The David Lynn Blog

This has been an amazing year! In 2008 we have been gifted the opportunity to work with and photograph simply incredible people, be a part of some fantastic wedding celebrations, and travel…We photographed atop a Colorado ski resort, in the middle of an aspen meadow, in the heart of the Canadian Rockies, at a gorgeous villa in Tuscany, on a beach in Mexico, and of course downtown Denver! The couples and people involved in all the weddings we shot this year made it all possible…and when it comes down to it…with great people to work with, the location just doesn’t matter.  Enjoy this slideshow of some of our favorites of the year, and to all of our wedding couples….THANK YOU!!

CONGRATULATIONS Carrie and Stephan!  We and the Earth thank you!!

We were so impressed with all of our couples that put forth an effort to keep the Earth in mind while planning their wedding.  In choosing the winners of our Green Wedding Contest, we looked carefully to find the couple who used the most creativity, “green” elements, and highest degree of environmental & social consciousness.  And it was Carrie & Stephan that put the most impressive amount of thought, time, and energy into planning their wedding with environmental and social consciousness.

We were going to share just a few highlights from their wedding to illustrate their green efforts, but they were so inspiring that we decided to include everything!  Carrie & Stephan’s dedication to the Earth came through in all of their wedding planning details.  We think you’ll also be inspired by reading all that they did. 

At the very least, we want all of you to come away with a bit of inspiration to do something small yourselves for the Earth or your fellow man…recycle your bottles, get a composter, donate, volunteer, buy recyclable batteries…. the small things all add up to something much larger.

Carrie & Stephan set a rule for themselves when planning their wedding, and they stuck to it.  They promised that everything they purchased would be “sustainable, recycled or reused later;” with this in mind, good things were bound to happen…

CONGRATULATIONS again Stephan & Carrie!  And thank you to all of our participants.  We are truly grateful to each of you that entered the contest, and we’ll also be including parts of your applications in the days to come.  

 

From the Bride & Groom:  ”We really hope more people begin to realize how easy it is to throw a green wedding in this day and age. And more importantly, that it is not any more expensive. Our flowers were actually cheaper than many other places, the decorations (from craigslist) were a lot cheaper than purchasing anything new, and the food cost was about the same, except our lambs did not have to fly here from New Zealand. It took slightly more effort to find the eco-friendly websites, but they are out there. If you love our mother earth and are committed to helping her out, put the effort into finding these sites and throwing a green wedding. You’ll feel so much better about it, and isn’t that what your wedding day is all about, feeling good? Anything you love and are committed to takes a little work anyway right?”

Invitations:  ”Invitations were made by tasharaedesigns.com using recycled paper. For each eco order, she plants a tree through americanforesets.org and also does not charge a sample fee, but instead asks that you donate to your favorite charity (which we did with environmentcolorado.org ). Not only are her invitations eco-frendly, but she also donates the scrap papers to her daughter’s school to be used, recycles her ink cartridges, and reuses shipping supplies and packaging materials.”

Gift Registry:  ”We requested no materialistic gifts (how much “stuff” do you really need?) and instead asked that people donate to one of our favorite charities that helps people in need. Our charities included; doctorswithoutborders.org, cancer.org, heifer.org, and not forgetting the environment, terrapass.com. When we think of all the unnecessary gifts we avoided and the resources used to produce them, we just smile. Not to mention all the gas that would have been used and CO2 produced for deliveries, and ridiculous amounts of wrapping paper that would have ended up in landfill!”

Wedding Rings:  ”The engagement ring was Stephan’s grandmother’s ring from the 1930’s, and we wanted a wedding band from that same era. We found many old rings and purchased one at a great antique shop on Broadway called “Manhattan West”. Stephan was not able to find one there so we decided to have his made by greenkarat.com whose goal is to end destructive gold and diamond mining by using recycled gold instead.  According to them, there is enough gold (already mined) to satisfy all demands of the jewelry industry for the next 50 years. Hmmm..something to think about.” 

Wedding Location: “The actual ceremony was in Italy (which we know does not seem very “green”), but we tried to do many things to green it up. The ceremony remained very small with 22 people (including ourselves) and our “reception” (with approximately 80 people) was held outside in Salida, Colorado on our land.”

