compostable weddings

At one point in my life, I was stressing over how much plates and cutlery for the wedding would cost. That's right, I got myself worked up over the thought of having to pay for china and silverware and stressed about finding a rental company with a decent price. If I could go back in time, I would find that version of myself and slap her.

At this point in our life, I have no desire to pay $0.40 for cutlery and I definitely don't intend to have the entire cost for plates/cutlery/glassware for the wedding to reach almost $400. Nope. It ain't happenin'. Plus, I don't want to give any added formality to the reception. Let's face it, our wedding is being held at a summer cottage and the reception will take place under a tent decorated from head to toe with bright, fun colors. Nothing formal here. So why would I care about having formal place settings? Oh right, I don't.

Suggesting alternatives to traditional place settings to my family didn't go over so well though. My mother laughed and I'm pretty sure Mr. FP's mother might faint when she finds out. I think it's probably a common reaction for people when they think of the possibility of having paper, styrofoam or any substance other than ceramic as plate ware at a wedding, but so freakin' what if we want paper plates? Oh no, are the wedding police from The Knot might come arrest us? Um, no. In spite of the opposition, I'm pushing forward with the idea and I've found some great eco-friendly solutions online:

• Plates, bowls, cups from Branch, an online store based in San Fransisco are made of 100% sugar cane fiber and created in a factory where the workers are treated fairly and paid well. They're biodegradable and compostable and most products come in packs of 50 for pretty reasonable prices.

• Similarly, Worldcentric.org has bio-compostable plates, cups, "silverware" and even has paper towel, bags and sample packs.

• Finally, one of my favorites is from Ecowareproducts.com who makes biodegradable cutlery formed out of birch wood. The prices are pretty good for the numbers we need and according to Budget Savvy Bride, they're tough enough to cut through chicken and sausage which is a plus. Although I don't eat either, I don't want our guests to get some birch wood particles along with their BBQ.

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How cute are they? Honestly, I expect that if we buy all the plates, cups, forks, knives, spoons, and bowls we'll be needing online, I'll end up paying more in shipping than I might have to rent plates, so I'm going to have to do some number crunching to make sure we can afford it. But if our wedding isn't going to save the planet, whose is?!