Breaking through misconceptions about what it means to have a green wedding, Katie Martin and Robin Fisher would never have imagined a year ago that their magazine and blog—guides showing that a green wedding can be every bit as glamorous and beautiful as any other, would be on the road to becoming a highly sought out sensation by the environmentally conscious bride.
Through a beautiful online magazine and informative blog, Martin and Fisher show today’s bride how to plan her fairytale wedding, without compromising style and by incorporating green elements from the dress to the cake along the way.
In just under one year since the launch of the first issue, Martin, who is editor-in-chief, and Fisher, the style editor, are becoming experts on green weddings, with followers growing every day around the world.
Owner of Elegance and Simplicity, a wedding and events firm based in Washington D.C., Martin had been doing green weddings and floral design for years. With a scarcity of information on the topic, she was prompted to write a book on eco-beautiful weddings to help brides understand that having a green wedding is not just about wearing a vintage dress and having vegan food.
“We wanted to show people that you can have a really stylish wedding, just like all the other weddings,” says Martin.
Martin notes there are all sort of decisions made throughout the wedding planning process that can be made green, either dark green or light green, as she calls it. “At least you’re making some decisions to make your wedding greener,” says Martin. “It makes a huge difference.”
Martin followed her publicist’s advice and launched a magazine as a platform for her book, and so the Eco-Beautiful Weddings magazine was born.
“It was kind of a big undertaking, [and] I wasn’t really sure what I was getting into,” says Martin, who has been surprised by the overwhelmingly warm response the free online magazine and blog have received throughout the world.
The magazine certainly achieves the intended goal; it delivers by providing both elegant and informative content with a ton of inspiring ideas and spectacular photography to boot.
Martin says catering is one area with big potential for reducing the ecological footprint. For instance, instead of having filet mignon at the wedding—a highly energy-inefficient meat—by just switching to chicken, you’re saving a lot of carbon emissions. She also suggests getting in touch with a caterer that is green restaurant certified, and likely to get its products from a local source.
While catering and travel are areas where many people are already looking to reduce waste, according to Martin, everything from the cake to the dress can be made green while still being stylish. “There are different levels you can go to in each and everything you do for your wedding,” she notes.
The magazine helps to break away from the misconceptions that green weddings need to be very minimalistic and that you have to sacrifice many things, especially style.
Through a beautiful online magazine and informative blog, Martin and Fisher show today’s bride how to plan her fairytale wedding, without compromising style and by incorporating green elements from the dress to the cake along the way.
In just under one year since the launch of the first issue, Martin, who is editor-in-chief, and Fisher, the style editor, are becoming experts on green weddings, with followers growing every day around the world.
Owner of Elegance and Simplicity, a wedding and events firm based in Washington D.C., Martin had been doing green weddings and floral design for years. With a scarcity of information on the topic, she was prompted to write a book on eco-beautiful weddings to help brides understand that having a green wedding is not just about wearing a vintage dress and having vegan food.
“We wanted to show people that you can have a really stylish wedding, just like all the other weddings,” says Martin.
Martin notes there are all sort of decisions made throughout the wedding planning process that can be made green, either dark green or light green, as she calls it. “At least you’re making some decisions to make your wedding greener,” says Martin. “It makes a huge difference.”
Martin followed her publicist’s advice and launched a magazine as a platform for her book, and so the Eco-Beautiful Weddings magazine was born.
“It was kind of a big undertaking, [and] I wasn’t really sure what I was getting into,” says Martin, who has been surprised by the overwhelmingly warm response the free online magazine and blog have received throughout the world.
The magazine certainly achieves the intended goal; it delivers by providing both elegant and informative content with a ton of inspiring ideas and spectacular photography to boot.
Martin says catering is one area with big potential for reducing the ecological footprint. For instance, instead of having filet mignon at the wedding—a highly energy-inefficient meat—by just switching to chicken, you’re saving a lot of carbon emissions. She also suggests getting in touch with a caterer that is green restaurant certified, and likely to get its products from a local source.
