Arriving guests were greeted with fresh lemonade and the entrancing gypsy swing music of a four piece acoustic jazz band playing beneath the beech tree .  It was like stepping into an F. Scott Fitzgerald story!

Ramy and Mia surprised their guests after the ceremony with an Egyptian zaffa, musicians and belly dancers with candelabras on their heads who drummed, piped and danced the newlyweds into their reception.  Guests joined in, clapping, dancing and singing, whipped into a frenzy by the quickening drums.  Amazing!

THE DETAILS:  The tables were set in white linens with pink flowers and sage napkin accents.  The couple brought in their own rattan chairs and pink tinted glass candle holders to complete the look.  White Chinese lanterns hung from the tent ceiling and fresh saplings camouflaged the tent poles, blending the indoors with out.

Mia was ravishing in a soft gray, taupe dress and the newlyweds truly ruled the night.  They were greeted by constant enthusiastic chants: Ramy, Ramy, Ramy!  Mia, Mia, Mia!

The couple selected blues and jazz, Billie Holiday, Ray Charles, Tom Waits, along with infectious dance tunes of David Guetta, Daft Punk and 80′s New Wave.  The biggest hit was an Arabic song; the Egyptian side sang every word.

It was truly a one of a kind wedding experience.  Thanks so much for letting us be a part of your celebration, guys!

Osborn Castle

Catering by Fresh Company

Photos by Jennifer May *Photos in this blog post courtesy of Jennifer May Photography.

Live Music by Joel Beaver & LES Hot Club

So you’d like to plan a green Hudson Valley wedding.  (If you have questions about WHY you would want to have a green Hudson Valley wedding, check out my earlier blog post.)

Where do you start?

The internet is a wonderful resource for planning an eco friendly wedding.  Bridal magazines and websites are jumping on the green band wagon with lots of information.  But here are some of the most comprehensive sites available:

Organic.Clothing.Blogs.com -  You’ll find numerous sources of green wedding dresses and attire, along with ideas for planning an eco friendly wedding on a budget.

PreOwnedWeddingDresses.com and BridePower.com – Want a green wedding dress without offending your keen fashion sense or your pocket book?  Buy a used wedding dress.  Designer wedding gowns are available at a fraction of the retail cost.   Feel even better about yourself by buying a used or new designer dress from Brides Against Breast Cancer because all the proceeds go to breast cancer research…and you can write it off!

Green Wedding Flowers – The easiest way to go green when it comes to your wedding flowers is to choose locally grown, organic, in season blooms…which also happen to be the cheapest.  You can also talk to your florist about finding the most-cost effective and environmentally friendly options.

Green Wedding Invitations – Go for recycled invitations, easily found on sites like Papyrus.com and ask your guests to RSVP by telephone or email.  (Bonus savings on response cards, envelopes and postage.)  Want to go even greener?  Skip physical invites altogether and send electronic invitations through a service like Evite.com.  Martha Stewart and Emily Post will just have to get over their etiquette obsessed selves.

Green Wedding Favors – A quick Google search for “green wedding favors” turns up dozens of great options, many of them quite inexpensive, such as these butterfly wildflower seed favors.  Go a step further and SKIP your favors altogether and make a donation to your favorite charity instead.

Green Hudson Valley Wedding Locations To Consider:

• The Garrison
• Mohonk Mountain House
• Buttermilk Falls Spa and Inn
• Osborn Castle at Cat Rock

But even if you don’t consider yourself a “green” bride, every eco friendly wedding choice makes a difference.  Talk to your caterer, photographer and DJ for ideas about what you can do to conserve energy and choose more environmentally friendly products and services.

Got a questions about planning a green Hudson Valley wedding?  Any ideas to share?  Leave me a comment.