Home-Style Wedding

Cathy and Nick were married on August 16, 2008 in Baltimore, MD.

How They Met Cathy and Nick both work with the mentally ill. Nick is a clinical social worker and Cathy is a psychologist. The two were set up on a blind date by friends and immediately clicked. "Our shared passion for social justice was one of the first things that drew us together."

The Decision to Go Green Although Cathy and Nick had originally planned a larger wedding, they decided it was more important for them to use their resources to buy their first home together. They also wanted to have a "socially responsible wedding that was consistent with our values and minimized excess and waste." To this end, the couple sent out hand written invitations inviting a small list of guests to celebrate with them at their new home. "Our invitations were handwritten by a good friend. Both the invitations and thank you notes were written on recycled paper and we decided to limit waste by not using RSVP cards."

"Our wedding occurred on the front porch and the celebration was set up as a garden party in the side yard and included 15 of our dear friends and family."

Flowers It was important for Cathy and Nick to have locally grown flowers at their wedding. "Imported flowers expend tremendous resources, require preservatives for their journey, and are often the product of deplorable working conditions. In an effort to minimize our wedding’s impact on the environment, we chose to work with Local Color Flowers, a Baltimore based floral design company that values ecological responsibility and supports local growers." Local Color Flowers used an array of brightly colored summer flowers for Cathy and Nick’s wedding including Zinnias, Gomphrena, Asters and Celosia.

For the reception, the flowers were displayed in mason jars, decorative tin buckets, antique headlights, and glass tumblers. Instead of having favors, the flower arrangements from the ceremony and celebration were sent home with guests at the end of the night.

Creating a Space The couple asked their friends to pitch in with the table decor. They were able borrow everything they needed, including silverware, pitchers, candelabras, place card holders, and folding tables and chairs.

They strung white lights around the table to create an intimate outdoor space.

They used their iPod to play a "funky mix including everything from Brazilian music, traditional Irish music, Tribe Called Quest, Wilco, and Stevie Wonder."

Dessert On their wedding day, a good friend surprised the couple (who had chosen not to have a wedding cake) with a homemade cake made with local ingredients from Trickling Springs Creamery. The cake was adorned with a Mexican good luck charm (a figurine of a skeletal bride & groom) "bringing additional humor to the day."

Going Digital Cathy and Nick’s photographer, Tristan Spinski provided the couple with the digital negatives instead of prints. "We were able to create our own wedding album without printing pictures unnecessarily. Since we chose to have a small, intimate wedding, many of our loved ones were not physically present. It was important to us to be able to easily send family and friends electronic copies of our photos."

All in all, Cathy and Nick felt that "a socially conscious wedding with minimal impact on the environment was the ideal way for us to begin our marriage." As Cathy said, “The day just felt like us.”