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All our news is now posted in our Blog pages. This includes ideas for your wedding, reviews of wedding suppliers and services, inspiration for your wedding day, news of events, wedding fairs, food and wine festivals, ethical fashion shows and other topical happenings that may be of interest to anyone planning an eco friendly event or wedding celebration.

If you have a diary event you'd like us to advertise for you or if you would like us to tell your story, send an email to info@greenunion.co.uk or call us on +44(0)1769 550580.

Esther Ling Photography

Esther Ling is a most creative and intuitive photographer specialising in both weddings and portraiture.

Without Esther's generously shared images this website would be the poorer. Her contemporary reportage style provides the bride and groom with a beautiful 'story book' album of stunning images which capture the feel and essence of their day as it unfurls.

Esther works from her home studio near Diss in the Suffolk countryside where she lives a 'green' lifestyle with her family.

Celebrate on Apple Day

What a brilliant idea for a wedding theme!

Throughout October, wherever apples are grown and loved round the world, communities celebrate their own apple day. In England its 21st October, and throwing a green wedding on, or around Apple Day will go a long way to demonstrating to your guests and the world that you are in tune with the countryside and the seasons.

Celebrate the wonderful variety of our apples which vary from region to region, even village to village in some cases. Have your wedding feast in the midst of an orchard, use apples in your floral decorations, drink apple juice, cider, cider brandy or have a warm apple punch to welcome your guests to the reception.

Apples have fantastic names like Peasgood's Nonsuch, Devonshire Quarrendon, Crawley Beauty, Cornish Honeypin and Scarlet John Standish to name but a few of the 2000+ varieties grown. Use them to name your tables and then use real apples as place names - tie a name tag to each apple stem or write the names of your guests onto the apples with a gold tipped pen, place the apple on a simple white plate at each place setting - it will look like a special jewel and double up as a favour.

Apples are a great ingredient in the wedding feast which could consist of a starter of young and spicy autumn salad leaves with apples, honey and walnuts, a hearty main course of pork with apples and a delicious dessert of baked apples with brown sugar and cinnamon. All would go down a treat.

Find out more about apple day in your region on Common Ground's website.

Here's a delicious baked apple recipe to try - what could be easier...

Take one juicy, rosy apple for each guest, remove the core and then score a line with a sharp knife right round its waist. Place all your apples in a baking dish and fill the empty middles, where the cores used to be, with raisins, nuts, a pinch of cinnamon and brown sugar, then top it all off with a knob of butter. Pour a little water into the bottom of the dish and place in a hot (200C) oven for about 20 to 30 minutes.

When the apples are bursting and their waists have split apart your apples are ready. Remove from the oven and serve with lashings of double cream, ice cream or clotted cream if you're in Devon. Mmmmmmmmmm!

Blog action day

Today's the day - blog action day.
Today thousands of bloggers around the world have joined forces to blog about one thing: our precious planet. Since that's just about all we ever do blog about, albeit where green weddings are concerned, I thought I'd take this opportunity to remind all budding eco friendly couples about our charities, the perfect way to give something back on your wedding day.

At Greenunion we're supporting Survival International today. Survival is the only international organisation supporting tribal peoples worldwide. It works for tribal peoples' rights in three complementary ways: education, advocacy and campaigns. They also offer tribal people themselves a platform to address the world and work closely with local indigenous organisations, focusing on tribal peoples who have the most to lose, usually those most recently in contact with the outside world.

Other charities we support on a regular basis are Oxfam and Rainforest Concern. You can also find countless charities to support via the Alternative Wedding List, the Green Gift List and Wedding List Giving.

Check them out, you're sure to find a charity that you'd like to reach out to.

Looking for a unique wedding dress or vintage groom's suit?

Eco chic brides and grooms should get along to the London Vintage Fashion Fair this Sunday 14 October between 8am and 5pm at the Olympia Hilton Hotel, 380 Kensington High Street in London.

A great idea to show your individuality and know you won't see any other bride in the same wedding dress is to wear vintage, the ultimate and chicest form of recycling!

The fair offers an extraordinary collection of exhibits from circa 1800 to 1980. You will find an abundance of vintage clothing, textiles, handbags, linen, embroidery, shoes, hats, textiles, beads, trimmings and costume jewellery. You never know you may just find that elusive wedding gown or groom's suit you've been dreaming of for your eco friendly wedding day.

Vintage wedding dress Vintagedress.co.uk

Homophobic venues face losing their licence

Did you know that in August a loophole in the Civil Partnership Act 2005 was closed thanks to the energetic campaigning of Gino Meriano, founder of Pink Weddings and civil rights campaigner. Approved wedding venues now face losing their licence if they refuse to conduct civil partnerships or discriminate on sexual orientation.

Originally venue owners and managers could apply for and be granted a license to hold Marriages or Civil Partnerships or both. By permitting venue management to choose not to hold Civil Partnerships, it meant many could openly discriminate while hiding behind their approved licence.

Gino said "The new guidance adopts my recommendation that an approved venue must not discriminate simply based on sexual orientation. If a venue is granted a licence and is found to discriminate against gay and lesbian couples they will have their license revoked.

This should now close the loophole that any homophobic owners and managers were using to wriggle out of the legislation."

A spokesman for LACORS said "The Equality Act (Sexual Orientation) Regulations 2007 require providers of goods, facilities and services to ensure that they are not treating their customers unfairly on the grounds of sexual orientation. If the holder of an approval is deemed by the Local Authority to discriminate on the grounds of the sexuality of the couple the Council reserves the right to revoke this approval."

