Chris and Jenn’s Green Wedding at Mt. Hope Farm in Bristol, Rhode Island shows us all that sharing our love for the environment while sharing our love for each other can be both fulfilling and elegant! Jenn and Chris went to high school together, but never knew each other until after they graduated when they found themselves both working for the same Environmental Laboratory. Jennifer says that it was a mutual Love at First Sight moment when they first met. Chris even rigged the company's Secret Santa swap to get Jennifer! His persistence paid off, because although Jenn was dating someone else at the time of their introduction, she quickly realized there was no one else for her. Chris took Jenn to the hospital one day when she had eaten something she was apparently allergic to. While 10 hours passed as tests were taken, the doctors diagnosed Jennifer with Hodgkin’s Disease, a form of Lymphoma. “We haven’t left each other’s side since,” states Jenn. When planning their wedding, it was extremely important to both Bride and Groom to have a Green Wedding. Jenn says, “ We wanted the wedding to have the organic, earthy feel that represents who we are not only as a couple but as individuals…I was on a personal mission to prove that a wedding could be gorgeous be ethical and be green at the same time”.

All Photography by: Cydney Scott

Mt. Hope Farm was chosen to host the event since they are a non-profit organization. “They are doing some really cool things over at Mt. Hope Farm and have an enormous responsibility to keep this beautiful place protected,” says Jenn. The gorgeous surroundings, cozy log cabin, and sprawling meadows were the perfect setting for this eco-conscious couple to host their event.

Silk dresses were chosen for the bridesmaids to wear and Sayles Livingston provided the florals. The beautiful color scheme included rich purples, lime greens, dark greens, and creams.

For the table décor, each table had three different containers and every single table was different. They included Hydrangea, Spider Mums, and even Artichokes! Sayles Livingston also did the lighting in the tent- romantic paper lanterns in cream, eggplant, and chocolate brown. “Wow, did she deliver”, gushes Jenn, “ My guests still talk about it”. Jenn did save time and money by decorating the church herself, using bamboo and pampas grass, which did doubly duty and covered the poles of the tent at Mt. Hope Farm afterwards. People took them home and re-used them in their houses.

Other Green items included the invitations, from Invite Site, which were biodegradable and Jenn was able to design and print them herself. The trolley was an eco-conscious, Zero Emission Trolley from Rockstar Limo. The wedding bands were also Green. They are from Brilliant Earth in San Francisco, which provides Ethical and Environmental Canadian Mined Diamonds and Recycled Gold.

Blackstone Catering provided Organic, Local, Sustainable Catering for Jenn and Chris's Wedding. Jessica Kriss of Blackstone Catering, who is also the Chairman of the Green Committee for Newport Harbor Corporation, and a huge supporter of our local farmers, was a perfect match as the catering coordinator for Jenn and Chris’s Green Wedding. Local Wine and Beer was served, such as Sakonnet Vineyards, Westport Vineyards, Newport Storm, Sam Adams, and Buzzard’s Bay. The Cheese Display featured “The Best of Rhode Island, with a little touch of New England”, featuring Vermont Cabot Cheddar, Great Hill Blue, Narragansett Creamery’s Divine Providence and Salty Sea Feta, which was paired with Aquidneck Honey and Bristol Bakery Bread. Most of the food leaned a bit toward vegetarian, but still incorporated some of the couple’s Portuguese Heritage. Furtado’s Chorizo, Aquidneck Farms Beef, Narragansett Creamery’s Ricotta, and squash from Simmons Farm all were ingredients in the stations style dinner.

Sin Desserts made an Organic Devil’s Food Cake with Organic Chocolate and Organic Strawberry Filling. Even the Fondant was Organic! “Jennifer Luxmoore and her team created a cake that floored me when I saw it”, tells Jenn, “They totally nailed it”. The design featured fiddlehead ferns, grass, and two yellow chocolate finches”.

In closing, Jenn tells me, “ With out our vendors being on the same page as us with our green theme it would have never happened. It’s great to see local businesses really stepping up to the plate to offer their clientele a responsible way to throw the biggest event of their lives and do it with class, all while being ethical and cost conscious. It can be done! It made me want to be a green wedding planner, and I am currently planning my first wedding that isn’t my own and having the time of my life doing it, Green!”

Congratulations Jennifer and Christopher. I am truly in love with this wedding. It perfectly combines the couple’s personality, their mission, it involved their family, friends, and it shows us all that although “It ain’t easy being green”, it is so worth it!