Blog TO; The Best Green Wedding Services in Toronto

The Best Green Wedding Services in Toronto
They say:

"The best green wedding services in Toronto might soon have a little more competition. In a shaky economy and during a surge in environmental awareness, more couples are opting for sustainable and do-it-yourself celebrations. Let's face it - "green" is more than a passing craze ... Shops and services catering to eco-minded brides and grooms are popping up across the city faster than you can say, I do!"

Listed are dresses, caterers, event planner, Mill Street brewery, tux rentals, flowers and venues. Glad to see eco|stems - But would have liked to see a broader range of suppliers. The comments, as usual, offer some other ideas - like The Bride's Project, which we've discussed before, and a new 'locavore/guerilla organic' flower project: my lucious backyard, Etsy, but we would have liked to have seen more vintage, both grooms and brides, or the new or the new Green Wedding Boutique(recycled gowns), and more 'outside the box' ideas .

Also missing - vegan caterers, and lots more green wedding sites. Think I'll blog about that...

Vintage Dresses in Toronto

VintageBride.ca is a tiny boutique tucked into Mirvish Village - an antique, artists and vintage shopping area in Toronto. Vintage is run by the theRefinery.com, a retro and vintage store across the street.

You can make an appointment to view their vintage dresses at vintagebride, or go chat with the lovely person who curates the collection over at The Refinery (where you can enjoy some of the fun things she brought back from Paris).
Be sure to browse bridesmaid dresses and accessories at Refinery - and also bring along your beau for vintage clothes for men - why limit yourself to the save old boring wedding + funeral suits! Linen jackets are so much classier :-)

Here's a post I wrote about Men and Wedding suits after a hot summer of red-faced grooms in black suits .

Piezo-electric sustainable wedding dress?

For the ultimate in a sustainable wedding - why not wear a stylish ENERGY-GENERATING piezo-electric dress? This model is by Amanda Parkes. (Of course you could wear a solar dress as well, perhaps for the ceremony) but you could change to this for the reception. It generates energy AS YOU MOVE, so charge your removable battery with your first dance! Gives a new meaning to kinetic energy.
(and a little more romantic than this equally stylish POLLUTION-sensitive dress).

Etsy - vintage wedding dress and 'not so vintage'

As a granny, I have a little trouble with dresses from the '80s listed as "vintage" - (heck, I have difficulty with my own wardrobe from the 60s listed as vintage :-) But Etsy vintage sellers are a great resource for wedding accessories, not to mention spectacular finds that surprise you. Here's a lace blouse with rhinestones from the '30s - which, as the seller Posies for Lulu suggests - "would look gorgeous with a full or slinky cream skirt for a wedding ensemble!". Very reasonable at $38!

Poetic Justice Wedding Dresses

A reader sent us to PoeticJustice organic clothing,(aka Marylou Sanders of M.L. Marsh) which has a very nice line of hemp and organic cotton dresses, quite feminine and traditional. Seem to be N. Carolina, and they state "fairsewn", without attribution, though.

Beautiful Recycled Lace Dresses

JanaStarr makes dresses (and headpieces) out of antique lace. Here is a dress made of Belgian lace from the 20s.
"These magnificent, one-of-a-kind wedding dresses have been redesigned from one hundred year-old, handmade European lace from Victorian and Edwardian periods. They are the perfect choice for the discriminating bride. Most of the laces and embroideries had been created by women and children a hundred years ago. Jana Starr considers it a privilege to give this remarkable craft another “go around” as the centerpiece of a woman’s most special day. Her creations are unique and deserve to be passed on to future generations". Location: New York City, by appointment.

Peace silks, and other terms for dresses.

We've gotten mail from some organic suppliers, with interesting backgrounds on fabrics. For example, here is a blurb about peace silks from Puridee.com

"Ahimsa (without violence) also referred to as peace silk, is spun from cocoons where the silk caterpillar is allowed to complete the life-cycle and emerge as a moth...Tussah, is wild-crafted" thus, both organic and peace silk". The site also explains the sourcing of the woman-to-woman chain of micro-businesses: dyes in a woman-run farm in El Salvador, the spinning in India and in the US, etc.

If you click on the sketchy dress designs you can actually see the dresses, which are quite nice. It seems to be an LA location.

Another LA site, Annatarian, uses vintage and remnant fabrics and organics and incorporates family jewelry into your dress. Similar designs to Puridee.

Recycle a wedding gown - buy and sell

Here are places to find a recycled gown, and where to recycle your own (I've now separated out the specialized vintage retail sites). Don't forget EBay, the Salvation Army, Goodwill, ValueVillage and your local thrift-shop-for-charity. We have also listed a Quebec company, Ouijelevoeux, that combines multiple gowns to sew new ones.