This groundbreaking ruling means that homophobic suppliers should now be exposed, and if reported, will have their licence revoked making their venues unavailable to all couples, gay or straight. Here at GreenUnion we wholeheartedly welcome this ruling, ethical businesses do not discriminate.

BBC Yorkshire & Lincolnshire call for green weddings

The Cornish green wedding of a few weeks back has created quite a stir and the BBC's Inside Out for Yorkshire and Lincolnshire is searching for a couple planning to throw an eco chic wedding. There's a lot of interest in Yorkshire for all things green, in fact Yorkshire Brides is writing a feature on eco honeymoons next month, so Laura at Inside Out is searching for a couple who would be willing to divulge their green wedding plans for their marriage and follow their journey through to their ethical wedding day.

If you're getting married in Yorkshire or Lincolnshire and feel strongly about treading lightly on this planet here's your chance to show others how one of the most important days of you life can reflect your ethos. Contact Rosie at GreenUnion for more information.

Seasonal celebrations

Samhain (pronounced 'sow'inn'), at the end of October, marks the beginning of a whole new cycle for the Celts, where they believe that in dark silence comes whisperings of new beginnings, the stirring of seeds below ground. For Christians, 31 October is Hallowe'en or All Hallow's Eve and 1 November is All Saints' Day. Many faiths mark this time of the year as one of significant change - Hindus celebrate Navarati and Muslims mark the end of Ramadan with Eid-Ul-Fitr.

The harvest has been gathered in, the animals sheltered for the winter and its a joyous time as families come together for warmth and to chase away the spirits with bonfires and feasts. What a wonderful time for a loving union of souls - a time of new beginnings, warmth, golden light, apples and nuts, loved ones are remembered.

For your late Autumn green wedding think gorgeous, glowing golds and reds, candle light, flares and bonfires for atmosphere. Roasted chestnuts, delicious squash soup, poached pears and baked apples, spices and mulled cider. Hot toasted sausages, baked potatoes and apple pie. Do I need to go on...

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

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month

If you'd like to do something towards Breast Cancer Awareness Month then check out these sites for ideas.

The Brides Against Breast Cancer Project is a neat organisation is touring the US bringing top designer wedding dresses to the public at discounted prices with the proceeds going to the Making Memories Foundation.

In Australia check out the National Breast Cancer Foundation for ideas on how to raise funds this month.

Visit Breast Cancer Care to see what's happening in the UK or suggest your own fund raising day - eco chic brides could throw a hen party. Could be fun...

If you're already married donate your wedding dress to the cause.

Spread the word - help save lives.

Tell everyone about it!

Martin Vogle of German Public Radio is still patiently looking for an eco chic couple to interview about their plans to throw a green wedding. Don't be shy, he says he's a nice guy and only wants to have a very informal chat about your green wedding ideas, so do get in touch with martin.vogl@email.de and help him spread the word to Europe!

How do you choose an eco friendly wedding photographer?

By its very nature, modern photography is really quite eco friendly. Most wedding photographers use state of the art digital photographic equipment which does away with chemical printing techniques and masses of photographic papers. While this means they're already halfway there, there are other things you could ask a photographer to satisfy yourselves that he or she meets the overall ethos of your wedding day.

A lot of photographers offer fixed packages which include a set number of images printed and mounted into hand bound books, which are gorgeous, but most of these books come all the way from Australia and are usually air freighted. Instead, ask them if they could find an alternative closer to home. Now, whilst we've got nothing against Australia, and the books will definitely have been made by people who are paid a fair wage, there are skilled hand made paper makers and book binders in every country worldwide, so asking your photographer to go that extra mile will open their horizons and keep skills in your own country.

Make sure your photographer can supply you with a preview CD, instead of printed preview pages, or better still, choose a wedding photographer who has a password protected website where you, and your family and friends, can view all the images and order them online.

If you want them to go that extra mile, then check out your photographer's personal eco credentials. For instance Jonathan Ryan at MyWeddingStory, who we've just welcomed as a new partner, offsets his own carbon emissions and supports the protection of woodland near where his lives.

All our photographers do their own bit for the planet. See if we have one near you by checking out the Photographers' partner pages.

RSA wedding showcase - 7th October

Throwing a green wedding or civil partnership celebration doesn't necessarily mean traipsing out to the country. On the contrary, eco savvy couples who opt for city chic will find there are many advantages to getting married in the capital. There's a growing list of venues, many set in wonderful buildings steeped in heritage and tradition, like The RSA, that take their ethical responsibilities very seriously and can boast published environmental best practice policies. The RSA proudly ranks 8/10 on our green gauge, as high as many of our rural venues. They're keen to support British food producers and cook seasonal menus.

The RSA is holding a wedding showcase next Sunday 7th October between 11.00 am and 2.00 pm when the team will be on hand to guide you around the house and answer any questions you might have.

There'll be complementary refreshments on the day and there's a prize draw for one lucky couple to win an intimate lunch for two in the Vaults Restaurant.

So if you're planning an eco chic wedding in the city, get along to the RSA next Sunday 7th October 2007 to see what how green your celebration could be in Central London.

Ditch the car this Saturday

This Saturday, 22nd September 2007, is World Car Free Day so if you're getting married in London, Birmingham or Edinburgh this Saturday and still haven't decided how to get from the church to your reception then its the perfect day to do it on foot.

Not sure how to work out the route? Walkit.com Skip the has all the answers with their award-winning online walking route planner. So there's no excuse for the eco savvy bride to be late for her wedding - even if it is expected!

