For your ceremony, choose from the classic Greek portico complete with high, elegant columns and fringed with low-hanging tree branches or the ennchanting wedding grove, a romantic, intimate area surrounded by towering trees that filter in sunlight and provide a gorgeous, natural setting.

Woodend Sanctuary is ideal for beautiful photographs among the wildflowers, tall grasses, and lush green trees.

Inside the Woodend Mansion, elegant rooms complete with fireplaces and hardwood floors are lovely for your big day! Take your first dance in the glamorous Great Hall next to a warm, blazing fireplace and stately winding staircase…dine with your guests outside the French doors under the Tented Terrace. Available April through November, the Terrace can hold up to 150 guests and is so delightful!

One special feature of Woodend is that it is part of the Audubon Naturalist Society, the oldest and largest independent nonprofit organization dedicated to environmental issues — the ideal spot for couples hoping to host a “green” environmentally-friendly wedding.

In fact, Woodend Sanctuary will do all that it can to help you make your celebration as green as possible. Not only does the venue strive to maintain an eco-friendly reputation by allowing wedding parties to hold both the ceremony and reception at any of Woodend’s multiple spacious, diverse areas, thus reducing transportation, but they also encourage couples cut down on wasteful decorations by instead embracing the gorgeous, natural setting as décor in itself. Allow the blushing pink cherry blossoms, bright yellow wildflowers, and hundreds of trees painting the background every shade of green imaginable to provide a natural color scheme. It is likely that you will even see a few deer peering out from the woods.

Woodend works to reduce environmental waste. In addition to recyling, the venue uses efficient heating and cooling systems, lighting timer devices, low-flow toilets and faucets, environmentally sensitive cleaning supplies. Love it – so eco-chic!

For more information, contact Rebecca Robinson at rrobinson@audubonnaturalist.org.

To add to the list, on Sunday, Aveda/Adele Wechsler National Green Wedding initiative is coming to Washington to let brides know that they have green options for their special day!

Aveda beauty specialists will be offering brides-to-be and their guests a beauty countdown and hair and makeup tips for the big day. Adele Wechsler gowns will be presented because being eco-conscious does not mean sacrificing style. DC Brides can also taste wedding cake samples from Sticky Fingers Bakery, view global fair trade eco-jewelry from Alberto Parada and take in floral displays from Park Florist.

I would love to hear what have you done  - or are planning to do – to make your wedding eco-friendly and green?

Today, I am delighted to share Sidra Forman’s expert insight on floral design.  In addition to creating breathtaking arrangements, she is committed to practicing a green business that will fit any couple’s wedding budget and vision.

How far in advance do you first meet with a couple who is interested in your design services?  What questions do you ask them to get a feel for their vision of their wedding?

This can vary quite a bit.  Generally I first meet a couple for the first time 6-12 months before their wedding date.  However, I already have a wedding booked for 2011 and I have also done wedding flowers with very short notice.

I ask that the couple to give me a few general words that describe how they picture the event. For example, a couple that I met with earlier this week said, “Elegant, welcoming and fun.” I always ask to see photos of the wedding dress if it has been chosen.  Also, I ask for any other photos that the couple has seen of flowers or other design elements that they like or do not like – I find the likes and dislikes to be equally helpful.

Where do you find inspiration for your designs?

I find inspiration through my garden and the flowers I grow and purchase.  This aspect is completely driven by the seasons which determine what flowers are at their best at any given time.  I often joke that the constant change of seasons keeps me from ever getting bored since there is always something new growing and available.  I have a cutting garden that right now is bursting with herbs, peonies, garden roses, branches covered with young figs and hydrangea.

I also deal directly with local growers who provide me with amazing flowers during the local growing season; my primary source for local flowers is Wollam Gardens. This time of the year I speak with them often sometimes a few times a day monitoring what is blooming on a daily basis.  For example, this weekend I am doing a wedding at The Arts Club of Washington and plan to use huge containers of Mock Orange where the ceremony is taking place. This afternoon, the farm called to suggest that they want to wait one extra day before cutting so that the blooms will be at the optimal point of openness for the Saturday wedding.

When flowers from my own garden and other local sources are not available, I buy many of my flowers from the Dutch Auction in Holland.  Not only are the flowers spectacular, but they are also grown in an environmentally conscious manner with fair labor practices.

