Green Weddings (or - I'm a Bad Person)

My fiance sent me an article yesterday that he saw on MSNBC (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19054513/). The article describes how couples can plan their wedding ceremony and reception to be “green.” I understand that we should conserve energy, reduce pollutants, and try to use sustainable resources, but I keep hearing this nagging voice in my head, “It’s your day - the one day you are excused from saving the earth...”

Some of the ideas seem doable: having your reception during the day outdoors, catering with organic meals, and having your guests carpool. I feel like those measures are normal, feasible, as I said a second ago, doable. However, there are some “different” ideas, such as “mak[ing] a group activity of trash time, throwing plates made out of sugar cane and utensils made from potato starch or corn plastic into compost piles.” Right. When I envisioned my wedding, I pictured my grandmother sorting her dinner remnants into compost piles.

Another point might be completely moot is the one in which they recommend you not use disposable dishes. I think most people choose their dinnerware based on affordability, and if they can afford it, they use china. If they cannot afford china, they would probably use disposable dishes, but most likely not the “plates made out of sugar cane and utensils made from potato starch or corn plastic,” because those sound expensive to me.