Sustainable wedding threads

[April 18th, 2007] You've got the local flowers, organic cake and recycled-paper invitations—it's time to get an eco-friendly gown.

With sustainability in vogue in every other aspect of our lives, it was only a matter of time before the wedding industry caught on.

The average Portland wedding costs $28,240, according to theweddingreport.com, and Americans spent $72 billion on nuptials last year—$29.6 billion more than Oregon's 2005-2007 biennial budget. That's a hefty chunk of change, and eco-entrepreneurs are happy to dig in, offering everything from LEED-certified reception halls to websites that calculate the carbon produced by traveling wedding guests. The green wedding movement has already spawned several websites (such as portovert.com, organicweddings.com and ethicalweddings.com), and even daytime television has jumped on the bandwagon: Sami and Lucas' upcoming union on Days of Our Lives will feature pesticide-free flowers and biodegradable favors.

But what about the gowns? Most of the more than 2 million women who get married every year in the U.S. buy a new dress, made from dozens of yards of synthetic material, which they will never wear again. What's a tree-hugging bride to do?

"In the past the only [eco-friendly] option was the typical granola-hippie-mama hemp dress that fit like a sack," says Terri Spaeth-Merrick, a Portland designer whose gowns are made exclusively from natural fabrics. "Now there's more choice."

Through her custom design studio, Embellish, and her website olivialuca.com, a Web-based design tool that allows brides to create gowns by combining a number of preexisting elements, Spaeth-Merrick is trying to transform the bridal design industry with clean, modern designs crafted from organic linen; fair-trade, hand-woven silk; and hemp blends. Her gowns are attractive, easy on the conscience, and affordable—orders with Olivia Luca start at $500, well below the $1,500 an average bride spends.

Of course, a new gown is still a new gown. Wouldn't a bride who really wants a zero-impact wedding be better off buying a used dress from the Brides Against Breast Cancer sales organized by the Portland-based Making Memories Foundation? "It's a good question," says Spaeth-Merrick. "That's why I design my gowns so that they can be cut off and worn again."

But if it gets used two or more times, does it still justify the labor? The question is generally moot; most brides demand a new gown, and a biodegradable, rewearable gown is far better than an off-the-shelf pile of rayon.