I work with a broker who bids on the flowers that I request and gets them to my front door in less than 48 hours.  A close working relationship and a lot of email back and forth, with photos, gives me great choice and ultimate freshness.  I was fortunate to get to visit the Auction in Holland this past spring and saw firsthand where the flowers are coming from.  In addition to these sources I work with a couple organic farms in California and Florida as well as a few farms in South America that grow consciously and are cooperatively owned.

Another important source of inspiration is from the collaborative process between me and the couple getting married.  Each wedding that I do is unique and very much grows out of the sharing of ideas and experiences.

What are the ways to make the most of your floral budget?

I believe that it is possible to do fantastic flowers with a huge variety of budgets.  I feel strongly that couples need to be comfortable with the amount of money they are spending on flowers for the event to be successful.

On the other hand, with flowers – more is nearly always better.  That being said it is important if working within a specific budget to know the exactly what that budget is.  If a budget is limited I find that you get more floral impact by doing fewer larger floral arrangements rather than many smaller arrangements.

Often monochromatic flowers can make fewer flowers seem like more.  Other methods I use are to stuff smaller containers rather than sparsely filling larger containers or tying flowers in a bunch and leaning them to the side of a container.

Lastly for both budget and environmental reasons I suggest that couples borrow containers so all their money can go to the flowers rather than the vases and then the containers can be reused.

Do you make an effort to use seasonal and local options?

I use local options whenever they are available and only use seasonal flowers from both local and distant sources.  I am very committed to using only flowers that are grown with respect to the environment and with fair labor practices.  If flowers do not fit this criterion then I do not use them.  I also make every effort to run my business in an environmentally conscious manner making as small a footprint on the earth as possible.

All of these gorgeous photos were taken by Jay Premack.

Thank you so much to Sidra for sharing her talents with us today!  I hope that you all are as enamored with Sidra’s wisdom as I am!  Be sure to check out her blog!

Photos: The Knot

As I was browsing the Michael’s Arts & Crafts website, I came upon this fun project.  What if you used these pots as place cards, then guests could take them home as favors?  A wonderful two-for-one eco-lovely DIY project (DIY = “Do-It-Yourself”)!  I love it!

Photos: Michael’s Arts & Crafts; Pottery Barn

The pots on the right used to be sold at Pottery Barn.  I just checked their website and it doesn’t look like they are currently carrying them.  The ones on the left are a DIY project — much more affordable and twice as fun!  

Here are the instructions for creating these Chalkboard Pots (courtesy of Michael’s):

Materials – Valspar Chalkboard Spray Paint; Terracotta Pots; Newspaper; Chalk Sticks; Masking Tape; Potting Soil; Something to plant in the pots (herbs, flowers, etc.)

Step 1 – Start by masking off the rims of the pot, as this area will be left unsprayed.  (Another option – You can choose to spray the entire pot like the ones featured in the right picture above.)  Lay down newspaper to protect the surrounding area.

Step 2 – Take the Chalkboard Black paint and spray over the unmasked area of the pots.  Leave for 15 minutes, then apply a second coat.

Step 3 – Leave to dry thoroughly for at least 60 minutes.  (While you are waiting, you can finalize your guest list and practice writing your guests’ names on a scrap piece of paper.  Alternatively, you could contact a local calligrapher to see if he/she could write the names in chalk.  I’ll work on getting you the name of a local calligrapher who can do this.)

Step 4 – Once the paint is dry, write the name of each guest on each pot using the chalk.

Michael’s Locations in the D.C. area – Falls Church, Vienna, Fairfax, Alexandria, Rockville, Springfield, Wheaton, & Reston 

Love, Love, LOVE Michael’s!

On January 31st, the Washington DC Couture Wedding Consortium gave away a green wedding planning package valued at over $50,000.  The lucky winners?  Meet Dana & David…

Photo: Elegance & Simplicity

Dana and David will be getting married on April 22, 2009 (Earth Day!) at the Decatur House Museum.  Throughout the coming months, we’ll be checking in with them to see how their green wedding planning is coming along.  Planner Katie Martin, of Elegance & Simplicity, will be guiding them through the process of selecting eco-friendly elements for their big day.  Katie is loaded with information on planning a green wedding — I can’t wait to see how this journey unfolds!

More to come later today…green favor ideas and where to find them in D.C.!

Photos: Martha Stewart Weddings

If you are looking to incorporate environmentally-friendly aspects into your big day, the D.C. Green Wedding Consortium is the perfect place to start.  Check out their website for a full list of eco-conscious resources!