Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Tend Living ~ Creating stunning environments full of wonder

I learned of Tend Living a while back, but finally had a chance to witness it's brilliance first-hand this past week....so of course, I must share!

As most of you know, giving a wedding present can be a very personal thing, especially for close friends. I wanted to make sure I picked out something that was unique, while at the same time reflective of their style. Well...I nailed it with an Eco-Orb from Tend. These stunning pieces of art are the perfect addition to any space. Digging a little deeper, I found a thriving, female owned business that offers an array of Eco-Amazing-ness! Prepare to fall in ♥ with Tend Living!

Tend is the love child of a fervent affair between gardening and modern design. Originating as part of an art project exploring sustainable design and eco-interactive living, Tend has grown into a thriving production offering living sculpture, plantscaping, pocket gardens, living walls & green roofs, staging & set styling and wait for it.......green weddings & events!!!!

Owner Britton Neubacher recently started offering Tend designs for weddings & events...and we couldn't be more excited about it! We love Tend for being committed to crafting dedicated relationships with nature through high-style sustainability. Delivering modern botanical design through artistic use of organic beauty, Tend creations will transform your special day into a stunning environment full of wonder. Check out these gorgeous bridal bouquets! LOVE LOVE LOVE!!!

Rather then using huge, over-the-top floral centerpieces...Tend utilizes their signature Eco-Orb creations to offer a beautiful and fascinating showpiece to adorn your tables. These tablescapes are absolutely STUNNING!!!

Along with the Eco-Orbs, Tend has a variety of different options. They offer glass gardens, mod terrariums & vessels, living walls...all things modern and green.

By providing exciting format for the fascinating, beautiful, and sometimes down-right bizarre art of nature, Tend creations encourage a reverent connection with our planet beginning right at home...or at your next event! To learn more about Tend, visit their website, email tendliving@gmail.com or call 619.867.6007.

Green with Envy Events is very excited to add Tend to our preferred vendor list, and look forward to working on lots of beautiful events together! If you're interested in having a green wedding or special event, Green with Envy Events can help turn your Eco-Dreams into reality! Call us today!

Have a great week everyone!

Happy 4th of July!

♦Carlee♦

Monday, June 21, 2010

My Big Fat Green Wedding: Invitations! Will you be getting one?

The choice of your wedding stationery is so important; the first impression your guests have of your wedding is formed the minute they open that envelope (or in this case, the email). Ideally, they should reflect the personalities of the bride and groom as well as the style of the wedding. The choices are endless; off the shelf vs. custom design, 100lb paper vs. 130lb vs. recycled paper, lithography vs. letterpress vs. thermography vs. engraving--it can all be overwhelming. But when you find the one, you'll know...kinda like when you find the groom or the dress. You just know.

As soon as our beautiful bride saw designs from The TreeSpace Studio, she just knew she wanted them to design her invites. Amy Tan, the creative mind behind these gorgeous works, specializes in design consultation and custom artwork stationery. Her background in architecture and lifelong love for art really reflects in the designs she creates. Materials mater, and she experiments with all types of unique, sustainable papers, fabrics, natural fibers, even wood and metal, to create something that is individualized for each client. Amy's designs are completely original, and are meticulously designed, hand-painted and crafted by her on beautiful hand-made or sustainable papers.

Here are a couple of samples from other invitations she has designed:

This sample below was inspired by vintage seed packets, for another sustainably conscious bride. The illustrations were completely hand drawn by Amy, and painted by her to reflect the Grow the Love theme of the wedding. They were printed on durable, post-consumer recycled card stock and are actually functional seed packets!

Gorgeous! The color and detail is phenomenal.

And this next set was inspired by vintage travel maps and the couple's gorgeous destination, St. Lucia! I love her use of colors! They just pop right off the page!

And now...let's see what she has designed for our couple!!

Since the couple's palette is inspired by the gorgeous Southern California Sunsets, Amy incorporated amethyst, orange, and hints of green into their digital Engagement Party invite (saves paper!). Amy wanted the overall artwork and design to be fresh, bold and modern, and really reflect the couple's love for nature, the sun, surf and good times! Mission accomplished, don't you agree?

