When Green Becomes White

Cecilia Padres and Jeremiah Tipton were married on Sept. 1, 2007. In planning their blissful day, they kept in mind a specific color. Not white...but green.

Cecilia, an environmental health specialist, and Jeremiah, an aerospace design engineer, are always looking for ways to make a difference in their environment--from driving fuel-efficient cars, to using energy-efficient light bulbs, to buying locally grown food. This wedding was no exception.

Green Took Color with the Invitations


The couple began the process by using an alternative to traditional paper invitations--the Internet. An email notified potential guests to go to the couple's wedding website (wedorama.com). Once at jeremiahandcecilia.com, guests were able to view all the information typically found on a paper wedding invitation and R.S.V.P while they were there. They saved paper and the cost and energy of utilizing the postal service.

Keeping Track of Their Footprint
Even the process of transporting the guests to and from the wedding was eco-friendly. The Tiptons kept track of the emissions by calculating them through TerraPass (terrapass.com). Once on the website, the couple was asked to answer how many guests were flying, length of the flights (short, medium or long), how many cars were being driven, average amount of miles being driven and how many hotel room nights. In addition, they calculated the energy used by the DJ, florist and other vendors. To match the wedding's estimated carbon footprint, they bought carbon offsets and then displayed the certificate at the wedding in a frame created out of salvaged Douglas firs.

Outdoor Wedding
Reminiscent of their engagement on the Hawaiian island of Kauai, the wedding ceremony took place at Windansea Beach in La Jolla. The improvised altar was framed by two bamboo poles; the aisle leading up to it was crafted with the help of Jeremiah's friends, who gathered rocks on the beach to line the path. During the ceremony, each guest was given a rock to hold. As the ceremony concluded, guests were asked to put the rocks in a vase for the couple to have as a keepsake.



Indoor reception
Returning to where they had originally met, the couple had their reception at the House of Blues in downtown San Diego. The party's private room was decorated with candles and organic, locally-grown flowers by Kristin Quick of Kreeations (kreeations.com). After the buffet dinner, DJ Kerizmas inspired guests to dance til midnight.



Keepsakes
Instead of a traditional guest book that attendees sign, a scrapbook was fabricated that night. Guests were encouraged to take pictures with a Polaroid camera and then make their own pages using construction paper and stickers.


Recycled paper bags holding organic and free-trade coffee from Trader Joe's were given as wedding favors. In addition, each guest left with an environmental tip card made of 100 percent tree-free paper from the Greenfield Paper Company (greenfieldpaper.com). It gave the guests ideas about ways they could improve their environment. It even included a note about how to use their used coffee grounds for fertilizer.

Cecilia says she always tries her best in life to encourage decisions that will help the Earth and its future.

"You just have to stop and ask a few more questions, but it's really not that hard to do."