Yesterday, we talked about eco-friendly weddings. We left off mentioning how rings and dresses can be eco-friendly by going vintage! Let's start with dresses. Most brides want their own dress that is unique and perfect for them. Before you go out and buy a brand new, and most likely expensive dress, stop and think about the alternatives. Most mothers show off their wedding dress to their daughters, mentioning how much they would love for them to wear it on their own wedding day, while most daughters roll their eyes and say something along the lines of "Thanks mom, but it's just not my style". Remember though, vintage is in! Lets all take a moment and actually think back to the day our mothers showed us their wedding dress. Did it have any potential at all? Wearing your mother's dress does not mean you have to wear it in the exact way that she did, make some changes! Bring the dress to a seamstress and have it altered. A seamstress can take sleeves off and make it strapless, bring it in to make it more form fitting, add sequins and lace, or remove sequins and lace. They can make the dress unique and perfect for you, just like you dreamed. To keep it vintage you want to keep the alterations to a minimum, but you can still make it your style with some minor changes. I understand that some of you may not have this option at all. If that is the case, try a vintage store. Yes, the dress belonged to another unknown bride at one point, but no one at your wedding has to know that. Much like using your mother's dress, you can also bring the dress to a seamstress for alterations. Yes, alterations do cost money, but not nearly as much as buying a brand new dress, and it will also save fabric which is eco-friendly! Some of you may still cringe at the idea of wearing your mother's or a stranger's dress, but for those of you who don't, go for it!
Now that we know how to ensure our dress is eco-friendly by going vintage, we can talk about rings. In many families it is tradition for wedding rings to be passed down through generations; what is more eco-friendly than generations of people using the same rings! Having a beautiful piece of your families jewelry passed down to you is incredibly special, and cheaper as well. However, some families do not share this tradition, leaving new brides and grooms to find alternative methods for having eco-friendly rings. Once again, you can go vintage by ring shopping at local vintage stores. Some of the most beautiful rings out there are the vintage ones. For those of you who simply are not comfortable wearing another person's wedding rings, there are jewelers who make eco-friendly rings. These jewelers use recycled metal and conflict free diamonds (diamonds mined, cut, and polished with ethical labor practices). Another great alternative is if you have other gold, silver, or diamond jewelry you can bring it to a local jeweler and have them recycle it into your own personalized engagement ring and wedding bands.
If you are interested in finding eco-friendly rings, Hoover and Strong is a well known, environmentally conscious jewelry manufacturer and distributor.
For vintage wedding dresses and rings, and eco-friendly rings, you can also take a look at etsy.com.
All photos courtesy of Ideal Impressions Photography.
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