Real Weddings with Green Ideas

The Forest Park Visitor Center in St. Louis is transformed with a few affordable green enhancements for Zooey and David's wedding, including wreath-topped stacks of boxes, wrapped in imported papers and ribbons, to serve as table numbers; potted dusty miller, later planted in Zooey's mother's garden, added a verdant note to the table.

These bridesmaids wear colorful shoes with cocktail-length kelly-green dresses featuring different necklines.

Vodka gimlets are served as the signature cocktail of Tasha and D.W.'s wedding. Personalized napkins in green and white were created to go along with the color palette of the day.

This monogrammed orange and green dot motif ties together Jennifer and Ray's letterpress invitations, reply cards, thank-you notes, and coasters.

The ring pillow at Kristina and Jesse's outdoor, rustic wedding uses soft twigs, dried flowers, and green moss to echo a bird's nest. Leather cord holds the wedding bands.

Nearly 1,000 feet of green California bay laurel garlands runs along the house, the yard, and down the table centers at Claire and Benjamin's wedding; persimmons, figs, raspberry branches, and passionfruit vine punctuate the garlands.

A single white tulip enveloped in a light-green leaf -- to match his tie -- graces groom David's lapel, a nod to the wedding's springlike feel and palette. Flowers by Bloomin' Buckets.

Megan and Steve's modern fete is accented with hanging paper lanterns, tall centerpieces that overflow with lush greenery, and lots of natural light.

A chip-filled wooden box lined with bear grass serves as a ring pillow at bride Gregg and groom Mark's ceremony; the center is made from Styrofoam covered with green chiffon.

Sage-green card stock in painted frames serve as table numbers for this St. Paul, Minnesota, wedding. Bride Sarah managed to find time the night before her wedding (the rehearsal dinner was two nights prior to the wedding day) to make the centerpiece arrangements. With help from her aunts and bridesmaids, she created an assortment that included a combination of branches, wax flowers, moss, hanging amaranthus, and roses.

Pre-made wired fabric green garlands are twisted and arranged to form Zooey and David's initials on homemade ribbon napkin rings.

Bride Gregg's bouquet of white tulips, dendrobium orchids, freesia, ranunculus, and pale-green Dutch roses studded with green eucalyptus seeds embodies this wedding's subdued color scheme.

The scrolled artwork on this stationery suite for Zooey and David's wedding made its way onto many other paper elements, including a take-home notepad. Stationery by Two Blue Doors.

The groom, Ray, wears a cymbidium orchid boutonniere to add a touch of soft green to his ensemble.

Peonies, lady slipper orchids, and roses in yellow, green, and white make up Megan's simply tied bouquet.

Bridesmaids receive gifts wrapped in luxurious green and white paper to go along with Zooey and David's color palette.

These homemade silk-flower boutonnieres with green flourishes were made by the bride, Sarah, who studied fashion design and sociology.

Lanterns cast a warm glow under a tent in bride Gregg's lush, green backyard; the square tables were set with square accents, including vases of tulips, ornithogalum, and calla lilies with lots of greenery.

Portraits of this bridal party take place on the steps of the chapel where Sarah and James got married. The bridesmaids wear Vera Wang dresses and hold green and white bouquets by Becca Dauska for La Tulipe Floral.

Bride Zooey and her bridesmaids pose in front of the pond at the St. Louis Art Museum, site of David's proposal. The bridesmaids wore green dresses by Coren Moore.

The centerpieces at Claire and Benjamin's wedding in Beverly Hills include fresh, green fruit, white flowers, and greenery. Bryan "Breezy" Ream -- friend of the bride and groom, decorator, and lighting-design specialist -- lit up Claire and Benjamin's table with an Italian crackle-glass globe surrounded by four vintage brass domes.

Menus at Kristina and Jesse's rustic reception are tucked into neatly folded linen hemstitched napkins, along with a petite bunch of wildflowers and green herbs.