Just go online and enter the name of the church where you're to be married, and then your reception venue and walkit.com will do the rest - generating a walking route map with the journey time between them.

Nothing could be simpler.

And even if you're not getting married its the perfect day to leave your car at home and head into the city for a day of exploring by foot. Not sure how to begin to negotiate a huge city like London or Birmingham on foot? Walkit.com has all the answers with their award-winning online walking route planner. They've generated an astonishing 1.3 million kilometres of walking routes across the streets and parks of London, Birmingham and Edinburgh in the past year. Your suggested route will include an estimate of the number of calories you'll burn, and the amount of carbon you'll save by not indulging in a taxi, car or bus.

Walkit.com team has calculated that if every route generated during their first year of operation had been walked at a medium pace, the site’s visitors would have burnt off over 13 tonnes of chocolate cake and walked 32 times round the earth.

Jamie Wallace, founder of walkit.com, said:

“Savvy people walk. It’s the quick, free, green and healthy way to get around town. No lycra or padding needed. No need for intimacy with sweaty strangers on the bus or tube. And best of all, no waiting - you’re in charge.”

Skip the congested roads and expensive taxis, avoid overcrowded buses and tubes - get out there and give it a go this weekend.

Oxfam online: Create your unique eco chic wedding style without leaving home

Oxfam has just launched the first online charity shop, allowing shoppers to browse donated items without leaving their home.

If you'd love to support the charity but can't get to a shop or face the usual fusty shelves you encounter in charity shops then here's the perfect solution. A team of volunteers will be hand picking the best donated items like quality vintage finds, vinyl music, designer jeans, books, knick-knacks, fairtrade jewels and chocolate to place online. New items will be uploaded daily.

So if you're the sort of person who wants to create your own style for your green wedding, then you can collect some wonderful things here. Put together a truly unique theme from their collection of vintage and cool finds. You can purchase one-off donated garments for your wedding or honeymoon outfits, find some musical and literary classics to give away as gifts and purchase fairtrade chocolate and jewellery for favours.

Oxfam director Barbara Stocking said: "This is the one website where customers will know that all their purchases will directly support Oxfam working with people in poverty across the world." And the charity's hoping to have listed 120,000 items on its new site by next spring.

You can even create a wedding list!

Now here's a story to warm the heart

This weekend a couple from Cornwall in the West Country of England are planning to have as green a wedding as possible and it certainly isn't going to cost the earth. Russell and Alexia met at a series of Climate Change events so when they decided to marry it was only natural that they would throw an eco friendly wedding.

They say its a simpler way of doing it and keeps sight of the real meaning of marriage, which is love and the promise of your new future as husband and wife.

Invitations were sent online, any printing they've had done is by a local printer with vegetable dyes on recycled paper. Their rings are made locally of wood from a salvaged tree, the food has all be sourced within the area, the toast will be in Cornish sparkling wine, their outfits have been sourced from charity shops and adapted to their own styles by a talented seamstress, the guests are encouraged to car share and the reception is only a five minute walk from the church. Lexi's Mum has made some intriguing flowers out of saved plastic bags and collected spring blossom has been dried for the confetti. They have even decided to give their guests low energy light bulbs as wedding favours!

And best of all, the whole celebration will come in way below the average cost of getting married in the UK which is now estimated to be around £18,000.

Read the whole story by Louise Walter over on the BBC website.

Organic Fortnight - Flowers

Making this gorgeous and unusual arrangement at the weekend from flowers in my own cutting garden got me thinking about the world of eco flowers which can be a confusing one. Should you buy local, organic or fair trade, or can they be all three? How do you decipher all the different certification schemes? So I asked Jane Lindsay at Snapdragon Garden to write a little bit about it all for us and here is what she has to say:

We would suggest that you take this route in your search for eco flowers:

The first thing to do is find out what grows in gardens near to you in the month that you are planning to be married - is it Sweet Pea or Hydrangea season or is the Lily of the Valley in flower? Seek out gardeners and ask what their peak flowers are in that particular season. If you chose most of your flowers from this list, even if you can't find someone locally to grow them for you, you will be able to source them from relatively nearby. Try local growers at farmer's markets, friends or relatives with gardens and green fingers and persuade them to pop a few seeds in the ground so you can harvest your rewards next year.

Buying local seasonal flowers works for you and the environment. Seasonal flowers grow at their own pace and because they are not forced or retarded, they are healthier, need less pest control, last longer and require less energy. They also don't have to travel far.

Organic certification schemes within a local area are often misleading as they favour the large producer over the small - as in food the best advice is "know your farmer".

But if you want to buy flowers from florists and high street stores that may have been imported from elsewhere, there are key certification schemes in the US and the UK, so watch out for their symbols. The VerifloraTM certification certifies farms in the US that have fulfilled a series of social and ecological standards. In the UK the Soil Association symbol certifies organic production and the Fair Trade symbol guarantees a series of rights to flower workers. A good florist should be able to source certified flowers.

Working with a florist who cares about the provenance of the flowers is essential - they should be able to tell you where and how the flowers were grown. Many florists are becoming more concerned about these issues, particularly about the pesticide residues on the flowers that they are handling every day.

It also pays to think beyond the traditional rose wedding bouquet - for a winter wedding you may not be able to source locally grown cut flowers, but amazing displays can be made with coloured foliage, berries and fruit, or perhaps box topiary with planters of paper white narcissi.

Another advantage of using local seasonal flowers is that you can plant the same varieties in your own garden - a true reminder of your memorable eco-friendly wedding day.

