Today I’m sharing my top 5 green (read: eco, alternative, ethical…) groom stories as delivered to me very kindly via the wonders of the world wide web. Enjoy – and be inspired!

1. The crafty groom

Incredible photos from Frolic Storytelling

Ok, so the story is told by the bride (Chase) but the groom (Aaron) was fully on ‘board’ (that’s a pun – as you’ll see). His background is in architecture, hers is in graphic design and they run a crafty Etsy business together. Almost everything for their wedding they made together from reclaimed wood – it’s amazing. I was peering at the photos thinking – is that wooden bunting? A wooden necklace? A wooden buttonhole?

Thank you to Green Wedding Shoes for sharing the story: Crafty Reclaimed Wood Wedding: Chase + Aaron

2. The team player

Photo by the wonderful onelove photography

I found this feisty couple on the fabulous offbeatbride.com. Shelley is a video game artist and Erik is a student of robotics so things got crafty quite quickly. This was a joint project – for example, Shelley made the table numbers, Erik made the wooden place cards. Erik also surprised Shelley by making her ring. My favourite bit though was the vows that they wrote together – especially this line: “Will you always keep making brownies at midnight, even on a school night?” Brilliant!

Read the full story at offbeatbride.com: Shelley & Erik’s crafty DIY and bluegrass wedding

3. DIY Groom

This is a very short, simple and sweet post that I stumbled across. The bride wanted to serve drip filter coffee at her wedding. The venue didn’t understand. So the groom, Will, built a coffee bar. Love.

Read the DIY Groom post at Wolf Haus and see the incredible wedding photos at a stunning Scottish location here.

4. The reborn vintage fashionista

The suit, from Bookster

I love this guy! This post details his dedicated trawl through charity shops and vintage shops – both virtual and brick & mortar, across London and Brighton in the hunt for the perfect suit with a passion that would match that of any bride in pursuit of The Dress.

But our man gets extra greenie points because not only is his suit secondhand (1960s vintage), he’s likely to get a lot more wear out of it than a bride will from her gown – even with the best intentions. In fact he is already: “Roo often comes in from work to find me watching the TV, lounging in the jacket…”. Go green groom!

Read the full story on Rock n Roll Bride: Something borrowed, something Roo: The groom’s view by Lamb (AKA Mr Roo!)

5. The offbeat groom

Photo by Diana Clock Weddings from another excellent Offbeat Bride post: “Let’s check out this groom’s kick-ass embroidered suit“

We’ve heard from the Offbeat Bride now it’s time for the Offbeat Groom to have his say. He lays into the wedding industry that celebrates the ‘princess’ and relegates her prince to the sofa with the footie and a can of beer. He overturns the stereotypes and he gets involved, properly involved:

“Turns out I like thinking about readings for our ceremony. I like designing invitations. I like scouring Etsy for the perfect name cards. I like tasting food — she’s with me on this one — and creating a menu. I like sewing her wedding dress by hand. Turns out I like my fiancée quite a bit.”

Read the full story on Offbeat Bride: Musings from an offbeat groom

And those are my 5. I have to say it has been a struggle to find even this much groom perspective. Grooms, if the wedding industry isn’t listening maybe you need to shout a little louder. Tell us about your experience planning your wedding, tell us what worked and what didn’t, tell us how you can be a green groom. On this blog, we’re all ears.

Katie

Related articles:

Here comes the groom

Seven stylish ethical cufflinks

Keep calm, you’re getting married

My alternative husband

Meet the Groom: Collaboration, Cream Tea & a Céilidh

What next? Sign up to our Ethical Weddings newsletter Follow us on Twitter @ethicalweddings Join us on Facebook