A Sweet and Solar Wedding

The traditional Town Hall wedding with a new green twist.  Hosted by Sun Crystals, a new sweetener that marries (get it!?) stevia and sugar cane, couples were invited to Foley Square in downtown Manhattan (conveniently located in front of the Marriage Bureau) to take part in the Sun Crystals Sweet & Solar Wedding.

With friends, family and strangers as their witness, over a dozen couples took the plunge (or recommitted) in what was truly a sweet and sustainable day.  M Booth & Associates and Synergy Events produced the weddings, while my dvGreen team came on board as sustainability and design consultants.

Helping to promote green while also saving some of it, registered couples were treated to a full wedding setup.  A vibrant wedding canopy and bridal flowers were created with local sunflowers and greens by our girls at Celadon & Celery.

Powered by solar panels, wedding band One Love kept the party rocking all day.  Photographer Patrick Butler provided couples with portraits, and In2Green filled bridal gift bags with cool eco-Ts.  For signage, we opted for biodegradable bioflex with non-toxic inks rather than conventional vinyl.

Passers by enjoyed some sweetness of their own by digging into Beautiful Sweets organic cookies and drinking Sun Crystals-enhanced teas served in compostable Bagesse cups.  As with all good green events, leftovers did not go to waste and were donated to The Bowery Mission.  Additionally, gowns worn by guerilla brides, who hit the streets promoting the event, were donated to the Bridal Garden.  To keep the donations flowing, Sun Crystals plans to maintain a partnership with 1% For The Planet.

Of course, we can’t forget to thank Mother Nature herself who blessed the couples with a bright and sunny day (which of course helped to keep those solar panels fully charged).

Contributing green writer Danielle Venokur is the founder of dvGreen, a sustainable event design  and production firm.  She hosts The Green Party on MNN.com, and has  been featured in GOTHAM, The Knot, Treehugger, Vogue, and Modern Bride as one of their 25 Trendsetters of 2008.