Organic Wedding Venues

Wedding planning takes off with a vengeance now the summer's over and we've got a glittering collection of ethical wedding venues listed right here for you to choose from.

Our fans trust us to find out-of-the-ordinary, quirky, beautiful and dedicated venues across Britain where you can get married or throw a house party or celebration.

We particularly support venues that work to preserve their heritage and buildings, support local growers and producers, work hard to conserve energy and also involve themselves in their local communities.

We've taken the hard work out of finding just the right place and there's something for every occasion and budget in our list of eco friendly venues.

Posted in Green Wedding Venues , Wedding Planning

Planning: Where to Begin?

One question that is certain to come up pretty early on in the wedding planning process is “where do I start?”. Whether you are planning a green wedding or not, the details all seem to hinge on each other - deciding on a venue leads to caterer discussions and then photographers and so on. For us, we decided that the ultimate must-haves in a wedding site were an outdoor venue, and a place that would accommodate our eco-wedding.

Deciding on a venue was a month long process of weighing our options and desires. We initially wanted a wedding site that was on the commuter train line, so everyone traveling into town could easily spend the weekend here without a car. This is not the norm for U.S. travel, and even in a public transportation mecca like Portland, ended up not being feasible for almost all of the wedding venues within our price range.

So, early on, we learned another very important lesson in green wedding planning: be flexible.

We have find an amazing venue, Edgefield McMenamins, and though it’s not on the train line, it will allow for everyone who attends to stay in the adjoining hotel (minimizing the driving around). They have local food and alcohol options, and most importantly we can have the wedding outside.

The choice of a venue has implications for many of the eco-aspects of a wedding, so be sure to ask questions if you are planning a green wedding. Where do they get their food? (This may be less of an issue in the UK, but here in Oregon while we have local food options, you have to seek them out, and they aren’t necessarily the norm.) What types of transportation are available to get to the venue? Do they recycle? Use recycled paper products (or better yet, not use paper products)? While it’s easy to get overwhelmed, for us it was important to remember what our priorities were and be flexible.

Posted by Kerry - Blogger Bride

Posted in Green Wedding Blogger Brides , Natural Nuptials , Venues , Wedding Planning

What is an Interfaith wedding?

While you plot and plan, try on dresses and taste delicious organic locally produced food and cakes, preparing for your big green wedding day, it's sometimes easy to loose the plot, forgetting the true reason for taking this journey.

Janette Blakemore of Sacred Life, an Interfaith Celebrant, has put some thought into the subject and here's her very sound advice about the whole wedding thing. Over to you Janette...

HOW TO CREATE A WEDDING CEREMONY THAT TRULY REFLECTS YOUR VALUES & BELIEFS

To the spirit, relationships are the perfect vehicle to help us walk back into the experience of love, wholeness and unity together.
Miranda Holden

You are thinking about having a Green Wedding because you know that how you choose to spend your resources effects us all and that sustainability matters.

You also know that sustainability in a loving relationship has nothing to do with whether your wedding chair covers match the serviettes!

Posted in Green Wedding Celebrants & Blessings , Civil Partnerships , Wedding Planning

Lovely Green Wedding Event

If you're up in Yorkshire next weekend make time to go along to the Lovely Green Wedding Event at Norristhorpe. There'll be heaps of fun and frolics, and of course a celebration of green and local wedding ideas.

Be warned! If you’re used to the usual wedding fair conveyor belt, go prepared for something refreshingly different. There's an action packed timetable. From hay rides, pints of Black Sheep beer, an eco-couture showcase, organic make-overs and a range of Yorkshire’s finest green wedding innovators, the day is all about proving your wedding can be green but with bags of style. Forget the Jesus sandals and lentils, they’re talking full on sophisticated fun and glamour!

When: Sunday 19 October from 1 pm 'till 4 pm
Where: Low Farm, Lodge Lane, Norristhorpe, Yorkshire, WF15 7LE
How: For directions see website.
How much? Tickets are £10 each or £15 for two which includes an organic fair trade afternoon tea served on vintage china. The day will be a non-profit making event with all the proceeds going to Radio Aire’s Cash for Kids Charity.

