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Greening Hollywood: Chic Green Weddings Are So Eco-In Style

Models Wearing Kirstie Kelly Wedding Dresses, Photo by Paige Donner

Vibiana hosted an afternoon of wedding cake and champagne recently when A Soolip Wedding, a name synonymous with chic and elegant weddings, put on their annual confection of information for brides and grooms-to-be. Vibiana is the name of the event space located in downtown L.A. in what used to be the Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles.

The arched cathedral interior, spacious and full of light, hums romance and its newly renovated outdoor gardens were perfectly adorned with tourquoise Raj Tents.

In Style Contributor speaks under a Raj Tent in Vibiana Courtyard, Photo by Paige Donner

A lovely thing about this year’s bridal afternoon was that “green” was not relegated to its own special place, sort of like the children’s table at a wedding reception or family affair, but rather integrated throughout the event and among its vendors. 

A Soolip Wedding at Vibiana is shown here.

Classic Party Rentals’ Trish Hook and Kate Paul of FoodInkCatering, for example, engaged Greening Hollywood’s Paige Donner in a lively conversation about what would actually generate the least carbon footprint?  Would it be using cutlery and china for a large event or requesting their bamboo and compostable plasticware, which also can be washed and re-used, for a wedding reception?  None of us had our carbon footprint calculators on hand so we challenge any of our expert readers to feed us their solution.

Patina Chefs, Photo by Paige Donner
Patina Offered Pina Colada Clouds and others.

Far and away the tastiest morsel of the whole afternoon was Patina’s Pina Colada Cloud.  This bite-size flavor bomb was served floating on its own soba spoon, drenched in a distilled Passion fruit coulis and Lime fizzy that was balanced just delightfully so between tart and sweet.  The “bomb” itself was a dollop of fluffy coconut pineapple juice that has been put through a whipped cream dispenser and then frozen on Patina’s only-one-of-a-kind in L.A. freezing “anti-griddle” that freezes the Pina Colada silver dollar size dollop at 500 degrees below Fahrenheit. Recall when fine dining required that you cleanse your palate between courses?  The Pina Colada Cloud is THE palate cleanser and perfect for a sit-down dinner or at a hosted dessert bar. Pairs perfectly with champagne.

InStyle Wedding’s Contributor, Elizabeth Jenkins, offers chic tips for modern nuptials at A Soolip Wedding; Photo by Paige Donner.

InStyle Contributor Elizabeth Jenkins spoke to attendees under the Raj Tent in the outdoor garden of Vibiana.  She offered her stylishly ideas for planning a wedding and a reception, many of which can be found in InStyle Weddings She noted that “green” weddings are all the fashion rage right now, especially among the Hollywood set.  A suggestion:  rather than use cut flowers,  instead use vases with herbs and vegetables or potted plants as table centerpieces. Dandelion Ranch’s Chef Fleuriste, Clover, uses all sustainable flowers. Jenkins described the recent Malibu wedding of co-star Kaitlin Olson of It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia as “Eco-chic” and InStyle Editorial Assistant Angela Salazar noted that one tip to go green is to place a chalkboard at each table rather than using individual paper menus. instyleweddings.com/gogreen

Trends

For bridesmaids’ dresses, choose a hue.  Let’s face it girls, we are not all built alike.  Why force your friends into something that might not flatter their figure?  Instead, choose a hue, especially if you have the option of going to a dressmaker, then all of the dresses can be cut from the same cloth, literally.  Select an eco-cloth, such as silk, and you’ve done a whole world of good! Have your bridesmaids choose a pattern that is in keeping with the theme of your wedding but will show them off to their best advantage, too.  You never know who she might meet at your reception…Could be her turn next, and yours to wear the (figure-flattering) Maid of Honor dress.

If buttery-soft eco-chic sound like a good choice to snuggle up in and hit the town with before and after the wedding, check out Romp. It’s rocker-fashion meets U.K. sustainability standards. Yes, it’s leather, but it’s sourced, referenced on the clothing article itself by a unique number, back to the organic farm where the animal was raised.  Romp’s U.S. flagship is on 3rd St. and Fairfax. Think Brigitte Bardot, soft and sexy.

Multi-cultural weddings are more and more prevalent.  Something that Salma Hayek,a board member of Global Green USA, did when she wed her French Amour, was she didn’t say, “I do,” but did say “Oui.”  Love the alliteration, especially the way “oui” sounds like “we!”

A fun keepsake for guests: a recipe book written by the bride and groom, printed with pictures.  You can always choose to use an eco-friendly printer such as BreakAway Press who prints on recyled paper and uses soy ink.


Kirstie Kelly wedding gowns were modeled throughout the afternoon (shown above). Fashion Director Erin Dallesandro, a former model herself, explained that she felt it made the gowns more approachable for the models to walk the floor among the brides-to-be where they could see them up close rather than stage a fashion show.  For more pictures see Kirstie Kelly for Disney’s Fairy Tale Weddings.

Also, for beautiful pampering of skin and body, be sure to try Osea of Malibu developed and hand formulated with all natural ingredients derived primarily from the ocean by Jenefer Palmer.  A spectacular and convenient-to-Los Angeles (pre or post-wedding) honeymoon can be had at the San Ysidro Ranch in Montecito who gave out wildflower seeds for garden planting at a Soolip Wedding.  An alternative or addition to mixed cocktails for your wedding guests are fresh juices by Aroma Events who serve fresh squeezed watermelon juice and also a cocktail of coconut and pineapple juice. No sugar and just as fun as a Shirley Temple!

Image Credits: 

All photos by Paige Donner.

 

Written by Paige Donner

Paige Donner has written on Entertainment for magazines such as Variety and Daily Variety since the early 90's. She produced several segments of Earth Views, for KTVU-Oakland also in the 90s before environmental reporting went mainstream. She currently writes a column, Greening Hollywood, that can be found on the Huffington Post, here on GO Network as well as other outlets. Paige holds a degree in Political Science with minors in French and International Relations.

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