While catering and travel are areas where many people are already looking to reduce waste, according to Martin, everything from the cake to the dress can be made green while still being stylish. “There are different levels you can go to in each and everything you do for your wedding,” she notes.
The magazine helps to break away from the misconceptions that green weddings need to be very minimalistic and that you have to sacrifice many things, especially style.
Gorgeous Gowns, Green
Fisher lives and breathes fashion. Growing up in California, making her own clothes and wearing vintage were commonsense for staying ahead of the trends. Part of her job is to find the eco-friendly designers out there and make sure brides find out about them.
Dresses made locally by indie designers using beautiful silks, organic cotton, or other materials are some ways of keeping the dress green. There are also many perks as well, such as working directly with the designer, getting a better quality dress with more breathable fabric, and supporting local designers.
Fisher says the beauty of the dress is not compromised at all, and you can have all the latest trends. She says it’s all about finding the right vendor. “We want to become a resource for brides,” she says.
Once you start with the dress and see what a difference you’re making, everything begins to fall into place, notes Martin.
To some, it might be unimaginable just how big of a carbon footprint a simple wedding dress can have. Martin says there are many things that people don’t realize when it comes to high-end couture fashion designers. While their headquarters may be in North America, they are buying the fabric from other countries, shipping it here, designing the dress, and then sending the fabric back to be manufactured. Many jobs are not kept here, and some dresses are traveling 60 days across the water just one way.
“There’s a whole different thing that goes on when it comes to social awareness with these dresses,” says Martin.
The magazine offers alternatives, featuring a variety of well-known couture designers who keep their production local. “We just bring a lot of style to it, and as people find out about it, people share it, [saying] ‘wow, I didn’t know eco could look so good,’” says Fisher. She notes that brides even might be getting a better quality dress when it’s manufactured domestically.
Having traveled the world to numerous manufacturing factories overseas, she knows the difference between domestic and overseas production, saying that when it comes to offshore manufacturing, quality is often sacrificed.
Dresses made locally by indie designers using beautiful silks, organic cotton, or other materials are some ways of keeping the dress green. There are also many perks as well, such as working directly with the designer, getting a better quality dress with more breathable fabric, and supporting local designers.
Fisher says the beauty of the dress is not compromised at all, and you can have all the latest trends. She says it’s all about finding the right vendor. “We want to become a resource for brides,” she says.
Once you start with the dress and see what a difference you’re making, everything begins to fall into place, notes Martin.
To some, it might be unimaginable just how big of a carbon footprint a simple wedding dress can have. Martin says there are many things that people don’t realize when it comes to high-end couture fashion designers. While their headquarters may be in North America, they are buying the fabric from other countries, shipping it here, designing the dress, and then sending the fabric back to be manufactured. Many jobs are not kept here, and some dresses are traveling 60 days across the water just one way.
“There’s a whole different thing that goes on when it comes to social awareness with these dresses,” says Martin.
The magazine offers alternatives, featuring a variety of well-known couture designers who keep their production local. “We just bring a lot of style to it, and as people find out about it, people share it, [saying] ‘wow, I didn’t know eco could look so good,’” says Fisher. She notes that brides even might be getting a better quality dress when it’s manufactured domestically.
Having traveled the world to numerous manufacturing factories overseas, she knows the difference between domestic and overseas production, saying that when it comes to offshore manufacturing, quality is often sacrificed.
The Magazine
The magazine and blog caters to brides as well as wedding planners and industry experts. Wedding industry gurus need to stay up-to-date on all the latest trends, and green is currently one of the biggest out there.
The blog is an extension of the magazine and features many green outlets like Recycled Bride, an online outlet for selling your dress once you’re married. Additionally, Martin says they’re always doing giveaways on the blog as well as posting sales and other special offers, like 10 percent off a vegan shoe store, and other special offers from green vendors around the world.
Martin attributes the scarcity of this type of information in the major mainstream wedding magazines to the commonly held misconception that being green means compromising style and that it’s going to be cheap, not ideal for an industry that emphasizes making an extravagant amount of money on weddings.