To make a ticket reservation please contact Olivia Brabbs on 07779345819 or Claire Ellis on 07778 653501 or e-mail hello@lovelygreenweddings.co.uk

Posted in Green Wedding Events , Inspiration , Wedding Planning

Did you pay for your wedding day on a shoestring?

We've just had a challenging request from The Press Association who're looking for anyone who's wed on an extremely tight budget.

They're looking for women aged between 20 to 50 who celebrated their big day in style despite being restricted by a tight budget of £500 or less. If you managed this I think everyone in the world will want to know how!

If this sounds like you and you'd like to share your story with a national newspaper or women's magazine, do get in touch with Tanya, giving her a brief idea of how you threw your stylish wedding on a budget. She'd also like your telephone number and a recent photo. Don't forget to mention GreenUnion.

By the way, if you're chosen you will receive a fee for your time.

Contact:

Tanya Russell
Features writer
The Press Association
Email: tanya.russell@pa-entertainment.co.uk
Tel: 020 7963 7293

Want to know more about managing your wedding budget? Check out how to Get Started.

Posted in Green Wedding News , Press , Wedding Planning

Most civil ceremonies

I'm often getting emails from eco chic couples wanting to get married outside and asking whether I know of anywhere that this is possible. So I thought it was time to give you all the bad news - you just can't get married, or have your civil partnership ceremony, under god's blue sky either in England or Wales. The law will not allow it, you can only get wed in a venue which has a license to hold civil ceremonies and the license stipulates that there has to be a roof over your head. Stupid I know, but true, especially when we all know that you can marry anywhere you like in Scotland!

The General Register office for England and Wales website will give you all the information you need and direct you to your local register office for more information. You can also get information about getting hitched in Scotland here, and Northern Ireland here.

The compensation for not being able to have a ceremony in the great outdoors is that some venues have bent over backwards to make your wedding or civil partnership a day to remember. We have some fabulous eco friendly venues on GreenUnion. There are historic houses, seaside resorts, farms, contemporary green buildings and even city vaults and they're all run by the nicest people in the world! So before you go anywhere else do check out our partner pages and be inspired.

Posted in Green Wedding Venues , Wedding Planning

Have a guilt free carbon neutral wedding

Going carbon neutral is no easy task. Carbon neutral is defined as emitting no carbon dioxide into the atmosphere which, let's face it, is well nigh impossible when throwing a large event such as a wedding.

How do you calculate the cooking of the food for your reception, the miles driven by your guests, the electricity used for your bridemaids' hairdryers and the best man's trip across town to collect his suit? What about the disco with flashing lights, the champagne shipped from France, and so on?

Now help is at hand through Offset Your Wedding which has been set up by Combat Climate Change to make offsetting a wedding as easy as possible. They've done all the hard work for you by taking into account the sometimes endless factors that go into your wedding day.

Posted in Green Wedding Wedding Planning

How do you plan a low budget eco chic wedding?

Terry emailed GreenUnion the other day not knowing how to start planning his green wedding. He tells me that his budget is £1,500 - I think this must be a record low budget! If he can stick to this amount we'd love to feature the wedding on GreenUnion to prove to all those sceptics out there that going green really can be light on your wallet too.

Now, while we can't give him detailed information as we charge a fee for this service, here are some tips for Terry and every one of you out there in the same boat. Terry met Kelli on the internet and she's still in the States where she lives at present, so its all down to him!

Posted in Green Wedding Wedding Planning

Creating your authentic wedding

GreenUnion's own expert life coach Lesley Stratton-Hughes is holding another of her creative and rewarding workshops this Saturday 13 October in Brighton, UK.

'Creating Your Authentic Wedding' is all about making wedding planning personal, positive and fun. She says wedding planning doesn't have to be stressful and it all depends on how you go about it. So take a step away from the commercial world of celebrity style weddings and let Lesley help you find out how to apply a very personal approach that will make you feel good.

Tickets cost £10 inclusive of tea/coffee and home made cakes, for more information and to reserve your place you can call Lesley on 01273 239869, or send an e-mail to lesley@gettingmarriedinsideout.co.uk

Posted in Green Wedding Health & Wellbeing , Wedding Planning