Can you have a joy-filled wedding celebration and show your love for the planet, at the same time? While this may sound like "The Odd Couple," it's not as hard as you think!   If you're inspired to say " I care; I do " then read on for some great ways to incorporate eco-friendly touches into your special day.

The locale
Choosing a location that's close to where most of your guests live is an obvious, simple but effective way to limit unnecessary transportation, as is having the ceremony and reception in the same place. You may also wish to seek out sites that have made "going green" a priority, and are pro-active about reducing energy use and waste. Another green idea is to hold your ceremony in a location already dedicated to sustainability, such as parks, protected areas or museums. Finally, having an outdoor ceremony in a beautiful setting will remind you (and your guests) why you make environmentally responsible choices.

The food
Serve local, organic, seasonal cuisine, and include a vegetarian or vegan option. Avoid farmed salmon, which usually contains vaccines, pesticides, antibiotics and synthetic pigment... not good! Before the wedding, research places to donate any leftover food, such as homeless shelters or soup kitchens.

The paper
Save trees by going high-tech: use a website to list directions, maps, accommodations and other details, and use email whenever possible. For the paper you do use, stick with 100% recycled and renewable cotton paper, made from clothing scraps, and vegetable or soy inks, which use less energy to produce than petroleum-based inks.

The attire
Just say "NO!" to attire made in sweatshops and petroleum-based fabrics. Seek out wedding attire made with natural fabrics such as 100% silk or organically grown cotton, and hemp linen - which has come a long way since the gunny sack look. (For proof, visit the Hemp Weddings section of rawganique.com) Another very green idea: recycle! Use your Mom's wedding dress by investing a little time into alterations, or find a vintage dress in specialty stores or on eBay.

The gifts, favors, flowers
All those beautiful touches that make weddings special and unique can easily be turned green... and your first stop should be to idofoundation.org. Here you can include charitable donations on your gift registry, donate a percentage of gift registry sales to your favorite charity, and make a charitable donation in your guests' honor in lieu of wedding favors. When it comes to your wedding flowers, find a floral designer that uses local, organically grown, seasonal flowers, and repurpose the ceremony flowers for the reception to make fewer flowers go farther. (This is also nice for your budget!)

The honeymoon
Certainly, staying close to home avoids those gas-guzzling airplanes, but if travel is in your future consider a "green hotel," which are, according to the web site greenhotels.com "environmentally-friendly properties whose managers are eager to institute programs that save water, save energy and reduce solid waste - while saving money - to help protect our one and only earth." Another idea: consider ecotourism - socially responsible travel that focuses on conserving the environment and improving the well being of local people. Visit ecotourism.org for more information.

Not only does having a green wedding reduce your impact on the environment, it also communicates your passion for the Earth's future to your guests, and will hopefully inspire some of them to make smart choices as well. With just a little creativity, thought and research, your wedding can reflect the earth-loving couple that you are.

More ways to go green...If you wish to dine by candlelight, use soy or beeswax candles, which are greener to produce than crude oil-based paraffin candles.

Buy a like-new, beautiful used dress from the Brides Against Breast Cancer movement makingmemories.org. All proceeds fund breast cancer research.

It's always green to recycle, so for your wedding ring, consider vintage or antique jewelry, use a family heirloom ring, or place a used diamond into a new setting. For new jewelry, seek out recycled gold or fair trade silver, and of course, only buy conflict-free diamonds.

An eco-friendly wedding favor idea is to give guests tree saplings: the earth could use more trees!

Use handmade paper with flower seeds embedded for your wedding invites... your guests can plant your invite after the wedding - the ultimate in recycling.

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