Eco-chic Weddings Simple Tips to Plan an Environmentally Friendly, Socially Responsible, Affordabel And Stylish Celebration

INTRODUCTION: Your wedding, Your world Welcome toEco-Chic Weddings. I'm glad you're here. Eco-chic is the belief that you can have a beautiful, stylish, well-designed life, and also make good consumer choices. Choices that will benefit the environment and society, as opposed to purchasing items that are produced at the expense of under-paid or mistreated workers, or were made using a toxic or damaging production process.Eco-Chic Weddingsis the first comprehensive guide for the soon-to-be-married set interested in making chic, stylish buying decisions that are also eco-minded and socially responsible. Eco-chic buying decisions, to be specific. And as the amount of money spent on weddings increases year by year, more and more products and services are available for these couples. And the growth in weddings each year is indeed dramaticthere have been 200 million more weddings in the past year than there were in the year 2000. According to a recent survey by The Conde Nast Bridal Group, the amount of money we spend on weddings has increased by 100% since 1990. There are many possible reasons for this increase in wedding spending. Books and magazines encourage us to create special, unique events for our families and friends. Indeed, for many people, planning a wedding can be one of the most creative, exciting projects in their lives. Choosing the colors, the dress, the flowersthis is a lot of fun, and it isn't something most of us get to do on a regular basis. While the wedding business has become such a prevalent part of today's marketplace, there has also been another consumer-trend taking placethe eco-friendly, sustainable movement. With the popularity of the "green" movement, every day we see more and more options and ideas that are environmentally and socially conscious, ideas with style and integrity. And yes, many of the ideas are perfectly suited for your wedding.Eco-Chic Weddingshas gathered these ideas, products, and resources to make it easy for you to make your wedding as environmentally responsible, socially aware, and eco-chic as possible. Because I believe that you can have it allthe look and the style that you want, and better choices about where you spend your money that help you feel good about how you impact the global community. Planning your wedding is a great time to make the decision to be more sustainablethe decisions you make now can continue into your married life, when and if you become parents, and so on.Eco-Chic Weddingssees this moment in your life as the ideal time to take a critical look at your purchasing choices, where your dollars are going, and your impact on the world. The goal of this book is to help you lay a solid groundwork for your future by guiding you through the wedding planning process. This book will answer two very important questions: WHY should you have an eco-chic wedding, and HOW can you be eco-chic? Well, we all know that planning a wedding means spending money. The average cost of the American wedding is now $27,825 (in 1990, it was $15,208). So let's take a quick look at where you might be spending your cash: Reception42% Engagement/Wedding Rings20% Honeymoon12% Photo/Video8% Bride and Groom's Apparel7% Flowers7% Invitations5% Cake3% Music (Ceremony/Reception)3% Ceremony1% Transportation1% Based on this breakdown, most couples spend the largest portion of their dollars on the Reception, but a hefty sum is also spent on just the engagement ring. In the three categoriesReception, Rings, and the Honeymoonthe total amount spent on weddings in the U.S. are: Honeymoons$8 billion Diamond Engagement Rings$7 billion Wedding Registries$19 billion [Source: Conde Nast Bridal GroupAmeAnderson, Emily Elizabeth is the author of 'Eco-chic Weddings Simple Tips to Plan an Environmentally Friendly, Socially Responsible, Affordabel And Stylish Celebration', published 2007 under ISBN 9781578262403 and ISBN 1578262402.