Transportation: “We had road bikes delivered to the villa so everyone could spend the week exploring Tuscany by bike instead of car. We hired a shuttle to take everyone from the villa to our favorite restaurant after the ceremony. We also had a shuttle at our reception in Colorado running from Mt. Princeton Hot Springs, where some people were staying.”

Food, Beverage & Catering: “All the food and wine in Italy was local and/or organic (hence the reason for going there!) The food for the reception in Colorado was prepared by “Laughing Ladies” in Salida. Jeff, the owner, was very willing to work with us knowing we wanted local and/or organic food. He honored our request of lamb by purchasing it locally from a farm in southwest colorado that raises sustainable lamb without the use of hormones or antibiotics. Colorado produces more lamb than any other state in the nation, so why not eat local? To find local sustainable food options near you, check out localsustainability.net. The rest of the food we served throughout the weekend (mainly breakfast & brunch) was from Whole Foods. We also wanted to stick to Colorado beer since there are so many great microbrews from here. We found a keg (less waste) of organic wheat beer, Mothership Wit, from New Belgium Brewing Co.(Fort Collins) and a keg from Odell’s Brewing Co. which is also from Fort Collins.”

Flowers: “All the flowers in Italy were local. And since it was such a small outdoor gathering, we did not need many. For the bigger Colorado reception we chose gerber daises (a larger flower so you need less) from organicbouquet.com. Not only are their  flowers organic, but they also offset the carbon emissions from shipping, and have eco-packaging!”

Decorations: “Before we started planning or purchasing anything for the wedding or reception, I made a rule requiring everything purchased be sustainable, recycled, or reused later. Sticking to this simple rule really helped to green it up. We purchased used mason jars from craigslist and made soy candles in some and used others as vases for flowers. The vases will later be reused as our drinking glasses for the cabin we will be building. We bought reclaimed barnwood frames to hang up pictures from Italy at the reception in Colorado. We made benches from beetle killed trees on the land and scattered them around for seating. A few sustainable wooden baskets were purchased from vivaterra.com for holding fruit (organic of course) during the cocktail hour. We threw some hemp rugs down in the tipi to make it a little more cozy and warm. All tables, chairs, linens, dishes and glassware were rented. The best part about decorating was letting mother nature do it for us. Not much needed to be done since the location was already naturally beautiful”

Environmental Impact on Land: “We set up recycling bins and compost bins next to the trash. The cups, containers, and silverware used throughout the weekend were purchased through ecoproducts.com and were made of corn and were compostable. We even ordered containers to put leftovers in that were made of sugarcane and biodegradable. In the end after everything was either recycled or composted, we left our land with only 60 liters of trash (that’s equal to 2 kitchen garbage bags!) over an entire weekend with 75-80 people!!!!!!!!!! We must say we are quite proud of this!”

Energy Usage: “We do not have electricity or running water on our land. After being told by many people that it was impossible to have a wedding reception without electricity we were determined to pull it off without a generator!  Cocktails started around 1:30 in the afternoon when the sun was in full force. The band Mumbouli (which was unbelievable!) was all acoustic. And as the sun started to set, all the lighting was provided by soy candles, solar lights, and a campfire. Our only energy usage came from four propane heaters we had rented and used as it started getting cold during dinner. Most people camped on the land for the weekend, and those that were not up for camping, we encouraged to rent and share cabins (which is more energy efficient than individual hotel rooms) at Mt. Princeton Hot Springs.”

Wedding Favors: “For our favors we decided we wanted to do something that would help others in need of a “favor”. And when we thought about the fact that we were able to throw a party for approximately 80 people with great food and wine, while many people in the world don’t even have food and clean water, we quckly realized how to help. So, on behalf of our guests, we donated to thirstaid.com and heifer.org, and also planted a tree for everyone at the reception through americanforests.org. The favors were printed out on sustainable, tree-free paper purchased through custompaper.com and placed at each individual setting.

Carbon Offset: “All flights to Italy and Colorado were calculated and offset through terrapass.com. We also calculated the distance everyone would be driving (including rental deliveries) and offset those miles too.”

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THE WEDDING SLIDESHOW:

THE RECEPTION SLIDESHOW: