Eco Ideas: No Electricity Wedding

Part of why I love what I do is the challenge. That's why I loved this post from Earth Friendly Weddings. The idea is to go through your entire wedding electricity free. Impossible you say? Definitely not.

Here are the tips that Earth Friendly Weddings suggests:

• Skip the lights. Hold your wedding outside in daylight.
• Hire an acoustic band. Keep the guest list small and intimate so they can hear the music without speakers.
• Although you have no control over how guests actually get to your wedding, have your ceremony and reception in the same place so guests can walk between the events.
• The biggest obstacle is food. It might be tricky (and it might illicit a few choice words from your serious meat eating cousin) but...it can be done! To serve food at a true-zero electricity wedding, thing BIG salad bar. Vegetables, saladas, pasta salads, breads, fruits, cheeses, and cold cuts are just some of the goodies you could offer.
• Another option? Use a gas grill, which emits a lot less CO2 than charcoal briquettes and lighter fluid. This will satisfy that meat eating cousin and you could even create some very interesting desserts with a grill-think bananas foster or grilled peaches. . .

Going electricity free doesn't have to mean nixing a classy affair. Hold an early afternoon wedding that fades into a candlelit twighlight by the end of the reception. Choose local gourmet food items to serve your guests-seasonal and organic fruit and bread with wheels of cheese paired with local wines. Opt for grilled vegetables and meats. Keep the guest list intimate so guests can hear everything without the use of a mic and request cocktail attire so everyone in attendance knows that despite the use of the outdoors and the lack of electricity, that your wedding is still a classy fete.