The Story of Eloginy and JamesWhen James Griffiths and Eloginy Tharmendran decided to hold their wedding in the summer of 2007, they wanted to keep it as green and local as possible. They both had lots of friends and family here in Vancouver and also in Toronto. In order to reduce the need for people to travel, they made a difficult decision: two weddings! One would be a traditional Tamil Hindu ceremony in Toronto, and the other would be their own creation in Vancouver – and invitees could choose which to attend.
Starting from a blank slate of ideas for the Vancouver wedding, they settled on UBC Farm as a venue because of its connection to local food systems, their community’s connection with working and volunteering at the Farm, and because it feels like being away from the city even though you can bike there in 30 minutes from downtown. The events field at UBC Farm is a pretty basic space, so they built the party up from scratch: the Pedal Powered Sound System (http://www.pedalpower.org/) allowed their friends to contribute sweat labour to demonstrate their commitment to supporting the new couple, solar powered lights (www.vanrenewable.org) allowed the party to extend into the wee hours, and compostable kitchenware (www.biodegradablesolutions.com) was directed into a separate bin that UBC Waste Management could process. Appetizers and salads were provided by Everybody Loves Veggies (http://www.happycow.net/reviews.php?id=3073), salmon and bannock by Gina Grant (604-261-3968) who is a member of the Musqueam First Nation whose traditional territory we were on, and desserts were contributed by their friends and family. Our ceremony was co-created and facilitated by the talented Shane Pointe, and music was also provided by their many musical friends. The wedding celebration, attended by ~180 people, produced less than one 45-gal drum of garbage for the landfill.
This wedding was also written up on Bride.ca here: www.bride.ca/wedding-ideas/index.cfm/2008/9/3/A-real-green-wedding-in-Vancouver
Photos shown below by James’s longtime friend Chelsea Gray of Blushing bride Studios (www.blushingbridestudio.com).
(wedding photos were published earlier this week courtesy of Chelsea of Blushing Bride Studio)
