Go Green: Recycle a Bridesmaid Dress Into a Holiday Dress

Its holiday time and you need a party dress
for the holidays and your budget is busted.
Join the crowd! Your closet can be your friend
and its easier than you think! Grab a bridesmaid
dress and think of how it can be redesigned
to fit the occasion. Dark colored dresses or
holiday colors are the best bets. Nix the
poofed rouched skirts, you'll never wear them
again except for a Halloween costume.

First, remove everything on the dress that looks
like a bridesmaid dress...get rid of the bows
and the streamers. Put the dress on and look
at how it would look shortened. Tuck it up or
get help from a friend to see how it would
look shortened. If you sew or someone you know
does, shorten it yourself. If you are afraid
to tackle it, take it to a seamstress. Its
a lot less expensive to pay for a hem than
to buy a new dress.

Does it have spaghetti straps?
Will it stay up without them? Remove them or
add straps to give it a different look.

Add great accessories! Lots of chain necklaces
or a bold necklace from your own collection,
a belt in place of the ribbon at the waistline,
cool shoes and bag. Voila...recycling, saving
a lot of money and you'll look like a million.

Eco Friendly Terra Amore Wedding Dresses

Terra Amore means love earth, and designer
Jessica Iverson is producing a line of
earth friendly wedding dresses that she
calls "eco couture". She not only
designs high fashion designs, but for each
dress purchased, she gives back either by
donating a percentage of her profits to
land preservation or planting a tree.

Her fabrics use only low impact dyes on
natural silks, her other silks are not
bleached and remain a natural color. There are
no unnatural dyes or finishes applied to the
fabrics she uses in her dresses. She uses
fabrics like hempsilk, silk shantung,
silk chiffon. I have not seen hempsilk yet,
and I thought I'd seen ever fabric ever made.
Hempsilk is 40% raw silk and 60% hemp.

Here is my favorite part: She doesn't use
sweatshops to produce her products. All her
seamstresses are paid a living wage using
fair trade and fair labor practices. They
work 8 hour days and 5 days a week. For more
info on her labor practices and fabrics,
click here.




Jessica Iverson is a talented wedding dress
designer with a heart and a passion for
saving the earth. You can learn more about
her and her passions and see her designs
at TerraAmore or
her green collection for Portovert.

I am impressed with Jessica's standards and
designs because I'm tired of the dresses
being mass produced and churned out from
China. She is a breath of fresh air in
the bridal industry and her designs will
help you breath fresh air from her ethical
practices. Check her out!

Wedding Trends for 2008

Here is my list of hot wedding trends for 2008:

• Eco friendly "green weddings" or incorporating elements of green into the festivities.
  

• Wedding invitations on recycled papers or printing your own invites at home

• Donating to an ecological cause (like donating to the National Arbor foundation) in lieu of a wedding favor
  

• The bride and groom taking dance lessons so they can dance their first dance like the "stars".
  

• Chocolate fountains at the reception

• Romantic receptions with tiny glittering lights and candles

• Wedding toasts and speeches

• Destination weddings

• Outdoor wedding ceremonies

• Writing your own wedding vows

• Incorporating elements of the bride and groom's personality into the wedding

• Silly things like tambourines at the reception to get the bride and groom to kiss rather than clinking a glass with a spoon.
  

• Unique wedding cakes and cup cakes trees
  

• Colorful bouquets of flowers

Feel free to comment on the trends you see in your area!