Green wedding photography offer

Wedding photographer, Beth Beljon is looking for an environmentally conscious couple planning to throw and eco-friendly wedding. “We are looking for the most creative, authentic, green and organic wedding. It's simply beautiful to see more couples not only making a commitment of love to each but to the earth." says Beth who wants an opportunity to record such a happy occasion.

Beth will waive her shooting fee and donate six hours of photography time to the couple chosen from anywhere in the US or elsewhere (she has a secret hankering to shoot an English eco wedding!)

She stipulates that eco chic couples should be environmentally mindful in all aspects and details of their wedding including invitations, attire, location, flowers and food - no problems for all you GreenUnion regulars.

Beth Beljon is an established and published photographer who has covered weddings around the globe for nearly a decade. She provides stunning photography for modern and mindful couples and her photo journalistic style is elegant and graceful, capturing each event in a visually organic documentary.

The deadline for entries is 15 December 2007. The couple chosen will be announced through her website on 1 January 2008.

Contact Beth at beth@bethbeljon.com for more information.

Brand new ethical jeweller launches

We've teamed up with brand new ethical jeweller Ingle & Rhode and we give them our wholehearted support as they launch their range of beautiful, design-led eco jewellery, with its socially and environmentally responsible sourcing and production policies.

The launch of Ingle & Rhode is another step in the right direction for an industry fraught with exploitation and controversy and we welcome their efforts to reduce the three main problems facing the jewellery industry: human exploitation, conflict diamonds, and environmental damage. Through painstaking research, Ingle & Rhode have put together a supply chain that guarantees clients can trace the provenance of all metals and gemstones used.

Ingle & Rhode sources only from mines that have procedures in place to minimise the environmental impact of its activities. As supporters of the No Dirty Gold campaign, they only buy gold from sources that do not use mercury or cyanide in the mining process.

Alongside their own in-house collection of timeless pieces, the company has collaborated with four of the UK’s leading designers, Sarah Sheridan, Kimberley Selwood, Jana Rainhardt and Stephanie Ray. Using gorgeous precious metals and sparkling gemstones the range caters for an eclectic array of tastes offering striking, delicate, playful and glamorous styles.

They also offer a bespoke jewellery service so, if you want, you can create your own unique pieces that match your ethical standards and personal sense of style.

Go on, make a appointment and get along to their newly opened showroom in Piccadilly to check out what they've got.

Their website is due to go live in the next few days so check back soon to see their range on line.

Organic Fortnight - Wedding Dresses

There's been a lot of talk lately about organic clothing on the high street and, while quite a few of the big names are paying lip service to the idea by stocking mini ranges of organic cotton, mostly at the casual end, there are some dedicated top designers producing fabulous ranges using organic fabrics.

So what's available to the eco chic bride wanting to use organic fabrics for her wedding attire? Not a lot to be honest, if you want to go the conventional dress route. This is, in part, due to the lack of certified organic fabrics which will give the style, cut and drape expected of a wedding dress.

Our partner dress makers, if you ask them, will use fabrics like pesticide free, uncertified organic silk, hemp/silk mixes, 'peace' (or vegetarian) silk and bamboo for the outer layers (the bit you can see) of your dress. The lining might be organic cotton, which will be certified by a certification body, like SKAL, which is recognised by the International Federation of Organic Agricultural Movements (IFOAM).

If the fabric has been dyed, all dyes used should be either plant/mineral derived or, if not of natural origin, environmentally responsible, low-impact dyes.

Bamboo can be gorgeously lustrous and drapey and, like hemp, "bamboo’s eco-footprint is smaller than a size 5 stiletto" according to conscious choice, and "the highly renewable grass, praised for it’s rapid, several-feet-a-day growth, can be harvested in as little as three years." Bamboo, like hemp, is not yet certified organic but is 100 percent biodegradable. However the downside to bamboo is the processing, which requires heaps of chemicals, though they are recycled back into the fiber-making process keeping the chemicals from entering the environment.

If you're not after a conventional wedding dress then there's a lot more choice, organically available to you from top ethical stores and designers like Adili, Enamore, Equa and The Natural Store. Or go down the recycled or vintage route which is not organic per se but is certainly a lot lighter on the the planet.

Here are some fabulous dressmakers who are working wonders with organic fabrics and making gorgeous gowns for eco chic weddings:

With thirty years couture experience combined with contemporary print and design Gaiahouse's affordable collection is created in 100% organic silk. Appointments for their Design Consultation and Bespoke Couture Service can be booked online and your bespoke gown will be created from exclusive, reconstructed, hand made fabric.

Conscious Elegance offers gorgeous eco-friendly hempsilk and organic silk wedding dresses and bridesmaid gowns, all individually hand-sewn in the UK. They also offer a service where you can recycle your dress after the wedding with their free Naming Ceremony Gown service for your future little ones.

Organic Fortnight - Food

Yesterday we went to the Organic Food Festival in Bristol. What a great day! We took the train to Bristol and then a boat from Temple Meads Station ferried us right to the heart of the Festival at the Harbourside - such a civilised way to travel and so stress free.

There was much to see and do. We tasted our way round the whole site, sampled heaps of pampering products, listened to some great music and enjoyed a fashion show of organic clothing.

The Soil Association, which hosted the Organic Food Festival says that "Choosing organic is one simple way to help curb climate change, because organic farming typically uses 30% less energy than non-organic agriculture. Rather than using climate-change boosting artificial fertilisers, organic farmers build fertility naturally using plants like clover.

