The Easiest Yes!
Planning a wedding can quickly become overwhelming. There are so many decisions to make— the dress, the people, the venue, the flowers, the cake, the hair, the menu, the gatherings—just thinking about it all is enough to give pause. Th e couple who wants to honor the planet in the midst of their celebration might be left wondering, “Can we do this right? Can we do it well?”
If you are celebrating here on the Central Coast, the answer is an enthusiastic “Yes!”
What you’ll see as a continuing theme, both in this special issue and in our regular publications, is that you are already surrounded with all of the ingredients for a beautiful sustainable wedding. Flower farms in Santa Paula and the Santa Ynez Valley; food growers all along the coast and into the Heritage, Ojai and Conejo valleys; wineries dotting the region from Malibu to Paso Robles; ranchers in each county. Choosing local means choosing what is already here, a legacy from the land, waiting to be a part of your story.
And if you want to borrow “something old” while you’re at it? Go ahead! In the midst of new trends and extreme personalization of weddings, this tradition still seems to find its subtle way into many modern celebrations. And it turns out to be a pretty good menu for sustainability. Something old? Your grandma’s china (is that still a thing?) on the reception table. Something new? A plant-based meal sure to have even the skeptics in the crowd surprised and pleased. Something borrowed? An arch from your friend’s garden, or one that is rented and returned to be used again. Something blue? The ocean, which you are quietly protecting by making these choices at all.
This issue is full of ideas, tips and inspiration from people who are showing that a wedding is the perfect occasion to celebrate your connection to place and seasonality. To demonstrate that a sustainable wedding can be one that is more memorable and more personal both for the couple and for their guests.
The wedding industry is shifting. Couples today want celebrations that refl ect both their love and their values. And we think that is worth a bit of extra care, creativity and commitment.
So wherever you are in the planning process—excited, overwhelmed or somewhere in between— we hope that these pages will help you to fi nd that sometimes the easiest decisions can also be the right ones.
Tami Chu, Edible Ojai & Ventura County
Rosminah Brown, Edible Santa Barbara
Gail Cayetano Classick, Edible San Luis Obispo