If you're in the UK (or visiting), you can shop the great OxfamBridal shops.

Bridesagainstbreastcancer
bridgalgown.org NY, NY (samples/overstocks)
Recycleagown List your gown online, registration fee (New Brunswick, CA) [seems to be defunct at present]
Ouijelevoeux Buys your gown and recrafts it (Quebec)
Pre-owned wedding dresses, from $250 specials to Vera Wang. US and Canada (and "other"). You can sell here, too.
VintageIndie A shop on Etsy

A new idea (which came to us in the comments):
WeddingRecycling.com, started by Kyle. Her slogan is "Pass it Forward". They've just started, so jump in and post a few things and get them off the ground.

Vintage Wedding Gown Retail Sources

It became obvious that I'd need to separate the specialist Vintage Gown suppliers from the general clothing recyclers and the specialist designers who recreate (and rework) vintage dresses.

So this will be a list of Vintage Gown Retail sources, and see the other lists on this site for more ideas about indie designs, recycling, etc.

This is a very localized, specific industry, as items are one-of-a-kind. There seem to be more vintage bridal stores in the UK, and only a few ship internationally, but I'll post some retailers as they are always good for ideas. The US sites (many of which seem to be in Texas) also have 'vintage' reproductions of historical styles, called "neo-victorian", "neo-edwardian", etc., so watch the real date of the dress.

FYI, this is my Irish great grandmother, Alice, on her wedding day. Remember: until the 20s (dropped waist) most vintage gowns had 22 inch waists. So here is a link to organic corsets!

Some places to check:

VintageWeddingGowns Victorian, Edwardian and 20th century (FL)
VintageVixen Online only, have some nice satin selections.
PoshGirlVintage S.California, but sell online only. Lots of 50s-60s
WoodlandFarms Very nice collection, reasonable. TX
DavenportandCo A nice site, reasonable prices, Springfield MA
StitchesinTime OH. Some nice pieces, reasonable, but seem to be squished in a closet together?
TheFrock Vintage Designer - Dior, not your grandmother. Expensive, but fun to browse. They've got Xena's corset.
BobbyDene Whoever Bobby is, he's got a nice collection of vintage satin, (though he seems to photograph the dresses by the recliner in his living room in Texas...) Have fun.
DandelionVintage NJ (online only). Small selection, accessories
Gulden and Brown A 'megastore' for Vintage gowns, in HAWAII - but they ship UPS to US. Funny tacky website - look around.
CherishedBride They spell Jane Austen with an I (like Texas) and some of their stock is quite funny- I can't actually tell where they are located, though - odd site.
Antiquedress another funny site, but they seem to get museum de-acquisitions (and celebrity clothing). Fun for a look, and some ideas
A Very Merry Seamstress A historical gown maker in NY, this company also makes historical undergarments, including boned stays. Nice company, nice family blog, too.
Vintage Textiles, NH. Early 18th through Edwardian pieces, very lovely.

Organic, natural wedding dresses

Here is the original article on organic, natural dresses on ethicalceremonies.com.

The picture is a dress made of toilet paper - just for fun. (I think the paper is bleached, though -LOL).

Here is our list of wedding dress suppliers so far. These sites are meant to be for inspiration as well as for retail purposes.

Conscious Clothing Santa Fe, NM
Rawganique BC, Canada, Portland OR, & CA
OliviaLuca Portland, OR
TaraLynnStudio VT
Threadheadcreations(tennesee?)
AnnatarianCA
Wholly-Jo London, UK
Puridee.com Peace Silk, LA
Isadora Bridal, BC, Canada
Rene Geneva mostly bridal corsets, but some gowns.
Consciouselegance Another extravagant seamstress - once located in the UK, now in State College, PA, only a few hours' drive from New York.
They get lots of extra points for their thoughtfulness, including labour and packaging:
"Our eco-friendly fabrics are completely sourced from sustainable materials and are 3rd-party certified organic by Control Union World Group (formerly SKAL). We at Conscious Elegance earn a fair living wage and no child labour or sweatshops are involved in any facet of our dressmaking. Our biodegradeable packaging is purposefully chosen to have minimal impact on the environment and we ship our gowns through eco-friendly couriers."

Cheaptux.com PETA recommends them as a "non-wool" Tux supplier - but that means polyester, and you still have to pay for carbon-intensive shipping. Perhaps you should visit a good vintage shop for a vintage tux!

UPDATE: Here is a useful post on the possible 'greenwashing' of the 'sustainable bamboo' fabric industry:

Please let us know of any additions, recommendations, or discoveries. Check Organic Consumers clothing suppliers for more ideas.
and here is another really fun paper dress from the Craftzine.com blog

Poetic Justice has a wedding section, (tip to Matthew). North Carolina. Very nice traditional dresses.