Two weeks ago, my new husband and I tied the knot. And while I'm (obviously) excited about being a newlywed, I'm also excited to be able to share some no-longer-secret details of our green-leaning celebration. As I mentioned in an earlier post, we picked a venue up in an off-the-grid part of New York's Catskill Mountain region. Most of our guests spent the whole weekend on the property, so we wanted to give them a few TSA-friendly items to make their stay more enjoyable. It was hard for us (OK, me) to whittle down the list of green goodies that could go in these bags, but here was the final selection:
Tote - My amazingly talented mother offered to sew these using a bunch of cotton canvas I picked up at a secondhand sale. She even used fabric dye to create the red handles out of scraps and lined the insides with muslin, which made them feel much more substantial. (If you're similarly crafty, check out these tote patterns from Martha Stewart.) We tied a note handwritten on recycled cardstock to the handle of each bag.
Water bottle - We all know that bottled water is a big eco problem. It takes three liters of water to make just one liter of bottled! Instead, we gave each guest a Bobble, which has a filter that lasts for the equivalent of 300 single-serve bottles. It's also recyclable and BPA-free. Our guests loved them, and they came in handy during the pre-wedding hike on Saturday afternoon.
Flashlight - The grounds are 100 acres and quite dark after the sunset, so we included an LED flashlight. (Though if we'd had unlimited funds, I would have opted for this USB-charged version.)
Cards - In case of rain—which we did have!—we included a deck of Binth's playing cards. They are printed with soy-based inks and have a fun, modern design.
Snack - Because no goodie bag is complete without something delicious, we made our own trail mix (almonds, cashews, dried cranberries, dried cherries, and milk and dark chocolate which we purchased in bulk) and packaged them in half-pint wide-mouth Kerr jars we picked up from our local Ace Hardware store.
Soap - We wanted to include something from the region and had fallen hard for Locust Grove's soaps at the farmers' market earlier in the year. They're made using goats' milk and smell incredible. (In the kids' bags, we swapped the soap for a much-more-fun bubble necklace or a tiny Melissa & Doug stuffed rabbit, depending on the age, tucked into a little burlap pouch.)
From: Congrats to Deborah A. Bauer | The Artisans' Guild Oneonta | 11/27/12 at 9:29 pm
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From: Claudia- Moving For Love | 12/6/12 at 4:40 pm
Congratulations! What a cute idea, thoughtful and useful. This is something your guests will always remember because you put such though into it for them. I am sure they were left with the feeling of being part of your big day, and not just a guest.