Green Bridal Shower

Here are a few pictures from reader Nikki, who threw a "green bridal shower" or her co-worker, Kristin. Her solutions were not only eco-friendly but also super-sweet. At the end of the party the bride was able to take home some very personal gifts- and I'm sure she'll treasure them for years to come, as they're from dear friends.

Here are some ways we tried to make sure our event was eco-friendly:
Rather than use paper invitations, we used a cute bridal shower template from evite.com. On the evite, we introduced the "green theme" and asked guests to "think digital, recyclable, reusable, and organic".

We served a light lunch consisting of an assortment of salads, bread, chips, dip, and fruit. Wherever possible, we made sure to buy organic and local. For dessert, guests had sorbet served in real orange and grapefruit cups. We used recycled napkins and all other tableware was re-usable.

After lunch, we had a great time painting terracotta pots and planting Kristin's favorite plants in them. We knew that she loves gardening and working in her backyard so this was a fun activity for guests to do together and it also provided the bride with lovely gifts to take home.

In addition to the potted plants, we all pitched in and got Kristin a gift card to her favorite cooking store. As an added touch, the gift card was enclosed in a recycled, plantable greeting card, which had basil and chives seeds inside.

We found this article to be helpful during our planning: eHow

Many, many thanks to Nikki for sharing!