The average cost of a wedding in the United States is growing every year, notes Martin. Five years ago, she says, it was about $24,000, while now it’s up to about $35,000, not counting the major metropolitan cities like New York and Washington D.C., where the average wedding might cost up to $40,000–$50,000.
“People are spending a whole year’s salary for just eight hours of their life, so the power of going green means that some of that money can go back into their local community,” says Martin.
Many environmentally conscious vendors are also looking to give back to the community or contributing to different environmental organizations since their heart is on the cause. “We try to tell brides, this is what you should be looking for in organic flowers, how can a DJ be green—all these interesting articles that no one else is writing about,” says Martin.
This past year has been all about building a brand, explains Martin, who says many professionals are still skeptical, thinking they are bound to lose money on the concept. From her experience, however, she says it’s just the opposite.
During the recession, Martin saw at least 10 wedding businesses go out of business just in her local area, whereas her green-focused wedding business not only remained the same but grew. One reason, Martin says, is that many brides and grooms are thinking that if they’re going to spend such a large amount of money for their big day, they want it to go to a greater good and know they are working with good people.
“In this economy, because people are re-evaluating their lives and what they’re spending their money on, going green is the perfect way to go,” she says.
When it comes to the magazine’s content, Martin emphasizes that it has to be beautiful, unique, green, and something that’s already on the market. Likewise, Fisher says she’s constantly combing the market for major fashion trends and then finding the eco-friendly equivalent.
The magazine comes out with an issue every season, while new updates are frequently posted on the blog. Each edition features a different city; so far it’s been New York City, Sydney, Ottawa, and London. Martin says she plans to cover one U.S. city a year, with the others being international.
They also hope to translate the magazine into Spanish and French to start with; after that, the possibilities for growth are endless as they try to reach green-minded brides around the globe.
The venture has been fun and exciting for the two. Fisher describes her relationship with Martin as yin and yang. “We laugh all the time,” says Fisher. “The whole process is becoming a passion for us, so our hearts are in it and we really enjoy working together a lot.”
The Eco-Beautiful magazine and blog can be accessed at:
http://www.eco-beautifulweddings.com/
“People are spending a whole year’s salary for just eight hours of their life, so the power of going green means that some of that money can go back into their local community,” says Martin.
Many environmentally conscious vendors are also looking to give back to the community or contributing to different environmental organizations since their heart is on the cause. “We try to tell brides, this is what you should be looking for in organic flowers, how can a DJ be green—all these interesting articles that no one else is writing about,” says Martin.
This past year has been all about building a brand, explains Martin, who says many professionals are still skeptical, thinking they are bound to lose money on the concept. From her experience, however, she says it’s just the opposite.
During the recession, Martin saw at least 10 wedding businesses go out of business just in her local area, whereas her green-focused wedding business not only remained the same but grew. One reason, Martin says, is that many brides and grooms are thinking that if they’re going to spend such a large amount of money for their big day, they want it to go to a greater good and know they are working with good people.
“In this economy, because people are re-evaluating their lives and what they’re spending their money on, going green is the perfect way to go,” she says.
When it comes to the magazine’s content, Martin emphasizes that it has to be beautiful, unique, green, and something that’s already on the market. Likewise, Fisher says she’s constantly combing the market for major fashion trends and then finding the eco-friendly equivalent.
The magazine comes out with an issue every season, while new updates are frequently posted on the blog. Each edition features a different city; so far it’s been New York City, Sydney, Ottawa, and London. Martin says she plans to cover one U.S. city a year, with the others being international.
They also hope to translate the magazine into Spanish and French to start with; after that, the possibilities for growth are endless as they try to reach green-minded brides around the globe.
The venture has been fun and exciting for the two. Fisher describes her relationship with Martin as yin and yang. “We laugh all the time,” says Fisher. “The whole process is becoming a passion for us, so our hearts are in it and we really enjoy working together a lot.”
The Eco-Beautiful magazine and blog can be accessed at:
http://www.eco-beautifulweddings.com/
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