As well as helping the planet, more and more people choose organic because they believe it is a better way to feed themselves and their family. Put simply, organic food contains more of the good stuff we need and less of the nasties we don’t. Organic farmers nourish the soil so that it provides all the must-have nutrients plants need for their health; not just those needed to make them grow. This gives organic crop plants the goodness you need too.

Natural systems for keeping pests under control are used instead of relying on chemicals. Furthermore, strict organic standards make sure that after the food has left the farm it remains as pure and unadulterated as possible."

So to help you make a planet and people friendly choice for your eco friendly wedding, here are some ideas:

Head chef Tom Cull of Dartmoor Kitchen is passionate about promoting and maintaining a vibrant, modern approach to food production and presentation. His commitment to the very best local resources and seasonal produce means he is quite willing to source organic food when required.

Vinceremos is the longest established organic wine specialist with the largest range in the UK. Champagne, wines, ciders and beers, as well as juices, squashes and cordials. They would be delighted to advise you on your selection and offer a personal and friendly service.

Catering for any occasion, Eco Cuisine use the freshest organic, free-range and non-GM ingredients, and source British produce where possible. They also make every effort to re-use and recycle the goods they use during the course of an event.

Vintage Roots supplies organic, biodynamic, vegetarian and vegan wines, beers, spirits and liqueurs. Providing wines for weddings is a specialty, and because they know it's sometimes difficult to estimate quantities, they operate a 'sale or return' policy. They are here to help you choose the right wines for your guests, food and the occasion.

Organic Fortnight - Skincare

Take this Organic Fortnight opportunity and begin to radiate flawless beauty from the inside, out. As well as eating a healthy balanced diet of locally grown organic food, drinking plenty of water and get heaps of sleep and exercise, give your skin and hair a real treat. Its never too early to get your skin, body and hair into great condition for your wedding day.

Today we suggest some dedicated and committed skincare specialists to help you on your way:

Pai Skincare is what it should be about - pure, plant-based ingredients carefully selected and blended to give your skin everything it needs and nothing it doesn’t. Over 60% of what you apply to your skin is absorbed into the bloodstream, so the skin cream you use is as important as the food you eat. Pai products are chemical-free and hand-made from only the highest grade, certified organic ingredients.

Homeopathic Garden combines homeopathic wisdom with a collection of luxurious organic gifts offering the very best in well-being. Each product is carefully chosen for their ethical credentials, integrity and desirability. Mix and match from the collection to create a wonderful eco chic gift. Learn about their homeopathic remedy wedding survival guide from the proposal to the honeymoon.

Natural Unity offer inspirations for pure, natural and organic harm free living. Skin and body products from around the world plus wonderful ideas for gifts, favours including candles, gift boxes to order plus eco homewares and eco gadgets too - bespoke wedding service ideas.

Spiezia Organics makes a range of 100% organic skin, body and homecare products. Recognised as a brand leader for organic skincare in the UK, Spiezia hand make all their products (which are suitable for vegetarians and have never been tested on animals) on an organic farm to recipes designed by their founder Dr Spiezia, a practising homeopath.

mybeingwell brings together the very best organic skincare and natural cosmetics from around the world, in one easy-to-surf online store. Every product is 100% free from petrochemicals and artificial preservatives, colours and fragrances. Ranges include makeup, face and body care, haircare, mens skincare and gifts. mybeingwell is offering 10% off the first 100 orders they receive this week until the 9th September. Just fill up your basket and type 'frenzy' in the promotional code box at the checkout and click update!

Organic Fortnight - Cakes

We thought we'd celebrate Organic Fortnight by highlighting some of the wonderful organic products availabe to couples planning an eco-chic wedding celebration starting off today with cakes:

Cupcakes, 'crottins' cakes or pavlovas piled high with strawberries and cream. Organic carrot cake, fruit cake, chocolate or hazelnut. Filled with cream, buttercream, fruit puree or lemon curd. Covered with buttercream, royal icing, marzipan or fondant. Tiered local organic cheeses or even an organic pork pie, the choice of wedding cakes today is endless. Where to start?

Well, start by finding someone who will make a cake with organic, natural and fair trade ingredients and if you're not going down the road of making it yourself or getting your long suffering Mum to do it for you here are a couple of creative cake makers using fine ingredients and organic where possible.

Janine Rose provides a completely bespoke wedding cake service, supplying beautiful and exceptional cakes baked to order using only the finest ingredients. We will design your wedding cake to compliment the colours and style of your special day.

Amanda Baird at The Utterley Sexy Cafe expresses her creativity and individual design, making fabulously exquisite cakes in her own inimitable way. The cakes come in a variety of flavours and are made from the finest ingredients, including local free range eggs. Using her painterly skills straight onto the cakes, they become truly edible art.

Who could resist?

With Labour Day weekend in the US being the unofficial start to Autumn, and the glorious colours that come with it, here's an inspiration for your celebration that's hard to resist.

Perfect examples of locally grown fresh picked flowers simply arranged and stealing the limelight.

Image from Rose & Radish

Civil rights

Have you heard? A county judge in the US State of Iowa has struck down a ban on same-sex marriages as being unconstitutional. He has ruled that a law allowing marriage only between men and women violates the rights of due process and equal protection.

Same-sex couples are banned from marrying in 49 of the 50 US states and only the state of Massachusetts allows gay marriages.

