Top Three Amazing Earth Day Wedding Backdrops

Hello my eco-evangelistas! One of my favorite chica verde holidays is coming up. April 22, 2015 is Earth Day. Since its start in 1970, Earth Day’s main focus has been to bring to light the over whelming problems of polluting this world we all live in. Because of that first Earth Day gathering, the USA passed the Clean Air, Clean Water, & Endangered Species Acts. How cool is that?

In honor of those pioneer eco-evangelistas from 45 years ago, this article focuses on the majesty and splendor of Mother Nature’s brilliantly diverse backgrounds in today’s earth-friendly weddings. When you have naturally beautiful wedding surroundings like the ones I’m going to highlight, the need to decorate your nuptials with man-made items to make a “wow” statement is reduced greatly. Instead your guests will thrill at nature’s canvas. By reducing the amount of décor needed, you save that money which you can then donate to a charity that is working to save the environment you’re getting married in for future generations. Talk about a win-win situation!

Earth Day Wedding – Majestic Mountains

Being a Colorado girl, I’m totally a mountain girl. There is something just awe inspiring about looking up at a fourteener and contrary to some of my flatlander friends, “timberline” (mountain speak for “trees don’t grow above this altitude on a mountain”) is real. ☺ Even mountain backdrops are varied. You can find mountain wedding locations mostly in the west; California has the Sierra Nevadas, and the Rocky Mountains cover portions of Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, Idaho, Montana & Nevada. However for our eastern readers, make sure to check out the Smoky Mountains which run from Maine all the way down to Alabama.

Consider incorporating in pinecones & evergreen branches into bouquets and boutonnieres to bring in the eco-friendly mountain vibe. To integrate your high-altitude atmosphere into your menu, make sure to offer locally made beer featuring ingredients like agave, chile & and dinner offerings like spruce cedar smoked salmon. For high-altitude weddings, remember – once the sun goes down, it gets chilly. Make sure to bring a wrap, even to summer weddings. A perfect little parting gift to a mountain wedding guest would be a plantable spruce tree seeded favor thank you as an accent to a DIY S’mores kit utilizing our kraft cake favor bag. 

Remember you want to remind your guests about the wonder of the earth & the reason it’s worth protecting. By saving money on décor and transportation of imported elements, the money you save can go as a donation to a correlating charity in your guest’s names.

Forests & Mountain Conservation Charities -

American Forest Foundation 
Yellowstone To Yukon Conservation Initiative
The Wilderness Society
Appalachian Mountain Club

Earth Day Wedding – Divine Deserts

The red-gold of a desert “do” can be just as striking as a mountain wedding. For the desert eco-divas out there, the starkness of the red rocks and yellow sand against the brilliant blue of the sky and sparse green vegetation is a color combo for a breath taking wedding scene. You can hold your divine desert wedding in most southwestern states including Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada, and California.

Incorporate local elements into your day like succulents (e.g. aloe vera & yucca) designed to grow in arid climates, sun-weathered wood, Spanish luminarias, Joshua trees, cactus plants (just don’t get too close). You can even incorporate some of these elements into your food and drink. Try a prickly pear margarita, grilled nopales & mesquite smoked chicken or steak.

Desert and Plains Conservation Charities -

Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance
Wild Earth Guardians
Sky Island Alliance 
National Resources Defense Council

Earth Day Wedding – Wondrous Water

Celebrate the phenomenon of lakes, oceans, waterfalls and rivers with a wondrous water wedding. For those of you who identify with mermaids, this is right up your alley. Water is something very precious and what a better way to bring notice to that than with a ceremony designed to utilize its beauty without polluting it.

A water wedding can be held all across the US, which makes it very accessible to every bride and groom. And with coastlines which vary from rugged rocks and cliffs to golden sandy beaches, there’s a water wedding for every taste.

Water wedding colors range from translucent aqua to navy blue and accent colors of moss & forest green or bark brown. Seashells, drift wood, sea glass, moss and river rocks are all ways to bring the wonder & power of water into your wedding décor. For coastal weddings, sea salt margaritas and sustainably farmed seafood will reinforce your oceanic theme. For river or waterfall weddings, try fiddlehead ferns and wild harvested mushrooms (Melissa’s note – let the experts pick these as there are a couple of varieties which could be harmful to guests & no one wants that!) 

Oceans, Lakes and River Conservation Charities -

Coral Reef Alliance 
American Whitewater
Surfrider Foundation
Clean Ocean Action

Please post pictures of your awesome natural wedding background with the hashtag #Ecopartytime so we can share in your wonderful and earth friendly event! This is Melissa Wagner-Gens, Chief Chica Verde & your brilliantly green event expert wishing you “Love, Laughter & a Brilliantly Green Happily Ever After. . . ”!

Photo Credits: True Photography, The Goodness

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.