Eco-friendly wedding dresses

Depending on your romanticism and your love of weddings you may see the wedding dress as an iconic item, a memento, an heirloom, a symbol of beauty, purity, femininity or a puffy thing that wastes a lot of fabric for just a few hours.

Or, perhaps you have an ecologically mixed view of the dress. So how do you have a gorgeous, symbolic dress within your budget and stay eco-friendly? I can only offer a few suggestions.

Threadhead Creations offers off-the-rack and custom designed dresses. The designer uses hemp, cotton, peace silk, raw silk and bamboo to make her dresses. You pick the fabric, the style, the color and the train.
Within a few months you have an ecologically friendly dress made by hand. Prices range from $450 to $2,000. The dresses tend to be classic and simple. Don't expect bustles. Think hippie.

Wholly Jo's is a UK-based dressmaker that uses exclusively fair trade and organic fabrics. You can also recycle material from another wedding dress for a new creation. With this shop you can be sure one woman is making a unique dress designed for you, but you've also got to allow at least six months time and be prepared to pay. £350 to start on wedding dress designs, fittings etc. Fabric not included.

Conscious Clothing based in Santa Fe, New Mexico is another clothier with the environment in mind. Their fabrics are all hemp blends, including hemp/silk, hemp/floral jacquard and hemp/silk/satin. They also have pure Vegan fabric. The dresses are fantastic, but the prices are to be expected: $700 - $2,000 as a starting point.

by Sea Stachura
http://www.greendaily.com