Flowers
Article about flowers from Tree Hugger
The Footprint of Flowers - Tree Hugger
The Beyond Organic Show
Many articles on sustainable growing from Planet Green

Florists in Toronto

Eco Stems

Eco Flora

Ontario
Pick Ontario

British Columbia
In Bloom
 
US Florist
Organic Bouquet

Seasonal Guide to Flowers:

Available All Year:
Baby's Breath (white)
Bachelor's Button (white, pink, red, or blue)
Carnation (available in any color)
Gardenia (white)
Gladiolus (countless colors)
Lily of the Valley (white and pink)
Orchid (pink, purple, and white)
Rose (available in any color)
Stephanotis (white)

Winter Flowers:
Calla Lily (white)
Camellia (pink and white)
Forget-Me-Not (blue)
Holly (green with red berries)
Ivy (various greens in color)
Orchid (pink, white, and purple)
Poinsettia (red, white, and pink)
Tulip (available in many colors) 

Spring Flowers:
Anemone (available in many colors)
Apple Blossom (white)
Calla Lily (usually white but available in a few other colors)
Daffodil (yellow)
Forsythia (yellow)
Geranium (red and pink)
Hyacinth (white, purple, or pink)
Iris (many colors available)
Jonquil (pale yellow)
Lilac (violet or white)
Larkspur (blue)
Magnolia (white)
Narcissus (white)
Orange Blossom (white)
Tulip (available in any color)
Violetrichly (purple)

Summer Flowers:
Aster (available in white, pink, and rose)
Calla Lily (available in several colors)
Daisy (white with a tiny bit of yellow)
Hydrangea (purple)
Forget-Me-Not (blue)
Peony (available in pink, magenta, or white)
Sweet Pea (available in many colors)
Zinnia (red, orange, or pink)

Fall Flowers:
Aster (white, pink, or rose)
Chrysanthemum (red, gold, or white)
Dahlia (available in many colors)
Marigold (gold and red)
Zinnia (red, orange, or pink)

DIY - Why?

DIY can look really polished and classy, if you find the right resources. You don't even have to be that handy, just prepared to follow directions.

DIY can often mean significant savings in both budget and environmental impact but does require time - something not many couples have, which is why they hire a planner. Not all planners will do crafty things, so ask first before you start piling on the 'do-make' list.

Here are some useful sites:

My DIY Wedding Day, from The Wedding Channel

Martha Stewart - Card Making (yeah I know, but the how-to's are well done)

Marth Stewart Weddings

Craftster (real people making art - excellent resource)

Links to crafting resources in Toronto (care of Toronto Craft Alert)

Here's what nonsense I got up to for my wedding:

1. Made paper art as part of the single card invitation. Can't tell you how much fun it is to wallow in wet paper sludge and make art with squirt bottles of coloured paper. Signed every invite which was affixed to archival paper - instant frameable stuff.
   
2. Had my dress made by a local dressmaker. I wanted to wear green silk - handmade was the only option and it was the most cost-effective. Denver Fabrics Online provided the silk.
3. Maid of Honour made the beautiful wee handbag that went with the dress.
4. Made my necklace and bracelet from gold, pearls and garnet beads - to match the engagement ring, which was made by a family friend.
   
5. Venue was perfect in it's Edwardian splendor so just added fall-coloured ivy collected that morning from the neighbourhood as tie-backs for the existing drapery.
6. An intrepid bride's helper dressed up the frames of parental and grandparent bridal photos with red maple leaves between the glass and the photo.
7. Made a guest book out of silk and a scrapbook and added blank pages for people to draw, colour and comment. Included a pile of markers, stickers and fun pens. The kids had a blast.
8. Made programs - two to a sheet of 8.5x11 transparent paper, stamped the back with leaf stamp in copper ink.
   
9. Made thank you cards with a stamp of a leaf skeleton, in keeping with the leaf embedded in each invitation.
   

Ok, so I had a lot of time on my hands but it really didn't take long to do all this up in the end. Writing all the thank you notes took longer and was way more painful!

