Amanda Heer of FANTASY FLORAL DESIGNS, could have never imagined that ten years after her first creative spark to turn her vintage brooch collection into a bouquet, would lead her to where she is at now…handcrafting and selling vintage brooch flower bouquets to BRIDES AROUND THE WORLD!

If you are looking for a bouquet that will last forever, then stop searching, because these beautiful, handmade-vintage flower brooch bouquets are an absolute treasure! They would especially make a perfect bouquet for sentimental and eco-conscious brides.

I would say that Amanda has found a way to turn her fantasy for making brooch bouquets into a reality! To learn more about her services and to see more of her sparkly bouquet designs, visit her brooch blog at Fantasy Floral Designs Blog. WAIT! There is more…I stopped in to OmniBride and searched the wedding blogosphere to find other bloggers who have found and raved about Amanda’s brooch bouquet creations. Visit these other fabulous wedding blogs and read what they had to say about this very “broochable” topic…Ruffled Blog, and Memoirs of a Wedding Planner

Eco-friendly is the buzzword these days, but how can a bride and groom incorporate eco-friendly practices into their wedding and reception without sacrificing style?

Our search through the OmniBride blogs has unearthed lots of suggestions for gems, paper products, dresses, transportation, and even the send-off that are cool for you…and kind for the planet.

Green weddings can get off to a start well before the wedding itself with the choice of stone for the engagement ring. THE WEDDING CHAT’s post “Conflict” on a wedding blog? offers some insights into the source of gems and introduces San Francisco jeweler Brilliant Earth…to ensure that “blood” and “diamond” don’t share the same place on your finger.

Many, many brides have chosen papers embedded with seeds for their invitations, place markers, thank you notes, and any other paper needs they have.  In Welcome to Fresh Friday!, WHOLLY MATRIMONY.COM suggests these invitations from Botanical Paperworks, and some guidelines to use whenever you choose recycled paper products.

To soften their ecological impact, others are choosing to reuse/recycle paper and craft materials they already have. Here’s a very clever idea for DIY wedding invitations submitted by bride and guest columnist Marissa to 2000 DOLLAR WEDDING.COM in her post Guest Column: DIY Wedding Invitations. She includes a materials list and step-by-step instructions to make these super-cute invitations.

If you are still equating “eco-friendly” with “tie-dyed nightmare,” check out the Natural Brides gowns showcased at BRIDE CHIC under How to Go Green Without Looking Tattered. Amy-Jo Tatum posts a list of factors that make a dress (or any clothing) eco-friendly, moving beyond fabric choices to questions about sustainable farming and fair trade/fair labor practices.

Several brides suggest choosing bridesmaids’ dresses that can really be worn again…We all know the jokes about the scary confabulations of lace, lace, lace, humongous bows, colors that sear the eyeballs, and cuts guaranteed to make at least one bridesmaid consider overnight liposuction.  Emma at  BRIDESMAID.COM has several great suggestions for choosing dresses that won’t be one-hit wonders for your bridesmaids in the blog Green Weddings: How to Green Your Bridal Party.

Transportation to and from the wedding and reception is another facet of the event that can leave a small carbon footprint.  ….. In Beyond the Limo: Alternative Wedding Transportation, MY WEDDING.COM has several fun suggestions–like a party (shuttle) bus–that are eco-friendly, and others–like a helicopter–not so much. You decide.

If you don’t mind the grime and the stares from strangers, how about mass transit? BON MARIAGE! takes us to the wedding of Anneliesa Clump and Scott Alprin, who used the Washington D.C. Metro from their wedding to the reception hall in the post Holy Metro-mony.

Ready with the puns? TOAST AND TABLES spins some wedding magic in Wedding Bike Theme: It could Lead to a Wheely Long Marriage! Sarah Dennis suggests a wedding theme using bikes for their design qualities, as well as eco-friendliness.

And, at the end of the day, BRIDAL OPULENCE has an eco-friendly alternative to the usual rice/birdseed/balloon bridal send-off in Petal Send Off.