Since we're for all things ethical we applaud his ruling and look forward to more US States following suit and joining with the UK to support civil partnerships. Read the full article on the BBC World News

Organic Fortnight 1 - 16 September

If you're planning a green wedding and wondering where to start looking, Organic Fortnight starts this weekend and runs from 1 - 16 September. Organised by the Soil Association which is the UK's largest organic certification body, Organic Fortnight is a celebration of all things organic by individuals, businesses and communities across Britain. Events are planned across the UK, so there's bound to be one near you.

The fortnight kicks off this weekend, 1 & 2 September, with the Organic Food Festival at Bristol Harbourside. And its not only food and drink on show here - there's music and entertainment, and a relaxation zone with skincare, massage and therapy, and CREATE where you can learn all about how to make your home more eco friendly. There's also a showcase of the top names in eco chic and organic fashion with a twice daily fashion show.

If you live too far north to contemplate Bristol then there's another Organic Food Festival in Glasgow on 13 & 14 October.

Find out what's going on in your area over the next fortnight, and seek out some wonderful suppliers and producers for your eco chic wedding by going to the Soil Association website.

British grown flowers: A cut above

I recently had an enquiry from an eco chic bride wondering if there were any eco alternatives to wedding flowers and bouquets and it bothered me because flowers are just so much a part of any wedding. The real issue, in our view, is their provenance and what you do with them after your green wedding.

We feel that you should apply the same principles to flowers as you do to food - we all know about buying local and seasonal food, so why not do the same with cut flowers? Just as food farmers in Britain need our support, so do British flower growers who are being increasingly squeezed out of a £2 billion industry (which, incidentally, is the same worth as our music industry) by larger, more efficient, mono-cultural growing units in Holland and elsewhere. Ninety per cent of the flowers we buy here now come from elsewhere - scandalous.

"British growers are the best, and they need our support," says Sarah Raven in her article for the Daily Telegraph.

Sarah has also made an hour long Gardener's World Special to be screened this Friday 24 August on BBC2 in 'The Cutting Edge of Cut Flowers' where she celebrates the cutting edge of British cut flowers with visits to the UK's most beautiful cutting gardens and to the British growers like Scented Narcissi, Scilly Flowers, Catkin Flowers, Country Roses and The Real Flower Company who are cutting their own niche in an ever expanding market.

So pour yourself a large glass of organic wine or English cider, settle in and learn all about our British flower market. If know anything about Sarah she will also giving out loads of tips about how to use the flowers and also how to grow your own. This is a most ethical way of choosing to use flowers for your green wedding.

Pick-your-own hen party

Now the sun's come out, make the most of our indian summer by getting outdoors and enjoying the last of the summer sun. Buy seasonal fruit and veg from your farmers market and support the local farmers.

A great idea for a seasonal hen party is to plan an outing to a pick-your-own farm. Picking strawberries, raspberries and other fruit can be great fun if there's a group of you. Or you could go wild and take a hike into the countryside to pick blackberries from the hedgerows - it looks like a great blackberry year this year.

Take a picnic and make a day of it. Come home and have a jam making session with your friends. The jars of home made jam can be covered with pretty tops and labelled with your own designed logo and given to your wedding guests on the day.

Plan the day well and it will go with swing:

• Invite your group of friends and family and ask them to RSVP. This is so that you can check that the farm will be happy to have a whole group of you coming. While you're in touch with the farm it would be a good idea to check that the produce is ready for picking on the day that you would like to go, and keep an eye on the weather forecast for the day.

• Send maps and directions and organize lift sharing to save on fuel consumption. If you're picking blackberries you could take the train and start picking just outside the station.

• Explain what activities you're planning for the day and make sure people are aware that they should wear old clothes, sturdy footwear or wellies and take waterproofs with them. Get them all to bring boxes to store the fruit in while traveling.

• Put together a basket of things you may need like insect repellant, sunscreen, water and ground sheets or blankets to sit on.

If a picnic's on the agenda, get your guests to contribute one or two dishes to share with everyone and to bring drinks, plates, cutlery and any condiments necessary to complete the feast. No need to bring dessert, you'll be picking that!

Here's how to make a delicious blackberry and apple crumble when you get home:

225g plain organic flour
115g organic local butter
90g unbleached sugar
pinch of salt

Either pile together in a food processor and wizz 'till the mixture resembles breadcrumbs (if you don't have a food processor you can do this rubbing between your hands).

Peel, core and slice enough apples to fill a shallow ovenproof dish leaving enough space for some blackberries - you will need around 500g fruit altogether.

Pile it into the greased dish and sprinkle about 3 tablespoons of sugar over the fruit. Spread the crumble mixture over the fruit, giving the dish a bit of a shake to settle it.

Bake in the oven at about 180C for about 30 to 40 minutes or until the top is evenly golden.

Enjoy with lashings of local cream, clotted cream or ice cream. Mmmmmmmmmm!

There's still time to vote for your local food hero

UKTVfood says "There's been a resurgence of interest in local food traditions and commitment to quality - and with good reason. While modern farming methods, microwave meals, and food miles continue to cast a shadow, there's a growing band of dedicated people who care enough to make a difference on what we buy and how we eat. We're looking to support small-scale businesses that exhibit pride and passion for their craft. These are the unsung food heroes that don't compromise on quality in favour of making a fast buck on mass production lines."

So get voting! Tomorrow's the deadline and if you care about all those wonderful people who make delicious food, give them your support now.

Image: West Yeo Moor Farm Shop near South Molton, Devon

What's in season?

If you're planning a green wedding at this time of the year you or your florist won't find it hard to source locally grown seasonal flowers that haven't been flown from the other side of the world. At Churchtown Farm on the Isles of Scilly they grow wonderfully scented pinks throughout the summer and autumn. Arrange them with other summer flowers like daisies, veronica, grasses, cornflowers, nigella seed pods and cosmos for a relaxed laid back affair like a picnic or country vintage theme like this one by Idyllic Days.