 

 

Music is Key

Key to creating an appropriate atmosphere, making your guests comfortable and reverent at the ceremony, helping them have a good time at your party and winding down at the end of the festivities.

How you create this atmosphere really depends on your personality as well as considering the expectations of your guests. Remember, you are the hosts of your first major shindig as a couple...it is about you but it is also about everyone else!

Ceremony Music
Your guests arrive about 30 to 20 minutes before the ceremony. Do they sit in awkward silence waiting for you to arrive or would you like some beautiful music to set the scene for your grand entrance? Are you in a church with strict music policies or in an open field, far from electricity and any walls the music can bounce off of? These things need to be considered and shared with your music professionals.

Generally speaking live music works best for the ceremony as the pros can play endlessly for the before music if the ceremony runs late and can adjust on the fly for speedy/slow processions and last minute gaps in the proceedings that can be covered by music. Lovely options are: string group (trio or quartet) - duos with strings can be a smidge thin but still lovely; flute/guitar or flute/harp duo - these combinations are fabulous and can cover all kinds of tunes because of the 'chordal' instrument (guitar/harp). Harp can be more expensive if you have visions of the lovely concert harps - they take about an hour to tune and are bears to travel with so you pay for that time; a single guitarist is quite lovely as well and you might find a bonus singing guitarist.

If you are at a church a little goes a long way because of the accoustics and if you are tight on budget you can ask if the organist will play, if that's to your taste.

If you are outside with at least one wall or structure handy, you can get away with a string group or a flutist with the guitar 'unplugged'. If you are in the middle of a field a guitarist is more likely to be able to bring a small battery operated amplifier in order to be heard and flute will carry regardless. Either way, you will need to provide shade for the musicians as the instruments can be damaged by sun.

Cocktail Hour
This is a nice transition time for your guests while they wait for you to take your pictures, if you didn't do it beforehand. Consider keeping the musicians from the ceremony for the cocktail hour, provided they are in the same location or not far. Live music again is a really classy touch for not much money and never fails to impress. Professional musicians will be able to read the crowd and will have a wide variety of music to amuse and even take the occasional request. String groups are somewhat less likely to have a pops/jazz book but be sure to ask.

Reception
Ah, the reception music. DJ? Live Band? Jazz? Rock? Classical? The possibilities are endless and you could have a combination of all of the above to really build the excitement and energy. Imagine a live duo or pianist doing classical music during dinner and a live band taking over the dance floor. Or perhaps the DJ will run the rest of the evening or even the entire reception. Personally, I'm a fan of the small ensemble or pianist during dinner - way classy and gives people a form of live entertainment to amuse.

The above may be slightly skewed to the 'live music is best' line as I am also a professional musician, but I sincerely believe that real people-powered music gives a great deal of class and positive energy to any occasion.

Thoughts on favors

Favors, a History -

Little bits of luck from the couple to their guests. That's what it's all about from the ancient pieces of bread broken over the heads of the bridal couple to bejewelled boxes of sugar, 5 almonds of prosperity, jordan almonds, sugared candy...to the ever so special plastic slipper filled with coloured balls of the '80's. Little bits of luck.

What does luck mean to you? You wish to say thank you and spread a little joy and love to the guests you've invited to be a part of your special day - nice! Those of you who are sustainably minded may want to consider the impact of such little gifts of lucky love will have on the environment.

Consider the following options (in descending order of my preference):

A hug. A hug is love and a direct contact of the bridal couple to your guest could be passing on the marriage luck to everyone who gets a hug or handshake. Wash your hands first. This is also a budget saver and most people don't know what to do with the extra chatchkas that collect from the weddings they go to.

Many couples are opting to forgo the favor in favour of a donation to a charity or cause - spreading the love to a wider circle. Another nice option.

