Eco-Chic College Colors Wedding

Did you meet your significant other at college or at an alumni mixer? You are not alone. More and more couples are choosing to honor their alma maters in their wedding and reception details. 

For this example of a sustainable College Couture wedding, I’ve chosen the blue & green of Georgia College & State University, a really amazing liberal arts college. Go Bobcats! However, you can customize these steps to plan an amazing alma mater wedding for any school. So pay attention class, whether you graduated from Harvard, University of Texas, or UCLA!

Eco-chic Preppy Wedding – Head of the Class

When you are honoring your college colors in your wedding party outfits, make sure to stick with solid colors or very thick prep school stripes.  If you begin to use small or muddled patterns, the colors will meld from a distance & also in pictures. Try solid color dresses for the ladies in one school color with bouquets, shoes, jewelry and hairpieces in the other college color. I love this vintage 50’s tea length gown with a school statement of green & blue taffeta. You can even get your MOB (Mother of the Bride) & MOG (Mother of the Groom) in on the fun by suggesting dresses in alternating colors to the bridesmaids.

For your graduate groomsmen, accent their outfits with jackets in your main college color and additional accoutrements like ties, suspenders, sock, shoes and boutonnieres in the alternating scholastic hue.

Eco-chic College Colors Wedding – Teacher’s Pet

Every college has a mascot. Mascots are there to raise college spirits and promote the sports and other special programs for the university. Chances are you saw yours on a regular basis back in the day.  If you want to give your big wedding weekend that true college touch, look into hiring your mascot to show up at your reception or tailgate rehearsal party.  Nothing says school spirit like a picture showing you waltzing with the university mascot. Getting the mascot to guest star in the photo booth would be an extra way to make your reception rah-rah-rock!

You can also look into getting married on campus, either at the chapel or in a place special to the two of you like the quad or library. An added bonus of hiring your school mascot  to appear or getting married on campus is the rental money goes to support the university you both know and love. Any money paid to the university for your wedding details does sustainable double duty by going to fund scholastic programs and special activities for future students.

Eco-chic Preppy Wedding – Be True to Your School

Whether you are a glam or natural couple, your reception area can reflect your college colors in numerous ways. Here is a glam setting complete with navy sequin tablecloths and emerald green satin sashes and napkins. Use the same navy blue sequin or emerald green satin on the dessert table and layer in blue and green glitter cupcake wrappers to give your dessert table that same eco-chic college couture feel.

For a more natural but still college cool reception setup, the bride below used accents of greenery and blue napkins on a naturally beautiful wooden table. Use the ecofriendly tissue tassels and confetti from Ecopartytime to give an eco-chic preppy pop to your dessert table.  

You can pump up your preppy passion in your wedding sustainably by piggybacking your wedding onto your college’s homecoming weekend activities. Colleges go all out for Homecoming. These school celebration events are generally on a much grander scale than you could do individually, so you get to reap the benefits of their planning and budget for your wedding, thus saving you time and money. There are parades, football and basketball games, dances, tailgating, and often fireworks.  Why not hold your rehearsal and then watch a homecoming parade? Or have a morning wedding with a tailgate brunch before the big game?  Your fellow alum guests will love the chance to celebrate you and the school at the same time!

I’d love to see your colorful college wedding ideas in action!  Please post pictures of your sustainable wedding with the hashtag #Ecopartytime or tag me (@emeraldcert) so I can share in your wonderful and earth-friendly weddings!

 Photo Credits – True Photography, Georgia College, Trivium Studio

About the Author

Melissa Wagner-Gens is Ecopartytime's Green Resident Expert. She is also a Green Event Educator, certified event planner & owner of Emerald Events and Weddings.