You'll be spoilt for choice with an abundance of local seasonal food. Courgettes, beans, peas, tomatoes, peppers, courgettes, wonderful cheeses and salad leaves, soft fruits like raspberries and strawberries, gooseberries and blackcurrants. Fish, especially local lobster, is at its best if the weather's good, but our small boats in Devon have had a hard time of it trying to get out this month because the weather's been too rough, so fish is in short supply at the moment. Get your caterer to source only the very best local and organic food.

Trash the dress ... or not

Image by Hollye Schumacher Photography from Trash the Dress

Ever thought what you'd do with your dress after the big day?

I have a confession to make, my gorgeous hand made dress is in the attic. Because it's not a typical wedding dress, I thought I'd dye it and my shoes an interesting colour and wear them to parties and balls in the future or, at least, my daughter would want to dress up in them and dream of her marriage to a handsome prince.

Sadly, the parties didn't call for such a frock and we weren't blessed with children so my beautiful wedding dress still languishes in the attic, and now I've grown out of it. But I'm still not sure I can give away this very tangible memory of one of the happiest days of my life.

So what will you do with yours?

Some enterprising souls will be parading around in their wedding dresses at work today to raise money for charity, it being World Wedding Dress Day.

Last year Tiphanie Wright, of Amesbury, Wilts and 21 other brides, went down to the local Co-op and assisted with bag-packing at the checkouts. Later they went tenpin bowling and raised about £2500 for charity.

Others will donate the dress itself to charity, while some will have a go at trashing theirs.

Trash the Dress isn't really as wasteful as you may think. You'll still be able to do all those wonderful things after the 'trashing'. Its the latest rage in America and Julia Boggio is offering this 'post wedding' photo session under the guise of Mess the Dress. Its just another fun excuse to put the dress on one more time, before you have it dry cleaned, and get some unique shots of you and your man in extraordinary locations. Why not see if your own photographer is up for the challenge.

Image Julia Boggio Photography

A bicycle made for two

Mandy and Jonathan, who kept us up to date here at GreenUnion HQ about their wedding preparations, were married in May.

They wanted their marriage to be green and also the world's cheapest. "We always try to live a sustainable and ethical life" explains Jonathan, an environmental consultant from London. He travels to work by bike, she cycles whenever she can and their son wears washable nappies. "We wanted to keep our CO2 emissions down for this day as well", he continued.

Their invitations were printed on recycled paper and their confetti was biodegradable. Mandy created her dress from two which she had bought from a charity shop and she dug out last summer's sparkly flip-flops. Jonathan hired his three-piece suit. She arrived at the church in a hired hybrid car. Mandy's wedding ring came from an antique shop and Jonathan's was found on e-Bay. Jonathan pedaled the couple over to the village hall on a tricycle after the ceremony. At the reception, all the drinks were organic, including the gin, and the appetizers were all made from seasonal local produce.

Their story was documented by Julie Lasterade for French Elle. Read the full article in our Eco-chic wedding section.

Eco chic wedding inspiration

If you haven't found the information you're looking for on GreenUnion, then you may like this inspiring book, eco-chic weddings by Emily Anderson who, after a decade of working in the fashion industry and then designing weddings and events at Martha Stewart, was inspired to create Eco-Chic Weddings in 2003. She wanted to show the fashionable, chic couple how to incorporate sustainability into their celebration without sacrificing style.

A girl after my own heart!

Stuck for an eco chic wedding gift idea?

Well here are some brilliant ones from Oxfam Unwrapped. What better gift for an eco chic couple than a living, breathing garden, bringing life and prosperity to both the environment and people with a greater need than our own around the world. Oxfam Unwrapped's gift-giving program makes the most of your donations, providing financial assistance to Oxfam’s many programs, while giving a gift that supports those who benefit most. Give just £16 and plant 50 trees, while £200 will buy a plot of land for families to plant crops which they can sell in local markets and earn their own living. We're all for the ethical and ecological focus of these gifts which stress the sometimes overlooked connection between humanitarian efforts, environmental commitments, and issues of local food and agriculture.

Here's how Oxfam Unwrapped works:

"All the gifts on this website are needed. The people Oxfam work with around the world tell us what items they need to make the biggest difference in working themselves out of poverty.

We need to ensure we can still respond flexibly to varying needs across the world as they occur. So in some cases what we have shown is an example, but we will always spend your money on a related item. This approach means that the communities we work with can use items that are most appropriate to their needs at that time – maximizing the chances of beating poverty and suffering."

Gifts range from school dinners for 100 children for just £6 (what you would spend on your own lunch sandwich) to text books, fishing nets, water buckets, a market stall or a whole plot of land.

Oxfam International is a confederation of 13 organizations working together with over 3,000 partners in more than 100 countries to find lasting solutions to poverty, suffering and injustice.

If you live in the US check out the Oxfam America Unwrapped site which offers similar programs.

Exchange your wedding dress for everyday clothes

If you think you won't wear your wedding dress again, how about indulging in a bit of recycling at Whatsmineisyours, where you can sell or swap your clothes for others on the site. A new wedding section has just been added to the site, so its quite small at the moment, but give it time and numbers will swell.

They have a fabulous selection of vintage dresses which would suit a bridesmaid or a bride who's looking for an unconventional outfit for her wedding like this stunning original 1950s tulip style evening dress.

