It’s Earth Day!  We consider “being green” a lot more than just a trend.  It’s been a lifestyle for us the past nine years!

Here are a few ways we do our best to care about the planet as well as a few wedding suggestions keeping Mother Nature in mind.

Locally grown flowers  are the most wonderful kind, and when in season we use lots of them.  There are a lot of farms in Wisconsin, Indiana & Michigan (aside from Illinois) that truck into the city after an early morning harvest so we can pick the freshest blooms from them.  They come direct from the farm eliminating the middle man, extra trucking, extra packaging and extra cost there so that money goes straight to our farmer’s pockets.  Many of these farms grow all varieties of crops and do their best to offer organic or pesticide free produce, and we all know how important that is.

This gorgeous bridal bouquet designed by Caleb is comprised of all locally grown flowers.  The bride provided her own canisters as vases on the table which she then up-cycled and used in her home.

We also use lots of vintage vases and other vessels for weddings.  They’re rented and we find them while we salvage through estate sales and antique malls, therefore not contributing to the process of MAKING MORE THINGS.  They’re old, they’re pretty, we like them.  Blue mason jars, compotes, rustic boxes, milk glass, salvaged candle pillars.  Our vintage collection is entirely 2nd hand and not only helps reduce waste by reusing, it also look amazing at weddings.

Photo above from Jennifer Kathryn & Jaclyn Simpson Photography.  Photo below from Dean Thorsen Photography.

You might be surprised to find out how much we love plants around here at Fleur.  And we love terrariums.  Using potted plants at weddings is a wonderful way to stay green as well as offer guests the most lovely take away gift.  See our previous post on how to create your own terrarium!

Photo below by Jennifer Kathryn Photography.

And be non traditional with your party decor!  Wheat grass is amazing!  Use lots of beeswax candles!  There are so many ideas out there, and very simple to find.

Here are a few more great links for greening your wedding: The Green Guide Bride, Eco Wedding and  The Great Green Wedding.

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I also make staff a little crazy with going green.  We reuse all of our floral deliver boxes to ship your flowers to your wedding.  The leftovers are returned to our wholesaler to be reused or recycled.  This may sound a little over the top, but makes a huge difference.., we rarely use paper towels at Fleur.  We have lots and lots of rags to wipe down counters, dust, dry our hands and clean.  When they’re dirty I bring them home to launder and use eco-friendly detergent.  We also try our best to limit our water in-take (and we’re fixing that sink next week!).  All our soaps and spray cleaners are all from Seventh Generation cleaning supplies and we suggest rather than adding floral “food” to your fresh cut flowers, change the water daily and wash the vase.  Add a few ice cubes to keep bacteria from forming.

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And what do I do at home?  I’m that person that guerilla-style recycles everything.  Since we don’t have the blue recycling bins in our neighborhood, Davey and I bring all our paper, plastic and glass to neighborhoods that DO have them.  We also turn off the water while we brush our teeth.  I pay most of my bills online.  We’re careful to turn off our lights when we leave rooms and I use wheat litter for Bootleg & Tippie’s litter box.

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Our world is very special.  I hope you enjoy this Earth Day and every other day as well.

xo!