I worked with a lot of great vendors from the DC Green Wedding Consortium, but the people I work closest with are the photographers, and I got to work with two of DC’s best – Andrea Jacobson and Tom Van Veen.


The photos featured here are just a couple examples from each of the gorgeous pictures captured by Andrea Jacobson for The Observatory and Tom Van Veen for Documentary Associates.

As we celebrate the 40th Anniversary of Earth Day, it is important to remember a few basic rules to live by.

Reduce. Lower your consumption.  Turn off the water while you are brushing your teeth.  Turn off the lights when you leave a room.  Don’t print out that email if you can review it on your blackberry.  Don’t buy that extra pair of shoes or hand bag or TV if you don’t really need it.  When you reduce your consumption, less energy is used up from what remains and fewer products have to be manufactured.

Reuse. Cut back on disposable items.  Use a real broom, not one with throw away cloths.  Use a sponge instead of paper towels.  Use a razor that can be used many times over and not just once.  Use the blank side of used paper to make a notepad.  And buy one of those fancy aluminum water bottles from REI or Target, rather than continuing to use plastic bottles that contain hazardous chemicals anyway.  When you reuse items, you not only get the most for your money, but you also cut back on waste.

Recycle. Obviously recycle products that your local recycling company picks up – paper, cardboard, glass, plastic, cans, etc.  Additionally, make sure your local garage recycles the oil when they do an oil change.  Recycle the ink or toner from your personal or company printer.  Recycle old CDs and DVDs – usually through your recycling pick up, though check with your local recycling center.  And take your old TVs, monitors, and computers to a company like PC Recycling that recycles technology.

Those are rules to live by.  And remember, when you get married, make it a Green Wedding!

For more information on Green Wedding practices, check out the DC Green Wedding Consortium!

Katie is a very busy woman.  Not only is she a fabulous wedding planner and an amazing florist under Elegance & Simplicity, she recently published a new online magazine – Eco Beautiful Weddings, is working on getting her third book completed and published, and runs the DC Green Wedding Consortium, of which I am proud to be a member.

Photo By Jennifer Domenick of Love Life Images

I recently asked Katie a few questions about what makes an Eco Beautiful wedding.

What makes you a “green” vendor?

Everything from our wind-powered workshop and website to the flowers that we purchase are eco-friendly elements of an overall green mission that we have instilled in all of our employees and the way we run our business.

Being green is not just about our supply chain, it is about our outreach to the community locally and the environment at large.  We donate to local schools and help nourish local gardens from our in-house composting program and invest in international carbon offsetting programs along with other incredible forward-thinking and world changing organizations.

We also educate and help other wedding professionals about becoming a green!  We also are a source of eco-friendly wedding inspiration for brides around the world with the premiere of our new magazine Eco-Beautiful Weddings.  Our goal is to change the way brides plan their weddings from the beginning.  Being green does not mean wearing hemp on your wedding day and Eco-Beautiful Weddings helps show brides how to go eco-couture on their wedding day!

What are the top 3 things a bride can do to “green” her wedding?

1. Reduce the amount of out-of-town guests that will be traveling to your wedding.  Transportation is the biggest “eco-sin” when it comes to weddings!
2. Don’t serve red meat at your wedding.  Serve fish, chicken/fowl and/or vegetarian/vegan options instead. The amount of energy it takes to produce and digest red meat is staggering compared to the other options.
3. Choose décor and fashion items that come from renewable and free-trade and fair- wage resources.

As in all of your wedding planning visits…ask questions to see how green your vendors are.  You may be the catalyst to making a change, one vendor at a time.

Photo By Jennifer Domenick of Love Life Images

Why is having a green wedding important?  What is the impact, if any?

Having a green wedding is about putting a fist up in the air at the wedding industrial complex as a whole.  It is saying that you want your wedding to make a difference.  You want your wedding to make a statement, to be a journey in education for you and your guests.  It means that your big day is giving back to a greater purpose.  If each engaged couple made at least one change in their wedding planning process, the world and the environment can literally be changed.  The impact is priceless and without measure.

Why do you care?

There are several reasons why I care about the environment and impacting the wedding industry.  One is that I come from a very different background than many players in the wedding industry.  I used to be a missionary in the Dominican Republic, which is one of the greenest countries in the world by necessity.  I am sure, at some point, if people do not change their ways in general – we will all need to be green by necessity.  After coming back from living in the slums of Santo Domingo, I knew (no matter where I worked) that I could not longer just live like I had before in conspicuous consumption.  So, I decided to make a difference in the wedding industry.  I soon found my job to make a difference to be harder than I thought.  Waste is the status quo in the wedding industry.  So I decided to not really tell my brides that I was making a difference and just did it on my own.  I researched all of my vendors – making sure they had a soul and a purpose behind what they do on wedding days.  I wanted to find the vendors that were making a difference in their own way.  Whether it was small or large statements, all of my vendors were either giving back to the community or making a difference in their art through their supply chain or just plain being innovative or different.

In the end, I just care, period.  I am a wife and a mother and I want a better world for myself and my son and everyone really!

Kevin and Virdinia were announced as the winners of the second annual Earth Day Wedding GiveAway sponsored by the DC Green Couture Wedding Consortium.  Jessica Pi Productions is sponsoring the event for a second year in a row by donating videography services to the winning couple in order to promote eco-friendly wedding practices.

Kevin and Virdinia have won a $50,000 green wedding on Earth Day 2010 at the Decatur House.