Also on the site there's a detailed guide to buying vintage for your general knowledge. Buy and swap to your heart's content happy in the knowledge that you can come back and recycle time after time.

It would be good to see a bit more vintage and interesting menswear on the site too, for those alternative grooms who don't want to hire the conventional wedding suite or leave a huge footprint on the earth.

Devon Furniture Makers Summer Exhibition

If you're down in South Devon, England over the weekend its well worth popping in to the Dartington College of Arts Gallery at Dartington Hall near Totnes where there's a fabulous exhibition of hand made furniture on display by a group of incredibly talented furniture designer makers.

The Devon Furniture Makers Association was formed to promote the work of professional furniture makers operating throughout the county. All are self-employed and work largely on their own designing and making furniture to the highest standards.

Their work is primarily to commission for private clients and covers the whole range of domestic furniture. Typically, they will create bespoke one-off items of furniture or small batches of exclusive designs. Items are made from both native and imported hardwoods and care is taken to ensure these originate from legitimate and sustainable sources. Indeed, if at all possible makers like to use the beautiful timber grown in Devon, England.

Each year they stage an exhibition of their work and this year they are showing at The Gallery at Dartington College of Arts until Sunday 5th August. The Gallery is on the grounds of the beautiful Dartington Hall estate, near Totnes. Dartington Estate is an impressive setting and well worth a visit, so please do go and see their work.

If you like what you see you could consider commissioning one of the Devon Furniture Makers to design and craft you a beautiful piece of furniture like a bed or a table, for your new home, out of local timber. It will last a lifetime and become a family heirloom. Ask your guests to contribute towards this commission as their wedding gift. As long as they know what it's for they will be content to give money towards the commission, happy in the knowledge that their gift is a lasting one.

This wedding was no wash out

The British are known to be a stoic lot and this story is no exception. As our last two posts have mentioned, parts of the UK have experienced the worst flooding for a hundred years, but Jane Fisher and husband David weren't to be deterred by this calamity on their wedding day in Oxfordshire on Saturday.

With Jane's mother stuck in the worst hit area of Tewkesbury, the vicar unable to reach the village and their wedding guests held up on the M25 it looked as though they would be the only ones at the church...

Read the rest of their story on the BBC News.

Photo: Peter Blanchflower

Wet weather insurance

We've touched briefly in our budget section about the absolute certainty that you should allow for wedding insurance and the recent floods have brought this subject to the forefront of our minds today.

Chances are that your wedding went ahead as planned this weekend, you carried on regardless and managed to enjoy the day knowing how hard everyone will have worked to make sure it was the best day of your lives.

If you did experience some difficulties with suppliers unable to reach the venue, you may consider putting in a claim if you have wedding insurance.

Guides for Brides has clearly laid out what you may expect from all the main wedding insurers and they also explain clearly why, if you were not insured, you will find it hard to get compensation due to "force majeure" clauses.

If you're getting married soon in an area that you think may be affected by flooding we suggest you contact your suppliers and venue once the floods have receded to find out how their businesses have fared and see if your day may be affected by their present predicament.

If your wedding is still to take place, or you're planning a wedding in the future, our advice is to get insured without delay.

Sadly there are still no wedding insurance companies, as far as we are aware, who claim to be ethical, but don't hesitate, get insured. If enough couples ask about their ethical credentials, they may be tempted to launch an eco-wedding insurance policy in the future.

Rain, rain go away, don't let it wash out your wedding day!

As floods bring chaos to Britain, Germany and China and experts' predictions of more disasters in Europe and across the world force us to face up to climate change, don't let the rain wash out your own wedding day.

You'd have thought that we couldn't have any more rain, but I believe the forecasters are predicting that the rest of July, and even August, could be very 'unsettled'. If you're getting married in the next few months (or even this time next year) and had banked on hot, still, dry and sunny weather when you throw your green wedding, think again.

Its always worth setting aside a portion of your budget for wet weather insurance. At the top end, marquees and tents will keep your guests dry if you're planning an outdoor event and at least think about some brollies to keep everyone dry as they dash from ceremony to reception.

Or consider hiring a venue that offers indoor and outdoor facilities so that all weathers are catered for.

Take Off Your Tie to Help the Planet, Italy Says

Well here's an interesting article from Italy to encourage all you green grooms to dress down on your eco chic wedding day!

ROME -- Want to help fight global warming? Take off your tie, says the Italian health ministry.

It has urged employers to let their staff dress casually at work in the summer so the air conditioning can be turned down.

"Taking your tie off immediately lowers the body temperature by 2 to 3 degrees Celsius," the ministry said in a statement. "Allowing a more sensible use of air conditioning that yields electricity savings and protects the environment."

It called on all public and private offices to let employees wear no tie during heatwaves like the one that has brought Africa-like temperatures to many parts of Italy this week.

The move echoes a similar initiative from Italy's biggest oil group, ENI, which told its staff earlier this month they need not wear a tie at work.

Tie makers, however, were left hot under the collar.

"Italy confirms that it is a strange country," Flavio Cima said in a letter to financial daily Il Sole 24 Ore under the headline: "I, tie maker, am responsible for global warming".

"We can now happily continue with our lifestyle, using cars, consuming fuel, heating and cooling our homes at leisure. On one condition: we should not wear a tie while we do so," he wrote.

"I should have listened to my friends and become an oil producer instead."

Italy is one of the European Union's worst performers on the pollution front and is among the EU countries expected to exceed their greenhouse gas emission targets.

Source: Reuters July 18, 2007 — By Reuters