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Why not make a difference when choosing your wedding attire, and practice the five R's: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Rethink and Refuse and help celebrate our environment as well as the start of your new life together, with "green" wedding attire.
"Green" is the new white in choosing your wedding dress.
Selecting the attire for your green wedding day, think about the impact the choice you make will have. And avoid clothing that is made in unhealthy, unsafe working conditions. According to the World Health Organization, 20,000 people die each year in developing countries as a result of the chemicals sprayed on non-organic cotton. U.S. farm workers suffer from approximately 300,000 pesticide-related illnesses each year. Five of the top nine chemicals used on cotton in the U.S. are known cancer-causing agents. A problem both in the U.S. and abroad, consumers can really help make a difference. Just refuse to buy anything that was produced by a "sweatshop".You can get more information at different websites like:
 How do manufacturers manage to sell cotton products at such low prices? Apart from paying the factory workers very low wages, could it be worse?
Could it be that children are forced to pick the cotton? Visit this site http://www.ejfoundation.org/page141.html and watch the video about cotton farming in Uzbekistan for a possible answer.
Indeed, we must mind how we "pick our cotton".
Why organic cotton? http://www.organic-ally.co.uk/25949.html#Why organic cotton?
www.organicplus.com
www.infomat.com fashion industry information and search engine
www.earthspeaks.com
For more eco-information links: http://www.organic-ally.co.uk/25949.html#eco-information links
Now, the pretty white dresses dancing around the bridal magazine, are starting to look pretty drab. So keep the spirit of your wedding joyful, and don't add to the sorrow of other less fortunate people.
Reduce
Say no to white: Get a dress in your best colour and truly dazzle with your unique flair. Did you know that those super-white wedding dresses got that way from a toxic chemical process? Opt for not-quite-white and get a wedding dress made from non-chemically treated, natural, earth-friendly fabric; soy, hemp silk, organic silk, organic cotton, organic wool, bamboo and organic lace are the main fabrics available.
Support fair trade: Purchase your dress from a company that practices fair trade. (Fair trade practices include: good wages for workers, adequate employee benefits like healthy work environments, fair hours, and health care).
Keep it simple: Get a simple dress and add the pretty details yourself, like organic lace or a ribbon and a vintage brooch or silk flowers.
Buy local: Support a local designer or dressmaker in your area, and there will be little or no cost from transporting the garment from overseas. (Plus, you'll be feeding money back into the local environment, which is a main tenet of eco-consumerism).
Look into local design programs for example Tafe college-- you might be able to find a student who will create your "green dress".
Don't buy sweatshop: You can do research online at sites www.sweatshopwatch.org
www.consumerreports.org to see if your designer has sound business practices.
 Spend less: Keep the amount you spend on your dress to a minimum, and you can reallocate your funds elsewhere, like towards your home!
Look for sustainable fabric: Look into finding a dress made from sustainable fabric - such as hemp silk, hemp cotton, organic cotton, organic silk, linen, soy. These fabrics are becoming readily available and many top designers are integrating organic fabric into their looks.
Oscar de la Renta has even fashioned a couture dress from hemp silk and sent it down the runway.
Support a charity: Do more than just reduce your impact, and buy something to spice up your wedding with cotton flowers made in conjunction with Citta and women in Nepal, who use the money to provide health care and education programs for their community www.citta.org
Be creative: Turn your bridesmaids into walking decor by having them carry pretty parasols or paper fans with flower motifs, delicate silk purses and then they can all wear their own organic dresses / skirts and tops.
Choose dresses that can be reworn or shortened.
For the "green guy's attire": If the guys wear rented tuxes, look into the dry cleaning and storage practice of the rental company -- is it healthy? Do they use toxins that are harmful to humans and the environment? Ask the question, and perhaps you will inspire them to change
Reuse
Wear your mother's dress: Or maybe your grandmother, aunt, cousin or friend would welcome sharing their own gown with you for your special day.
