The Backyard Bouquet
Last weekend I went to the most beautiful, green-friendly wedding I've ever seen. The entire thing was eco-conscious—from the food to the favors to the music! The food was all locally grown, some of it was even from the bride's own garden. I think it was the philosophy of the event that brought it all together.
It was a zero-impact, 100% natural party and I left feeling refreshed, renewed, and inspired.
The favors were handmade from found materials and they were all unique. Some were stones painted with pretty designs. Others were potted plants or seeds. Some were soaps made by the groom and his best man. It was a wedding that seemed to break all the rules. Nothing matched, the bride was barefoot, and the guests were dressed in all manner of wacky colors and styles (as per the couple's request). Despite its crazy hodge-podgeness, the event felt unified and pure, perfect in its eccentricity.
One of my favorite parts of the party was the flowers. They were all wild and weedy and most of them came from the couple's farm. It gave me an idea: why don't more couples gather wildflowers for their weddings? I suppose the answer is simple enough—It takes time and energy—but even busy couples can send a few friends out to gather the bouquets. If you're flexible and free-spirited about it, any living blossoms will look beautiful. If waiting until the day before to gather flowers is a little too stressful, consider incorporating wild blooms into your bouquet or hair or make just a few bouquets for the gift table.
A great tie-in with a flower friendly backyard wedding is seed favors like these babies breath seeds.
Each packet is customized with your names and wedding date with a "Let Love Grow" quote as shown in the picture. Each packet will also be hand packed with a small scoop of babys breath seeds for your guests to plant. The flower like its name symbolizes love, happiness, purity of heart and innocence. They are extremely easy to grow and a sight to see. The kraft seed packets are 100% recycled and great for the environment. Each envelope measures approximately 2"x3".
My friend grows sunflowers (if you think ahead, you can grow them for your wedding, too). They are her favorites and they bloom absolutely everywhere around her farm. She used that flower as her focus and came up with tons of creative ways to incorporate it into her décor. She built a trellis out of grape vines and wove sunflowers between them, creating a stunning golden arch.
She tied tall sunflowers to the chairs at the head table so each person in the wedding party felt like a prince or princess on a living throne. She even plucked the petals from sunflowers and put them in a basket for the flower girl.