Every year, countless hours, days or months are spent in changing rooms, trying out the perfect dress for the most significant day of a woman’s life: THE wedding Gown, one of the crucial elements of a wedding for most brides. Today with the awareness of organic materials and green companies that produce wedding gowns, brides have a wider selection to choose from.

When I got married 10 years ago, I hardly knew about Organic cotton or living a green lifestyle. Luckily enough, I recycled a wedding dress from a retailer that carried a previous seasons collection of wedding dresses for half the price! But that’s not always the case for everyone.

Can a bride still find the perfect dress without spending a fortune? Better still, can you find the perfect dress from a green company? Through some research I found some interesting options for both scenarios!

Various ideas on how to spend less on your wedding gown:

• Buy a dress from an old collection.
• Borrow one from a friend or relative.
• Buy a white evening dress from a department store,  no one will know the difference.
• Recycle your mums wedding dress and if you don’t like the style, personalize it (if she allows you to!).
• Rent a gown:
  • www.rentabridalgown.com
  • www.bestforbride.com
  • www.girlmeetsdress.com (UK only)
• Buy a used gowns:
  • www.recycledbride.com
  • www.weddingdressmarket.com

  Take your wedding a step further, check these green companies which offer alternative eco-friendly wedding gowns:

www.consciouselegance.com

Award-winning sustainable and organic wedding dresses  made for each and every client. Totally made in the USA by a small, independent, woman-owned company. They employ only local artists, all who earn a fair living wage.

www.getconscious.com

Environmentally friendly SBP (sustainable/biodegradable product) hemp fabrics. They offer hemp & silk blends, hemp & silk floral jacquard and hemp & silk satin. For the pure Vegan bride, a hemp and tencel blend is available.

www.threadheadcreations.com

High quality handcrafted clothing inspired by the natural world around us. They offer a beautiful collection of dresses in eco-friendly fabrics and natural fibers in organic cotton, hemp and wild peace silk.

www.rawganique.com

Organic wedding clothes that are stylish, dashing, affirming, environmentally friendly, elegant and as pure and sustainable as it can be. They specialize in organic hemp clothing that are sustainably grown in Europe from organically grown European hemp fibers: so no sweatshop or child/under-waged labor. No heavy metals or harsh chemicals, either.

www.adelewechsler.com

Eco Couture bridal wear offers an Eco-friendly option with all the luxury of couture gowns. Adele creator of the collection Eco Couture, infused elements such as organic hemp and silk, vegetable dyes, remnant fabrics and hand cut designs made in Toronto. Her designs were inspired by the “bride who cares about the world in which she lives.”

I hope this article has given you various options to choose from. If you have tried other green companies and have photos of your green gown send them to us. Meanwhile stay tuned for our next post: “Green Weddings – Men’s Wedding Suits“!