I love how she added the couple's handwritten message, such a personal touch!

As for the Save the Date, the serene blues of the Pacific Ocean are reflected, since the couple is getting married in Big Sur, where views of the sea are to-die-for. Once again, the orange of the sunset is added for that pop of color, and the silhouettes maintain that playful, 'in love', Calfornia, relaxed, vintage feel.

The main invitation design is in the works, but I can't wait to see the final product...I am sure they are going to be beyond lovely! We'll share as soon as they are hot of the digital press!

Please show this local artist some love and visit her website or her Etsy Shop. Have a great weekend! XoXo, Laura

Thursday, June 17, 2010

Look what I FOUND...

Hello world wide web. In my never-ending search for all things unique and amazing, I have found the coolest new company - Found ~ Vintage Furnishings.

Found is a event decor and prop resource supplying brides, event planners, designers and photographers with unique vintage items to give their weddings, photo shoots and events style and originality. They rent one-of-a-kind pieces of furniture and accessories for whatever your needs may be.

Check out this charming engagement photo shoot to get an idea of how Found can give your space that perfect vintage flair!

Owner Jeni, is changing the way people think about vintage items. Her passion for all things vintage has fueled her one-of-a-kind collection of furniture and accessories. For years her family and friends have awed at her truly unique design style and now she is sharing it with the rest of us! Found has a huge inventory offering a plethora of items including Tables, Chairs, Frames, Bottles, Couches, Containers, and all sorts of Accessories! If you can dream it, Jeni can create it!

I am so in love with the rustic, yet romantic style of Found. Imagine setting up your own vintage installation at your wedding or special event...giving your guests a intimate place to enjoy, sit and talk, take pictures, or just marvel!

To start designing your own Found masterpiece, visit their website to browse their collection. Jeni has taken the foot work out of finding the perfect vintage pieces for your event and with her inventory online it couldn't be easier to find what your looking for.

I'll leave you with my favorite picture of all...How gorgeous is this sweet engagement photo? It makes me want to pack up a picnic basket, grab a bottle of wine, and go enjoy a vintage afternoon delight with my honey♥

It never ceases to amaze me...the creativity and beauty that can be FOUND in the simplest of ideas. Have a beautiful weekend everyone!

Carlee

Monday, June 14, 2010

My Big Fat Green Wedding: Cake, Cupcakes or Petit Fours?

If you are anything like me, it's never too early in the day to deveour sweets. Well, maybe it can be, but it's certainly never too early to think about sweets. With sweets in mind, I am happy to announce that our happy couple decided to forgo the traditional wedding cake and the played-out cupcakes and opted for Petit Fours as their Sweet Display. Not only will there be less waste at the end of the process (have you seen how many pieces of cake are left on the tables, uneaten or with one bite taken?), but since it will be made on-site, it will cut down on gas emissions as well.

Whether they go with a traditional display

OR

something a little more modern and ecclectic

is yet to be decided. Regardless of the decision, it will be all organic and paperless, because who needs the paper Petit Fours sit on when you are just going to immediately pop them in your mouth anyways?

The options for Petit Fours decorations are endless, as well.

Will they have it monogrammed with their initials

OR

perhaps screened with a favorite photo or symbol that signifies their love and commitment for one another?

Whatever they decide, it will surely be a pure reflection of who they are as a couple.

And let's talk flavors! With Petit Fours, the possibilites are practically endless--mouthwatering Caramel Mousse, sweet Tulip, melting Chocolate Fudge or Napoleon just to name a few. Maybe they'll go for a combination of flavors, like many couples who select multiple choices for different tiers in their wedding cakes.

Unlike a traditional wedding cake, where you might have to try 4 slices to sample all the available flavors, with these minitaure versions, you can get sweet satisfaction and a burst of flavor infusion in one small bite-- just pop a couple in your mouth and I'm sure your waistline will thank you for it later!!!