Food. Edible favors are a big way to lessen the impact - depending of 'course on how you package your wee treat. A box adds paper; Fabric wrap is yet more trash - why not have a lovely display on a glass platter of your treats, together with a thank you card in front of the stand, and folks can take the chocolate/fruit cake/truffle if they want it/can eat it. A bowl of candies - those silver almonds are pretty - can be lovely too, on a table near the exit at leaving time.

Double Duty. Make your invitation a piece of art that your guests can frame; perhaps a nice photograph on a magnet back as a 'save the date'?

Something Useful. How about a reusable water bottle? And if you have the budget, you can customize it - preferably with a tasteful graphic rather than your names and wedding date. Much as your friends and family love you, trust me - they don't want stuff written on their mugs, cups or bottles, it doesn't usually go with their place settings. This company has a lovely stainless steel bottle in nice colours and they'll customize it for you. http://www.stopcorporateabuse.org/custombottles

Growing favors. Fine, give me something to plant and assume I a) have a garden, b) have time to plant it, c) it's a local plant that will thrive in my climate, d) the landlord will allow a pine tree on his postage-stamp lawn. Wildflowers are an easier item to find a place for and all one has to do is open the package and fling them onto the lawn, but then again - here's hoping your guest owns their lawn. I think a better option is to grow cooking herbs in small pots that will survive in a window sill in an apartment building. They'll smell nice and are more likely to get some use. I can't tell you the guilt that has collected on my shoulders at all the beautiful little tree seedlings that I didn't have time or a location to plant.

You are providing a fun party on the occasion of your wedding - sometimes that's thanks enough.

Friday Tip - Guests

This week's Friday Tip is about the number one thing you can do to have a sustainable wedding - keep the numbers down!

You may find yourself in a family situation that insists on inviting every relative on the planet and you just may not have a choice, there will be more tips later on how to be sustainable with those crazy 400-guest parties, don't fret!

Every guest incurs a portion of food, a place setting, a chair, a napkin, a place card, a favor (more on those later), an invitation, a thank you note, hors d'oeuvres, a beverage or two, travel to and from, possibly a hotel room, a fancy outfit, a gift...it all adds up - alarmingly! If you drop only 10 people from your list, that's an entire table of all the above listed bits and pieces.

This is the area of most impact on both budget and sustainability so consider carefully who really needs to be a witness to one of the most spiritually intimate moments of your life with your partner. Ask yourselves some tough questions: Who is this person? Why are we being asked to invite them? Is it for my mother's business relationships or because it's my Mum's best friend? Am I really angling for a lot of money or gifts? (be honest!) What is this person's relationship to our relationship? Who's wedding is this anyway? Will my Father never speak to me again if we don't invite his dentist (this is important too!)? Remember also that you won't be able to see and chat to everyone if you have a wedding of more than 150 people, and even that's a stretch.

Ultimately what really matters is that you and your beloved show up and some official type person to perform the legal part of the ceremony (you could even grab a witness off the street if you had to). Everything else - the guests, the ribbon colours, the shape of the napkin art, the canapes - all just added gravy to the special moment between you. At the very moment of you two making your commitment - you will not see, hear or care about anything else. Embrace the singleness of that moment and don't sweat the rest.

Fun With Food

For my party-people out there and Mums with toddlers, this link I found wandering about my Twitter feed made me smile! http://www.funkylunch.com/gallery.htm

I love the 'fun with food' concept...again with the edible art! Bring joy and comfort to a meal and still make it sustainable. I guess I'm on a decorate with food kick.

Multipurpose; Re-purpose; Don't purchase - this is the best start to a more sustainable approach to all your celebrations.

Colour and Fruit

I've been exploring colour and unique yet sustainable options for a client and have been running with the idea of edible centerpieces.

Large bunches of deep purple grapes with plums, lemons and greenery look beautiful done up in either a clear deep bowl or a brown tuscan vase. All these are in keeping with next year's colour trends and best of all the fruit can be donated or taken home for consumption.

Another fun idea for the lemons...use lemons as escort cards and have a lemonade stand making a signature lemon cocktail before the reception.