Andrea Jacobson, of The Observatory, who will be one of the photographers providing photo services at the Green wedding,  took the photos shown here from the DCGWC party, where the winners were announced.  The cupcakes shown were provided by Cakes By Design as well as one of the newest members of the consortium, MallowDrama.

The couple will receive:

Design Consulting Package from Elegance & Simplicity Wedding & Event Designers, Inc. worth $7,500

Floral Design & Décor Package from Elegance & Simplicity Wedding & Event Designers, Inc. worth $2,500

Event/Venue Space Rental of the Stephen Decatur House Museum worth $6,500

Event cuisine by Occasions Caterers worth $5,000

Music services by Disc Jockeys On Call worth $2,500

Lighting, fabric draping, furniture rentals from Ampa Events worth $9,000

Bridal Styling by Polished Image & Style worth $1,000

Linen Rentals from Table Manners worth up to $1,000

Photography services from Tom Van Veen of Documentary Associates worth $5,000

Photography services from Andrea Jacobson of The Observatory worth $5,000

Videography services from Jessica Pi Productions worth $3,500

Wedding Cake from Cakes by Design worth $650

Make-up Artistry from Carola Myers worth $250

On-site hair services by Elegant Hair by Giselle worth $250

Officiating Services from Jim Burch worth $350

Congratulations Virdina and Kevin!

Jessica Pi Productions Photo Session Video from Jessica Piscitelli on Vimeo.

The 2nd Annual Washington DC Green Wedding Consortium’s Earth Day Giveaway is now accepting applications.  The wedding giveaway is comprised of the following eco-friendly prizes:

• Design Consulting Package from Elegance & Simplicity Wedding & Event Designers, Inc. worth $7,500
• Floral Design & Décor Package from Elegance & Simplicity Wedding & Event Designers, Inc. worth $2,500
• Event/Venue Space Rental of the Stephen Decatur House Museum worth $6,500
• Event cuisine by Occasions Caterers worth $5,000 (Couple MUST pay labor fees, associated taxes, delivery, rental fees for serving pieces and alcohol)
• Music services by Disc Jockeys On Call worth $2,500
• Lighting, fabric draping, furniture rentals From Ampa Events worth $9,000
• Bridal Styling by Polished Image & Style worth $1,000
• Linen Rentals from Table Manners worth up to $1,000
• Photography services from Ralph Alswang Photography worth $5,000
• Photography services from Andrea Jacobson of The Observatory worth $5,000
• Videography services from Jessica Pi Productions worth $3,500
• Wedding Cake from Cakes by Design worth $650
• Make-up Artistry from Carola Myers worth $250
• On-site hair services by Elegant Hair by Giselle worth $250
• Officiating Services from Jim Burch worth $350

Once you have read all of the rules, regulations and guidelines (and are in agreement with ALL of them), please click on the application survey link here.

Official Rules, Regulations and Guidelines can be downloaded here.

All applications must be submitted online by October 20th, 2009 by Washington, DC Metropolitan area residents only.  Ten Finalists will be chosen for in-person interviews.  The winning couple will be announced on December 9, 2009 at the DCGWC Holiday Party!

Apply today!

The Washington DC Green Wedding Consortium consists of the leading green wedding professionals from the Washington DC metropolitan area.

So far we know that Ralph Alswang and Andrea Jacobson will be photographing the Earth Day wedding.  Jessica Pi Productions will once again be providing wedding video services for the event.  You can see last year’s Green Wedding video here.  Debbie Delardi, of Cakes By Design, will be providing some more delicious cake to the lucky couple.  With Carola Myers doing makeup, and Elegant Hair by Giselle doing hair, the bride will look beautiful.  Ampa Events will lend some decorative and practical touches to the already swanky Decatur House.  Aaron Couch, of Disc Jockeys on Call will be keeping the party going with his deejay services.  And, of course, Elegance & Simplicity will be providing the floral arrangements.

We wrapped up the meeting by getting to know one another a little better.  Present at the meeting but not previously mentioned were Stephanie Ward, of Punk Rock Bride; Nicole Wolf, of Sota Dzine; Michelle Slaughter of Herpresign; Jim Burch; Ashlee Van Veen of Documentary Associates; and Ann Cooper of Table Manners.

As a wedding videographer, I do my best to ensure that I have as little impact on the bride and groom’s day as possible. I have had many comments from brides after saying they never even saw me and can’t believe how I got the footage I got without them noticing.

As someone who cares about the future well being of the air we breathe and the water we drink, I try to have as little impact on the planet as possible. Being green, for me, is a way of life. Which is why I was pleased to join the DC Green Wedding Consortium.

A fantastic group of vendors from the DCGWC, that I love to work with, recently worked together to produce a Green Wedding, for Dana & David, in celebration of Earth Day. You can see some of the beautiful work, and the beautiful day, in this:  Earth Day Wedding Coverage by Jessica Pi Productions

Dana was dressed beautifully in an Adele Wechsler wedding gown that was provided by Promise for the Savvy Bride.  Robin Fisher, from Polished, helped to style the bride and her sister with the best colors and accessories. Elegant Hair by Giselle provided a beautiful natural look for the bride and Carola Myers provided flawless eco-friendly make-up.

Two great photographers, Jennifer Domenick of Love Life Images & Tom Van Veen of Documentary Associates took amazing photos for the day, and the photos in this blog.

Elegance & Simplicity’s owner, Katie Martin, headed up the effort and served as the couple’s wedding planner and designer.  Elegance & Simplicity’s Green Love Events Division provided the floral designs.

]]> http://www.jessicapi.com/2009/05/dc-green-wedding-consortium/feed/ 0