Share your dress: Pick a "green" dress with a friend, sister or cousin who is also getting married and make a pact to share the dress between the two of you. This will give even more meaning to the dress because it will hold such special memories for both of you.
Something Borrowed: Wear accessories lent to you by family or friends, rather than purchasing new items. This will also take care of the "something borrowed."
Use earth-friendly dry cleaning: It's better for your dress and better for the environment. Don't wrap it in plastic -- the chemicals from the plastic could ruin your dress. Put it in a box (with no window) wrapped in non-dyed paper. Store it in a mild, dry climate -- a cedar closet would be ideal. You will ensure someone, someday can wear your dress on their wedding day.
Get your gown at a trunk show: Trunk shows tend to be where designers sell their sample dresses -- dresses they've used in runway shows, advertising shoots, and other events. Dress sizes can vary, based on whether it went down the runway. Though you may need to do slight alterations, you can find some pretty amazing items this way.
Don't buy any one-time-use items: Don't get the typical bridal shoes that you'll only wear once -- get a pair of strappy sandals, or simple flats, then dress them up with ribbons or flowers (fabric flowers -- they don't get crushed on the dance floor). Bags, wraps, shoes, and any other accessories for the bride and the bridesmaids should also be able to be worn again and again. Op-shops are great place to shop for wedding shoes and on-line - Ebay / eco studio free classifieds - eco wedding to sell and buy nearly new wedding dresses and accessories.
Avoid the look-alike look: Ask yourself, do you really need to have all of your bridesmaids dressed in the same exact dress? Or can you simply choose a style and a colour palette and let the girls get dresses that suit them better? You can have them all wear the same wrap, shawl, jewellery or flowers so there is a degree of symmetry for the photographs. Think of this as a way or warding off the proliferation of waste that fills our landfills. Suits, shirts and ties worn by the groomsmen should also be things they will wear again after the wedding.
Avoid throw-away flower girl dresses: Spruce up a simple dress that can be worn again with a sassy sash (you can even make the sash yourself). Add ruffled collars,organic lace, strategically placed bows, an overlay, or a underskirt; your flower girl dresses will be one of a kind, and the girls will have dresses they can wear for everyday.
Customize with details: Turn your girls into real flower girls by temporarily sewing paper or fabric flowers all over a simple sundress. After the wedding they'll have something they can keep, with or without the flowers. Fabric appliqués are another great way to customize a plain dress and turn it into a one-of-a-kind creation that your girls will be thrilled to wear again. Look at op-shops and online for nearly new dresses, and give them a beautiful life again.
Let the men wear their own suits: The men can wear their own suits, with their own ties.
Unify with matching ties: As for your men -- yes, you can have them rent tuxedoes, if this is what you want. Or you can have them wear their own black, blue or khaki suits -- unify the look with matching ties, boutonnieres, or cummerbunds.
Recycle
Think ahead: Get a dress that can be remade into a fun, cocktail dress post-wedding.
Help someone else: Donate your dress to a charitable organization and help make someone else's wedding dreams come true www.idofoundation.org
Rethink
Does your wedding have a theme? Tropical beach, classic vineyard, romantic garden, rustic farm, traditional church, your own backyard...
all these themes can be reflected in your "green" wedding attire.
Buy or borrow a vintage dress or tuxedo
Donate you dress to charity when you're finished with it, to give someone else a beautiful "green" gown.
Choose a dress that is versatile and can be worn again.
Have your dress made from organic fibres.
Incorporate a recycled vintage gown with a new organic fibre to create a stunning one of a kind "green" dress.
Refuse
Choose only natural fabric that hasn't been dyed or treated with toxic chemicals, being not only healthier for you and the environment, but more beautiful and a richer feeling than chemically altered material. You can also be sure it will be recycled someday rather than seeping chemicals back into the earth in a landfill.
With Eco-friendly wedding attire, it is not something blue, but everything "green".
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Green Weddings 
