Green Wedding Photography

Today I'm sharing some beautiful inspiration, courtesy of Thea Dodds, founder of Authentic Eye Photography (based in New Hampshire) and co-founder of Greener Photography. Authentic Eye offers 10% off when you choose two green vendors for your wedding. *hint hint - EarthlyAffair.com is an Authentic Eye approved green vendor! :)

Happy Friday everyone! I hope you have a wonderful weekend ahead of you.

Responsibly Created Jewelry

Handcrafted in San Francisco with recycled gold fill or recycled sterling silver, Kris Nations delights the eyes with her delicately created necklaces and earrings. Her love of fashion and natural materials inspired her to create a line of responsible sourced and created jewelry and accessories. Find at BTC Elements.

Found via Hope in my Head

A Wedding with Personality

Just another example that a wedding dress doesn't have to be white and big and poofy. This bride's mother handmade her dress, her aunt did the flowers, and her bridal party did all the decorations and set up. The groom handmade all the invitations and stayed up late the night before the wedding putting a song playlist together to play off the laptop. Most definitely a budget friendly wedding with lots of personality! And in a way, it has its earth friendly aspects, such as the handmade dress, using a laptop instead of a dj, and recruiting local friends and family for help with the decor and flowers.

Found via Style Me Pretty

Swoon for Yoon

Some inspiration from Jerry Yoon. Love his stuff. He has a great eye for composition and his photos are beautiful!

Our Valentine's Day Winner!

Last week, we held a contest for two lovely, thoroughly romantic books in celebration of Valentine's Day. We used random.org and the number it generated for us was number 1! Congratulations to Tara of Tara In The Atl!

Healthy Monday: Shake Your Bon Bon

While the horizontal mambo can really get your heart rate up, the actual mambo can be quite the calorie burner too. In fact, taking dance lessons can kill two birds with one stone if you want to increase your physical activity and wow guests with your dancing abilities. While the legs and arms are often doing the flashy moves, a strong body core is essential to carrying it off gracefully. Choose an upbeat tune to really get your fanny shaking. Got disco on the brain? Try the Hustle. Want to shake what yo mama gave you? Go for the sexy Samba? Traditional but funky? Be brave and spring for the Quickstep.

Photo Credit: Laura Novak

Sources: WebMD

Earth Friendly Love

Please forgive me. Wedding season is in full swing and so we're quite busy over at EarthlyAffair.com, so I'm recycling a post from way back when my blog was a noob. Like July of 07. (hey, recycling is a good thing, right?)

I made a decision before starting this blog that I wasn't going to do any "doomsday" type of posts, where I implore, or demand, or scare you into caring for the earth. That's not what I'm about...and that's not what this blog is about. Rather, it's about inspiration through earth friendly products with beauty and style. And cute baby turtles that melt our hearts and make us wonder how could we not want to take better care of our environment? This is a picture from National Geographic (I think, I hope I don't get in trouble for posting it but I saved it a while back and now I can't remember where it came from.) I realize this post has nothing to do with weddings or parties, but it's just a little reminder of how much this earth has given us and how much we should give back.

Wedding Inspiration: Fruit Inspiration

Here's a good old dose of inspiration for you today. Edible centerpieces are not only easy on the eyes, they're a little easier on the budget and if composted or eaten, easier on the environment too. If possible, buy from a local grower to help support your local economy.

All photos found via StyleMePretty

Clockwise: Real Wedding Julia and Brian, Real Wedding Jonathan Canlas IV, Real Wedding Amy and Aaron, Real Wedding by Jessamyn Harris, Real Wedding Day and Max, Tapestry Flowers, A Palm Springs Wedding

Recyled Cotton Tote Bags

Pinkerton Designs tickles me pink! What fun there recycled cotton tote bags are!

Tree Favors + Gorgeous Outdoor Wedding

This wedding, photographed by Eleise Theuer, is just gorgeous. The entrance to the bride's family farm, where the wedding was held, is lined with magnificent Virgina Juniper trees, which guests also had the pleasure of taking home in miniature form. See more photos.

Healthy Monday: All About Hair

Wedding day style doesn't start at the dress and end with your shoes. Unless of course, you want it to. But many feel their bridal hair style is just as important as the vows. And why not? After all, it will be immortalized in dozens of photos. So before giving you some eye candy for your own wedding day do, I'd like to give you a few tips and a resource on achieving healthy and manageable hair.

First off, don't overwash. As to how much is too much is really a matter of what kind of hair you have, but according to WholeLiving.com, overwashing can strip your hair of natural oils and dirt, which surprisingly all aid in helping to create manageable hair.

Second, take vitamins A,C, and E. You can get these in pill form, but if possible seek them out from their natural sources, such as dark leafy greens, almonds, and sunflower seeds. They'll restore health to your hair and you should see results within weeks.

And last but not least, go easy on the hair color or stay away from the ones with ammonia and PPD, both of which have been linked to certain cancers and respiratory problems. There are safer solutions, such as hair color with vegetable based dyes.

