Customer Reviews

The Green Bride Guide: How to Create an Earth-Friendly Wedding on Any Budget

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I love this book so much. I've read other so-called green wedding guides, and they didn't have near the depth, detail, and super cool creative ideas this book has. In addition to a thorough examination of how to green the many parts of your wedding, the creative ideas are really inspiring. I am pretty hardcore when it comes to living eco-friendly, but I still found it had really helpful tips and neat ideas. I don't have the inclination to research every little detail down to where to get eco-friendly nail polish, but thankfully, this book does it for you! There are a lot of web sites mentioned. I reccomend keeping a little pad next to your book to make notes, because you'll want to write down certain things. Also, make sure to buy this (or give your existing copy) to a bride or groom early in the process, so she or he can benefit from the breadth of ideas before settling in on any one thing.

This is going to be one of the "new" bride guides. Finally, those of us who want to wed responsibly - without all the disgusting waste- have someone to turn to. Every bride should read this, and it will appeal especially to socially and environmentally responsible upper-level educated persons. It is refreshing, hip and modern.

I Was hoping that this book would be helpful for planning. The trouble is that it seems like it's geared to someone who's never recycled in her life. If you've never before considered the carbon footprint of travel then this book is right up your alley. If you already concern yourself with a green/eco/earth-friendly lifestyle there isn't a lot in this book that you couldn't figure out for yourself.

This is a nice primer on green wedding ideas, nicely divided by general topic (the bride, the flowers, reception, etc.) Each chapter is then chock full of ideas and suggestions for making your wedding's footprint smaller. These suggestions range in terms of relatively inexpensive to relatively spendy are marked with $, $$, or $$$ to denote those estimates. Thus you can flip quickly to a section where you might want to improve, and quickly evaluate the options based on budget. There are nice little boxes that note things to particularly avoid or offer more specific discussion on why some choices should be avoided. Overall a wonderful book and proves that you don't need to be super-rich to have a down-to-earth green ceremony and reception.

This book has a lot of good tips about how to keep a wedding simple (and, at the same time, eco-friendly).

My rating is for the book as a whole but my review only addresses photography, on which I would rank this book with only ONE star.

Full disclosure: I'm a Green Bride Guide certified vendor (photographer). I'm very happy with the information in this book about how to "green" your wedding but I'm highly disappointed with the author's advice about photographers, which is far more concerned with budget than it is with educating brides on green photography. Photography is one of the most critical aspects of a wedding and the photographs and albums that are created not only remind the couple of their highly anticipated day (much of which they miss because they are so busy) but they also become cherished family heirlooms that are passed along over generations. There are many valid reasons for professional wedding photography being so expensive and there are many ways that photographers are becoming more environmentally and socially responsible in their business practices (like my business: [...]). I hope that an updated edition of this book will be released that focuses on these green aspects of photography.

By the way, [...] does a better job of this in their green photographer vendor listings where you can see specific green practices that vendors use (though, it too could benefit from updating).

The Green Bride Guide is a great read for any bride with an eco-concious brain. I was able to page through it and use its handy worksheets during my planning process. My favorite part was that it outlined different options and their price ranges. I was hoping that the guide would help me in locating green businesses around me but what was mentioned wasn't near me. Author Kate Harrison does have her website up and running with a few good resources on it but this too needs a face lift. I would recommend this to any green bride and would use it as a good starting point for someone looking for options not answers.

As any current, former, or future bride might know, when planning a wedding it is helpful to have some sort of "guidebook" to reference. There are many out there to consult- but this one is very unique, helpful, and GREEN.

This book boasts the ability to help you "create an earth-friendly wedding on any budget" - and it delivers! I think a lot of people tend to consider green options expensive. The suggestions this book offers cover the gamut of price ranges. There really is something for everyone in here.

The major pluses of this book are its organization, its resource list, its worksheets, and the comprehensive coverage of topics. The information you need is easy to find and references for more information are well cited. The book covers everything you can think of - jewelry, dresses, transportation, wedding registries, invitations, flowers, honeymoon travel, decor, make-up, catering...etc. It's a grand accumulation of all things wedding and how to make them more "green". This was a phenomenal discovery for me because when initially browsing for "green wedding tips" I was disappointed to find most resources focused their attention on the invitation aspect and recycled paper products- along with other cliche ideas. Not that recycled paper invites aren't a good idea- it's just a little obvious and over publicized. Not to mention, that's only ONE aspect of the whole wedding process!

The Green Bride Guide starts off by discussing general topics like supporting local businesses, watching out for "greenwashing", and communicating your "green" vision to vendors. As specific topics are covered in well-organized chapters specific suggestions are given a rating of $, $$, or $$$ based on price. For example, in the location section, a rating of $ is given to "Natural Surroundings" (among others), whereas a rating of $$$ is given to "Green Resorts" (among others).

To give you a taste of what you can find in this book, here some of the topics I've found most helpful and/or informative.

* Section about the risks associated with bottled water and the importance of offering guests water from glass pitchers rather than plastic bottles.
* The registry section with suggestions of how/where to register for more eco-conscious mainstream items (appliances etc) as well as unique green lifestyle items.
* Clean-up and Waste information. Helpful reminders on using decoration that is reusable or creates little/no waste. Including an excellent idea for a Co-Op of commonly used wedding event items.

In addition to itself providing excellent factual information, tips, and unique ideas, the book provides an abundance of external resources to consider - both within the text and as a handy list in the back (sorted of course by topic). Invaluable.

This book does NOT contain glossy pages full of photographed weddings. For that you must seek Martha Stewart et al. This book - true to its mission- is printed on recycled paper and doesn't waste space with photos. However, if it's photographs you desire, visit the Green Bride Guide website as a colorful supplement to the book!

This book is really great at stating the obvious. It can be summed up in one sentence: recycling is good and overconsumption is bad. The author may be a very good environmentalist, but she is not a good wedding planner and will not help you plan your wedding. This book provides no useful or practical tips. No checklists, real solutions, or lists. What a complete waste of space and money. Avoid this book at all costs.

This book has been so helpful. It is very well written, and there are a lot of websites in each section that sell amazing, earth-friendly products. The dress shopping section has been of particular usefulness to me. I would recommend this book to anyone planning a wedding!