In planning my own wedding this year, I was astounded at the amount of money generated by the wedding industry and the average amount of waste produced for that special day.

In looking for ways to green my own wedding (without breaking my bank), I was astounded yet again by the lack of information that was available to brides searching for ways to reduce their impact on the environment.

And so, in an effort to ensure that no bride need be frustrated again by the lack of environmentally friendly wedding advice available to her, The Green Bride - a resource for green wedding tips, information on trailblazing local companies, designers and wedding service providers that are committed to reducing waste - was born.

The Green Bride will debut right here on Planet Pink n’ Green. Check back frequently for sustainable wedding tips and resources all in one place. It doesn’t matter what stage you are at in planning for your big day. Whether your wedding is seven months or seven days away, I’m here to help you be an earth conscious bride. Tips will include things like where to purchase recycled paper invitations, where to buy carbon offsets (and what it means) when arranging for wedding travel and/or your honeymoon, vendor contact info and real life inspiring stories that will support you on your wedding journey.

I encourage you to leave comments here, share your own personal story (to support other green brides) and ask lots of questions.

To get you started, I have listed below some simple, affordable (and often free) tips on how to reduce wedding cake waste.

Congratulations and happy wedding planning adventures!

For gorgeous cakes with no waste try ‘Edible Flowers’:

Before you run out to pick those flowers however, please be aware of the following:

1. When using edible flowers, use only flowers that have been organically grown, un-sprayed and not grown by a roadside.
2. If you can’t pick the flowers the day of the wedding, store them (except for chicory) on plates in your fridge with a bit of water.
3. Be sure to research any allergens or risks associated with using any edible plant as well as which parts of the plant are edible before using in any dish.

Some types of edible flowers:

1. Chicory- These pale lavender-blue daisy-like flowers have very fragile petals and grow almost directly off of the main stems. You can pick entire stems a day in advance if needed, and store them in water. Pick them off the main stem carefully just before placing on the cake. They open around noon. Spicy bitter taste.

1. Lavender: Even if the lavender blooms aren’t opened, the un-bloomed bud clusters look like purple-blue braid, making an attractive edging or accent. Perfumed taste.

1. Nasturtium: These come in all warm colors from cream to burgundy, the most common being orange and yellow. Peppery taste.

1. Oregano: Clusters of tiny pink flowers clusters on burgundy stems.

1. Marjoram: is the same, only less pink. Spicy taste.

1. Pansy: has a wide range of colors, from purple and yellow; to pink, darkrose and purple; to midnight blue. Fragile petals, so don’t pick them and dump them in a bag, or they’ll get crushed. Semi-sweet taste.

1. Rose: Wide range of colors, mostly in the warm spectrum; use buds for a traditional look, and watch for aphids. Mildly sweet taste.

To view a complete chart of edible flowers and for information on how to use them in different dishes, visit: homecooking.about.com/library/weekly/blflowers.htm.