For more information, check out Beauty Basics: Healthy Hair, found at Wholeliving.com.

Ti




Photo credits from top to bottom: Jessica Johnston, Lisa And James, Casey Cunningham, Fred Egan, Casey Cunningham, Richard Israel

Eco-Friendly Fun

Happy Valentine's Day...again. Enjoy these cute accessories made from eco-friendly felt.

Valentine's Day Giveaway

Whether you believe in the romance that Valentine's Day is or curse it as that wretched Hallmark holiday, there's no denying that it conjures up a certain aura in the air. (Perhaps it's due to an overabundance of Valentine's Day promotions?) We were given two books to offer as giveaways recently and since they are both so romantically related, I thought what better time to give them away than Valentine's Day. Oneiromance is a lovely book full of beautiful poetry, while Happily Ever After is another heartwarming book from the Chicken Soup for the Soul crew.

A winner will be randomly picked on February 23rd. Leave a comment to enter to win both books! Make sure to include a link to your blog or e-mail address so we can get in touch with you if you win.

Wedding Rules

For many brides, part of the fun of getting married is choosing bridesmaids. Many will opt to commemorate the exciting occasion with a special lunch or handmade card to "pop the question" to her best gal pals. But when it comes to traditional rules of bridesmaids and groomsmen, which ones do you kick to the curb? For instance, some will argue that you have to have an equal number of bridesmaids and groomsmen, that a "best man" does not belong on the brides side," and that all bridesmaids should wear the same color. This sentiment seems to be dissipating though, with a new, more open-minded generation of brides and grooms walking down the aisle. Are you breaking any rules and if so, are you catching flack from the family?

Photos from Tinywater Photography

Eco-Friendly Shoes

Smart, eco-friendly, fun... That's how I would describe these shoes here, found on Terra Plana. Each one incorporates recycled materials, such as a recycled rubber sole, and is made from locally sourced materials whenever possible.

Little vases

Little seems to be popular. Little vases, that is! And we like! Pair with monochromatic flowers for a simply stunning look and keep it earth friendly by choosing in-season and/or locally grown flowers and using less overall.
Top Photo: Martha Stewart Weddings
Bottom Four photos: Jose Villa

All Natural Beauty

Perfect, glowing skin. Who wouldn't want it? According to The American Academy of Dermatology, the typical adult uses around seven different skin care products every day. Meanwhile, every time we slather on another cream, lotion, or powder, our skin acts as a sponge, mostly absorbing the chemicals in these products rather than blocking them. Cosmetic companies and the FDA maintain these products are safe, but ultimately no one really knows for sure how they will affect us in the long term. One solution? Make your own! Okay, so that might be a little hard when it comes to mascara, but with ingredients like avocado, honey, and chamomile, it's surprisingly simple to create a homemade facial mask or moisturizer. And in the end, you can rest easy knowing that only pure, natural ingredients are going on your skin.

This doesn't necessarily mean you should ditch your favorite lipstick or your tried and true facial moisturizer, but it does mean you should be more careful about what products you invest in and trust. Below you'll find a few how-to links for homemade beauty treatments, as well as an article from Planet Green on natural skin care.

Planet Green Natural Skin Care - a very informative and interesting article about how to navigate the beauty world, includes tips and statistics.

Make your own facial mask

Fresh Tomato Skin Cleanser

DIY Eye Soothers

Green Wedding Photography Giveaway!

Attention all Northern California Brides getting married between 2/9 and 1/10. Sabine Scherer is holding a contest and the prize is a 6 hour wedding package, including a web gallery and high res DVD! Check the details out below!

Simple Pinecone Centerpiece

Here is a simple and interesting centerpiece idea. Pine cones placed around a votive candle. This couples wedding was in Yosemite, so it's very fitting with the decor, but it could work with any outdoor, woodsy theme.

Photo from Joel Flory

Vintage, Reclaimed, and Fairly Traded

This ring is so much fun! An antique glass button sits atop a twist of sterling silver. This would complement an orange themed wedding quite nicely! Perhaps a gift for a flower girl, maid of honor, or even yourself! Beyond the Rockz handcrafts jewerly and accessories, many made from vintage baubles and beads, fairly traded gems, and reclaimed or recovered materials!

Mason Jar Centerpieces

Please forgive my cheating, but I am redirecting you to another site today. Kristen, from Bridal Buzz, has an excellent post about how to turn regular old mason jars into pretty, nostalgic-looking, vintage mason jars. She's got a whole tutorial, complete with pictures. Check it out!

Library Themed Wedding

This wedding, courtesy of Offbeat Bride, was all about sticking to super tight budget and keeping it true to the personality of the bride and groom. Both former bookstore employees and avid readers, the bride and groom chose to feature a library theme throughout their wedding. They recycled books from their own collection for the centerpieces and decor, sent save-the-date bookmarks, offered a vegetarian only menu, and created a book-ish table assignment poster, which uses less paper than individual cards for each guest.