Long before the “Green” move became a trend, Greta approached me and said she needed help planning her ecofriendly wedding. With a background and career relating to the environment, she was determined to eliminate the wasteful items often associated with weddings and wanted to make sure she chose components that were recyclable and/or reusable. Little did I know that a few months after we began working together on this, the “green wedding” became the newest trend.

Greta wanted a venue that matched her vision. She grew up in Lake County and wanted to keep her wedding close to home. Thunderhawk Golf Club is a county forest preserve with a ballroom that faces the golf course and all of its trees creating the perfect ecofriendly backdrop for the big day. Her childhood church also went along with her vision in that the altar is backed by large glass windows giving a breath taking view of a forest. Little touches throughout the day pulled her vision together- tables named after the trees of Illinois, fruitwood chairs, tree seedlings as favors, stationery items made of partially recycled paper, and floral containers made of moss.

With a fall color palette- oranges, browns, a golden yellows, Ken and Greta’s reception was a glow. The tables were covered with a taupe lamour cloth and chocolate brown lamour napkins. The centerpieces were a combination of colorful wildflowers in green moss covered containers and a few satellite arrangements of orange sunflowers. The tables were surrounded with rich fruitwood versaille chairs. The cake was centered in the room and adorned with green amaranthus highlighting the natural feeling throughout the room.

Her Peruvian background was musically expressed throughout dinner with a Spanish guitarist and, later, with Latin music that packed the dance floor. Although most guests may not have known about all the thought put into each detail, Greta and Ken were thrilled to have their vision come together to create a resourceful wedding!