When Zach Latham asked Sarah Lyle to be with him forever as the two traveled the Grand Canyon by boat in 2007, they had already established their commonalties, but planning a wedding has a way of highlighting the best and worst aspects of people and, as such, is not the easiest endeavor to begin life with. Still, plan and marry people do, wildly exceeding their own expectations, budgets, patience and more.
But as this soon-to-be-wed pair started evaluating their desires for a wedding, they fast decided that their small budget—was going to require resourcefulness in this case, though, that was a blessing, as it was in keeping with their mutual concern for the environment. Twenty-nine-year-old Sarah’s eco-conscious interior design business, White Canvas Designs, proves the perfect platform to summon ideas for a green wedding. Zach, 29, is a hydrologist with Brockway Engineering.
how we felt for each other
that really we wanted to share
this with the people we loved.
Refusing to be dragged off their personal truths by the temptations and trappings and wedding paraphernalia that turn out so costly, the couple instead whittled their list down to their absolute necessities and then came up with ways to accommodate those with as little environmental impact as possible.
It required a little more advance planning than your average wedding, in some aspects, but, in the end, it was more than a ceremony—it was an imprint for their way of living in the future and an example to others that simplicity doesn’t mean suffering. In their case, it meant calling on their friends and family, dipping into some old-fashioned traditions and paying it forward.
August 16, 2008
1. Invitations
Announcements, place settings, menus (anything paper) was created on recycled paper by the bride’s sister, Addie LaDuke, and her company, The Paper Doll Studio.
2. Officiant
Tom Ziegler got his online ministry license and designed the ceremony as his gift to the couple. He had been on the Grand Canyon trip where the couple got engaged.
3. Jewelry
Friend Darleen Meier designed the jewelry for the bride and her maids.
4. Entertainment
Local song bird, Kim Stocking.
5. Ceremony & Reception
Held on one site to cut down on pollution.
6. Getting There
Blaine County School buses were chartered for guests, to reduce the number of cars on the road, and provide designated drivers for the celebrants.
7. Flowers
Largely grown by friends Helen and Rachel Ziegler, who lost some sunflowers to deer. Tara Bella supplemented the rest. The centerpieces were all planted herbs and flowers, which served as gifts for the guests to take home and plant.
8. Dress
A recycled/restored combination of her grandmother’s 1920’s dress and a Jessica McClintock design. The groom wore J.Crew cotton and linen while the groomsmen wore Lands’ End cotton and linen blazers and pants. Bridesmaids wore silk dupioni dresses from Ann Taylor in blue that matched a sash around the flower girl’s white princess gown.
9. Gifts
In addition to the plants from the tables, each guest got a pot of honey jarred by the bride. Parents and special friends received a horseshoe engraved with the couple’s names to symbolize their luck in their own lives and luck to their loved ones.
10. Catering
By Galena Lodge, and was locally produced and organic. Wine was from Frenchman’s Gulch in Ketchum and Round the Bend Brewery.
11. Cakes
Friends baked 20 apple pies using the bride’s grandfather’s recipe.
12. Carbon Offset
The couple made a donation to thecarbonfund.org to offset the impact of out-of-town guests’ travel.
13. Honeymoon
Dog Lucy joined the couple in a friend’s cabin in Fisher Creek before setting out for a low-impact camping trip across Idaho to Banff, Canada.
Click here for more pictures of Sarah & Zach’s wedding