Book: The Green Bride Guide: Engagement and Rings + Giveaway

I love going to the bookstore or library – it is one of my favorite pass times! As I am browsing, I am always impressed with the number of green books on the shelves. One that was recently sent to me is The Green Bride Guide (How to Create an Earth Friendly Wedding on Any Budget) by Kate L. Harrison. It is a fun book to read and easy to navigate. Each chapter focuses on a category that you will encounter planning your wedding. Kate is an environmentalist and green wedding expert making her book an excellent resource for any couple who wants to plan their special day with fabulous style and without harming the environment.

Each week I am going to share some tips from The Green Bride Guide. When I am finished, I will be giving copies away. Let’s get started with tip number one.

Let’s talk about the engagement + wedding rings
You have been proposed to and you accepted. Yay! for you. You are so happy and excited that you want the world to know about it. You want to shout it from the rooftops. There are many creative, affordable and sustainable ways for you to make your pre-wedding correspondence memorable and beautiful. Here are some earth friendly correspondence ideas:

1. Start a Wedding Blog
Blogs are a great way to organize pre-wedding parties, get feedback on your wedding ideas and keep your family and friends updated on your planning. Blogs can hold a ton of information and pictures and are the perfect eco-friendly way to share your wedding.

2. Ring in the Good News
Nothing beats the intimacy of good conversation. Phone your friends and family to tell them the good new, not only will you save time and money compared to sending annoucements, but it offers a nice chance to catch up with everyone who will be at your wedding.

3. Send a Fun Email
Email is a great way to tell everyone about your engagement at the same time. You can include a picture of the two of you as well as your engagement story.

4.  Use a Wedding Website
Wedding websites are all the rage right now because they are easy to set up and are extremely convenient. You can make last minute changes that would be impossible to do with paper. Wedding Websites are reasonably priced and have elegant, easy to use templates.

5. Choose an Eco-Friendly Ring

• Choose a clear-conscience diamond (meaning that the diamond isn’t a “blood diamond” or from a diamond mine that is harmful to the environment.)
• Use an heirloom diamond, if you are so lucky to have a family ring given to you.
• Choose an antique diamond ring, where the diamonds were harvested priority to 1880 and before environmentally destructive mining occurred.
• Choose a synthetic diamond. These are all the rage right now with earth friendly celebrities like Angelina Jolie.
• Choose just one ring as both your engagement and wedding ring. One ring has a much smaller carbon footprint than two.
• Choose a wedding ring made of an alternative gemstone or even wood.

When the mister asked me to marry him 12 years ago, his mother gave him an heirloom ring that had been in her family for years. My husband had it reset in a beautiful setting and since I knew I only wanted one ring as both my wedding and engagement ring that made the ring even more eco-friendly.

To enter to win your own copy of The Green Bride Guide leave a comment below telling me how you did you or will green your wedding?