The Bouquet Collective

Bride-to-be Jordan Nardone wants to be clear. “This is not going to be a tree-hugging festival,” she warns. “It’s going to be a pretty formal wedding.”

Later this summer, Nardone and her fiancé Mikhael Tobias will hold their wedding reception at the sophisticated Musée d’Art Contemporain in downtown Montreal, relying partly on the services of Bouquet Collective, a newly formed group of six Montreal-based artisans who are making it their business to help couples host “green” weddings. The 150-person event promises to be lavish and refined—think invitations printed on antique postcards and mailed in refurbished maps, flower-infused cocktails and a multi-course, gourmet dinner. But closer inspection reveals that all Tobias and Nardone’s choices have been eco-conscious as well, from the public transit-accessible location and the RSVP website to the use of edible leaves instead of canapé napkins and the choice of locally sourced ingredients. (In fact, the last details of the menu won’t be finalized until a few days before, allowing the caterer to choose the freshest local ingredients.) “It’s going to reflect the fact that we’re creative, non-traditional and committed to each other, but also to the impact that we’re going to have on the world,” Nardone explains.

Six Crafty Ladies

The six women behind Bouquet Collective—Binky, Farah, Adrienne, Dallas, Liz and Angela—each have at least 10 years of experience honing their crafts, and all share a commitment to sustainable, environmentally sensitive work practices and lifestyles. They met through an informal discussion group for women with small, art-based businesses, and quickly realized that their individual trades—catering, graphic design, tailoring, photography, make-up and natural beauty products, respectively—were perfectly suited for party planning.

“We’re a group of individuals who already live with a green philosophy and translate that into our businesses,” explains Binky, chef and owner of Fuchsia Épicerie Fleur catering company. “We didn’t slap a green label onto our businesses in order to make us more highly marketable; it’s just who we are.”

The group offers services that are suitable for a range of events but weddings strike a particular chord. “[The wedding industry] is gluttonous,” Binky groans. “The stretched Hummers and ten-tiered wedding cakes... Just total excess.”

Nardone says this is why she was relieved to find Bouquet Collective. “The thing about the wedding industry is that if you’re not careful, you’re often pressured to make decisions that you wouldn’t normally make,” she explains. “Weddings are extremely wasteful. They’re full of disposable paper and flowers that you ship in from South Africa and then throw away. [Mikhael and I] are not like that; that’s not how we choose to live.”

There is no objective yardstick for what will make a wedding “green,” Bouquet Collective says, and they recognize that couples will be more comfortable with some choices than with others (for example, a couple may not want paperless invitations, but may be happy with 100 percent post-consumer paper). The goal is to provide as many options as possible. Here are tips from New York Times staff writer Mireya Navarro on planning a truly eco-friendly celebration as published in her new book, Green Wedding (Stewart, Tabori & Chang, 2009).

Better and Cheaper Than Ever

One gross misconception Bouquet Collective has to fight is the notion that a “green wedding” will be more expensive. “The bottom-line is, unless you are so stringent that every single thing has to be organic, you are more than likely going to get a wedding that is less expensive,” Binky confides.

The group is sometimes frustrated by important infrastructure limitations (for example, the lack of urban composting in Montreal) and the lack of certain services (the nearest electricity-free letter press is in New York). But in some ways, green party planning is getting easier all the time. “What’s available to me now in terms of what’s local and organic is entirely different from two years ago,” Binky says. “And it’s only getting better to more people are interested.”

Green Wedding Tips from Bouquet Collective

Angela MacKenzie, Owner of Honey Flower natural beauty products: As party favours, offer useable, packaging-free gifts like hand-made soap, stamped with the couple’s name and the date of the wedding, and wrapped in seed paper that can be planted in the garden.

Binky Holleran, Chef and Owner of Fuchsia Épicerie Fleur: Give your caterer some flexibility so that if they find special, seasonal, locally grown ingredients at the last minute that suit the menu, they can use them.

Adrienne Colby, Custom Tailor and Dressmaker: Opt for a vintage gown that can be altered to your personal style and tailored to fit you perfectly.

Farah Khan, Creative Director for House9 Design: Send e-mail invitations, supplemented by a short run of printed invitations for older family members who don’t use email, and have everyone respond by phone. This not only cuts down on printing costs, it also reduces the cost of mailing.

Dallas Curow, Portrait and Event Photographer: Instead of putting disposable cameras on each guest table, create an on-line photo-sharing page so that guests can upload the photos they took with their digital cameras.

Liz Furlong, Makeup Artist and Natural Beauty Specialist: Reusable make-up applicators can be used for everything except mascara. To avoid using disposable mascara wands, ask the bridesmaids to bring their own.

For more tips on planning an eco-wedding look to the Green Living Guides to find florists, wedding planners and green venues in your very own city!