Next up, Invitations!!! Have a great week everyone, Laura

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

BVI Go Green Festival 2010

Today I came across an amazing event in a place that's very dear to my heart. The British Virgin Islands (BVI) in the majestic Caribbean Sea. Having lived in the Virgin Islands, I fully appreciate everything about these magical islands...the beautiful weather, pristine beaches, colorful culture and laid-back lifestyle. So I was overjoyed to learn about the recent swell of progressive energy in the Green movement in the BVI. And at the forefront is Abby O'Neal, founder of the 1st Annual BVI Go Green Festival on June 25 & 26, 2010. She believes that the BVI is small enough at 64 sq miles of total land mass and with a population of just under 30,000 to be the Greenest or most Carbon Neutral Territory on the planet. Her goal is to send a shock wave to the people of the BVI, giving them their very own “An Inconvenient Truth.”

The BVI Go Green Festival is a 2 day celebration taking place in the Go Green Village and at Noel Lloyd Park on the gorgeous island of Tortola. The schedule is packed with tons of interesting presentations, including The Growing Green Fair, Local & Organic Food Fair, Seminars & Panel discussions, Speakers, and to close out the Friday schedule...a Reggae and Calypso Concert.

Headlining the show are soulful Grammy Winner Joss Stone and the “High Priest of Reggae” (and one of my personal faves) Jah Cure. This will be an unforgettable show...and hopefully the first of many more to come!

And as if this festival wasn't impressive already, they are also committed to making the entire event as sustainable as possible. While many events and tradeshows are notoriously wasteful, BVI Go Green Festival demonstrates an unmatched commitment to having the smallest footprint of any event of its kind ever staged in the BVI. Through the efforts of their organizing team and volunteers and meticulous sorting procedures to reduce, reuse, recycle and compost, they estimate that some 50% of all show waste will not enter mainstream waste disposal in the BVI. Don't you love it when people practice what they preach!

The Virgin Islands are one of the most pure and breathtaking places on earth, and it makes me so happy to see that they intend on keeping it that way. I only wish I had heard of this event sooner, so I could have gone. Perhaps I can rally a whole crew of people to attend next years festival! Anyone....???

To learn more about the BVI Go Green Festival, visit their website.

Have a blessed day! Carlee

Wednesday, June 2, 2010

Plastiki ~ The sailboat made from 12,500 plastic bottles

While getting a pedicure over the weekend and reading the latest Vogue, imagine my surprise to find this article in Vogue Magazine of all places! Being a sailing enthusiast, and someone who cares about our environment...this story caught my attention right away and I just had to share it! I give you Plastiki.

The Plastiki is sailing 11,000 miles from San Fran to Sydney, Australia to raise awareness about plastics as a pollutant and its value as a recycled product. The sailboat is made from 12,500 recycled plastic bottles and an innovative, buoyant and exceptionally strong material made from polyethylene terephthalate (PET), a polyester resin commonly used in plastics. The mast is reclaimed aluminum irrigation pipe and the sail is handmade from recycled PET as well. Check out how beautiful a sailboat made from plastic bottles can be!

It is that spirit of ingenuity that was the inspiration for the Plastiki project. What started out as an idea to build a boat from plastic bottles to raise awareness about plastic in our oceans and landfills, grew into a movement addressing problems and discovering solutions about what we can do with all that plastic floating through our economies, resting in our landfills and bobbing on our waterways.

As if 12,500 recycled plastic bottles didn’t make the Plastiki green enough, it is also primarily powered by renewable energy. That includes solar power panels, wind turbines, trailing propeller turbines and bicycle generators. It also uses urine-to-water recovery and rain catchment systems to produce fresh water and even comes equipped with a rotating cylinder hydroponic garden.

The Plastiki has been at sail now for 75 days, and has traveled 5485 nautical miles. You can learn more about this amazing expedition, meet the crew, watch videos, and so much more at the Plastiki Website. And the coolest thing...you can even track her voyage here.

As you can see, this sailboat is not only stunning to look at, but on a very important mission. With a bright idea, a few years of work, and lots of ambition...anything is possible. I wish the crew safe travels for the rest of your trip...and a big THANK YOU for doing what you're doing! I hope your important message spreads across the globe!

Carlee

Photos via Plastiki on Flickr Info via Solar News