Evian Couture Water Bottle

My fantastic find today and you won't believe where.... Big Lots! (and only $1) I rarely go in there but today on my lunch break I stopped in to come across this beautiful Evian water bottle. First thing that came to mind is how perfect this would be as the favors for the Bridal shower I am having and for my table decor for the baby shower I am also hosting (in a couple months). Decorate it with some ribbon with my theme colors and Presto!!

Who says water can’t be fashionable? Celebrated clothing designer Christian Lacroix has officially made his foray into consumer goods with the chic limited edition Christian Lacroix Evian Water Bottle.

These stunning 750 ml glass bottles mark the first time that Evian has brought in a famous designer to helm the project of their yearly limited edition bottle. They come painted in a beautiful couture white coppice pattern with an adorning ‘Christian Lacroix’ on the bottle itself .
There is absolutely nothing plastic about this bottle, and the quality is as good as it gets! It even opens with a traditional bottle opener, thoughtful of its true lavish nature.

Now a few words by Mr. CL himself: : “It seems that Evian natural spring water has been there all my life. I remember the curly label of my childhood (were they arabesques, elaborate columns?) in the hotels of the lake where our family used to spend holidays. They came the streamlined graphics, like a futuristic and timeless dress of the Sixties, and the small bottles you could find all over the world, the design bottles, collected every winter of that millennium. Life a foretelling. It is therefor an amused and rather proud old friend that I designed these bottles. Draping one with the flowers of success, those that adorn the ‘paseo’ parade capes, like snowy crystal garlands or frost-frozen alpine flowers. Giving the other the silhouette of a princess, a goddess or a mythical creature, a sort of snow fairy in couture garb, crowned with flowers, bejewelled with crystals, “wearing” the familiar range of jagged peaks and ridges, like the flounces of a crinoline.”
What a perfect water for any sort of event.... conferences, weddings, showers, engagements, or any other special or commemorative event.

Once the showers come around I will share the pictures of my successful and creative event!

10 Ways to Green your Wedding

1. Choose a green location to have your wedding and/or reception. This could be a park, a museum, or a local charity venue. You could also look for hotels or restaurants that are green, either by serving organic menus or adopting a code of green business ethics such as recycling, buying local and donating part of their proceeds to charity. Check listings such as Green America’s (formerly Co-op America) National Green Pages.

2. Serve an organic and local menu. Supporting local farms and businesses is important and your food will be fresher. Try to find a caterer that uses local and organic ingredients to make dishes. Everything from your cake to your appetizers, even your drinks can be organic but even just a little bit counts.

3. Send out invitations printed on recycled or tree free paper. Companies like Twisted Limb offer beautiful wedding invitations made of recycled, handmade paper.

4. Wear a gorgeously green gown. Your eco-friendly wedding gown may be something borrowed, a family heirloom, a gently used dress, or a vintage beauty. It could also be made from sustainable eco-friendly fabrics like bamboo, hemp, organic cotton or peace silk. The options keep growing everyday as new eco-designers appear or traditional designers add eco-friendly selections to their lines of wedding gowns. Get your bride and groom wedding rings green also, Brilliant Earth.

5. Less is more. One option is to cut out all the unnecessary extras like favors, menus, place cards and things that are not needed. This saves resources and money. If you would like to get favors go to Beau Coup , Little Things Favors , Bella Figura , Nature's Gifts & More , The wedding favors bar , GetMarried , I do , Endangered Species Chocolate for eco-friendly favor ideas.

6. Get creative with your décor. Nature is full of beautiful items that can be sued to decorate then be returned to nature after the wedding; rocks, twigs, flowers, potted plants, trees, leaves…Use the bountiful options nature offers to create stunning decorations, centerpieces and more. Once the wedding is over these pieces of nature can be placed in your yard or garden.

7. Ditch the disposables. Forget about disposable plates, napkins, silverware and all that. Opt for rented items that can be washed and reused over and over again. If you are having a small intimate wedding you would even consider purchasing tablecloths, plates and tableware that you could reuse in your home after the wedding.

8. Candle light is extremely romantic; make it eco-friendly as well by using natural soy wax or beeswax candles. Regular candles are made with paraffin, a petroleum based product. Not a green choice.

9. Green your transportation. Arrive to your destinations in eco-style with hybrid or electric vehicles. You could even provide transportation for your guests with buses that run on biofuels.

10. Have a great green honeymoon. After your wedding plan to stay close to home or travel to an eco-resort or hotel to keep the green going after the big day.

Green Wedding

My husband and I went to dinner last night with two of our good friends, Heather and Daniel. They recently got engaged and are planning their wedding for Jan 2010. Heather and I were talking about her wedding ideas and she told me that they were going to be having an eco-friendly wedding. I thought that was such a great idea! I have read alot about this being the new wedding craze for this year and to come, but haven't done enough research on it!

Creating a wedding that isn't wasteful or polluting is appealing to more and more brides. The number of earth-friendly products and services is growing, giving the bride and groom a range of options. A lot of it is buying local fresh flowers from the Alachua farmers markets or nurseries. Or for instance, supporting a local artisan is much more earth friendly than having cheap trinkets shipped half way around the world! Eco-friendly brides and grooms are not only doing good for our envirnment but also helping the community.

Im excited about doing more research in helping Heather plan her Eco-friendly wedding in Gainesville :)

Contributing to earth with your wedding

Your wedding announcement or invitation can set the tone for your environmentally friendly wedding. There are many options today for 100% recycled, partially recycled or completely tree free papers from wedding invitation suppliers. If you are interested in making your own invitations, the choices are unlimitied. Consider all these places for paper on your wedding day:

* engagement announcements
* save the date cards
* shower invitations
* shower thank you notes
* wedding invitaitons
* ceremony programs
* place cards
* menu cards
* wedding announcements
* thank you notes

Many brides today are communicating electronically to cut down on paper and waste. Here's a few places to check out for environmentally friendly wedding invitation options:

Earthly Affair

If your looking for something that is not your typical traditional design, Earthly Affairs has some wonderful choices. Choose from 12 different clean designs, each available in many different color combinations. Choose between either 100% post consumer paper or FSC Certified Cotton Paper.





Green Field Paper Company

They have Grow a Note cards which are tree-free. The cards are embedded with a custom mix of wildflower seeds. ...you can just toss them in the ground when you are finished and a few months later- voila! --up pop flowers!! Green Field also has in a 100% Junk Mail paper and Garlic Paper infused with garlic skins.



InviteSite

have wonderful beautiful rich luxurious tree free papers, 100% post-consumer recycled papers, archival papers (when this is important to you) and vellum papers that can be recycled.




Sweet Invitations

Several collections of handmade invitations that are made from discarded and shredded cloth using petals, flowers, silk, grass, colors, glitters which are acid free and 100% recycled.



Tasha Rae Designs

Specialize in custom designed invitations and have a wide variety of recycled papers to choose from. No charge for samples, however, Tasha suggests you donate a few bucks to your favorite charity instead!






Twisted Limb Paperworks

offers a large line of handmade 100% recycled post consumer waste invitations. This is great company that walks the walk - at least half of their studio's energy is provided by green electricity, and water used in the papermaking process is recycled from the studio's dehumidifiers & air conditioner whenever possible. 10% of their profits are donated to environmental conservation efforts each year.