Let's face it, traditional weddings don't just deplete bank accounts; they can also leave a considerable carbon footprint.

Fortunately, planning an eco wedding is easier and more affordable than ever before. With an eye toward specific areas of wedding planning, couples can lessen their guilt, carbon footprint and, in some cases, their expenses by planning an eco friendly wedding.

Eco Wedding Rings

Engagement and wedding rings can serve as the first statement in planning your eco friendly wedding.

Since gold and diamond mining can be particularly toxic to the environment, consider using, or resetting, a family wedding ring, an option that is not only eco-friendly, but also rich in sentimentality. Of course, a family heirloom isn't always available, in which case you can consider combing eBay, or local jewelry suppliers, for vintage bands and/or stones.

If however, you are intent on new rings, you can buy your rings from retailers that participate in the "No Dirty Gold" campaign aimed at implementing, and rewarding, the most eco-friendly gold mining practices available. Or check out Apollo Diamond for eco-friendly diamond rings.

Eco Wedding Dresses

As with wedding and engagement rings, choosing to re-use a family dress can be both practical and sentimental. But many brides find that either a fitting dress isn't available or that the styles of yesteryear aren't necessarily appealing today.

If you choose to buy a new dress for your eco-friendly wedding, remember that the usual fabrics (think synthetic taffeta) tend to be made using resource-intensive methods and/or exploitive labor practices. Opting for more eco friendly fabrics, such as organic cotton, silk, hemp, or linen can provide an environmentally responsible option while also offering a wide variety of choices in fit, pattern, and style.

The same is true of bridesmaids' dresses and the attire of the wedding party. When it comes to your eco-friendly wedding planning, you can save resources (including that precious one known as money) by choosing eco-friendly fabrics.

Eco Friendly Stationery

After the engagement, it's time to let friends and family know about your big day, an announcement with a rich history. For many couples, one of the first orders of wedding planning business is to announce the engagement by way of an engagement announcement and/or an engagement party. Ensuring that your announcements and invitations are made from postconsumer, or tree-free, paper is a great way to kick off your eco-friendly wedding planning.

If you're putting on a summer wedding, destination wedding, weekend wedding, wedding with many traveling guests, wedding near a major holiday, or a wedding which includes guests with busy lifestyles, then you should consider sending out a Save the Date. This will allow your guests to schedule the wedding on their calendar long before they receive a more formal invitation. In the spirit of your eco-friendly wedding, of course, your Save The Date should be printed on recycled, or tree-less, paper products.

Perhaps your most important stationery decision, however, will involve the wedding invitations. A wedding invitation typically includes the actual invitation, the RSVP card with envelope, a reception card, a map or directions card and, in the case of some invitation styles, an outer envelope, all of which can implement the use of postconsumer (recycled) or tree-less papers.

Wedding stationery, of course, goes far beyond these basics. Bridal shower announcements/invitations, thank-you notes, guest books, rehearsal dinner invitations, reception and ceremony papers, ceremony and wedding programs, escort cards, place cards, seating cards, menu cards, paper favors, and table cards are among the many postconsumer and tree-less paper products than can be used to mitigate the usual waste. These days, eco-friendly stationery and wedding invitations and are nearly as plentiful, and every bit as beautiful, as the more conventional alternatives.

Overwhelmed? Use this timeline as a convenient reference for sending out the appropriate stationery at the appropriate time. And you can always e-mail or phone us (888-349-4684) for help selecting the perfect eco friendly wedding invitations.

Flowers and Favors

No, you don't have to go without flowers in order to host an eco-friendly wedding. Opting for locally grown organic flowers and favors, though, is the way to avoid importing flowers from regions, or developing countries, that might rely on pesticides and/or exploitive labor practices. Choosing a local florist is among your best ways to ensure that you are getting the eco-friendly wedding for which you are striving.

When it comes to favors, consider something unique, like Invitesite's plantable wedding program kit, which provides wedding programs that have seeds embedded into handmade cotton rag paper, allowing guests to plant their programs after the big day.

Food

Outside of the venue, perhaps no wedding element is more expensive, or deliberated over, than the food and drink. Locally grown organic foods, and ideally wines, are the perfect way to continue your eco-friendly wedding theme. Offering a vegetarian, or vegan, menu choice, too, can provide proper variety to your guests while also continuing your eco-friendly theme.

The Eco Honeymoon

When your big day is finally over, you'll likely be heading off for the honeymoon. Don't forget that there is a plethora of eco-friendly travel destinations and agencies that can help you keep your travel as eco-friendly as your wedding. Seek travel destinations that offer a focus on ecotourism and sustainable travel, an effort that will not only be ecologically responsible, but also provide a unique vacation that can be an alternative to typical tourist locations.

So sit back, relax, and imbibe a cold beverage or two; you've earned it by planning an eco friendly wedding and honeymoon.