Welcome to Clay Hill Farm’s Green Wedding Giveaway…
Clay Hill Farm’s Green Wedding Giveaway is a contest of commitment. Now in its third year, the contest challenges couples on the verge of a major life commitment to explore the parallel of a commitment to each other and a commitment to the earth. This is not a contest measuring green. Not at all. This is a creative challenge of exploration and awakening.
Marriage is about commitment and compromise, so is green. How can these two concepts be explored in conjunction? We ask contestants to celebrate their unique shade of green and tell us their story in a one-page essay and creative 3-5 minute video. . Pick your shade and shout it to the world… and anyone can enter for a chance to WIN a green wedding prize package valued at over $40,000. www.greenweddinggiveaway.com . Gallery photos by Deb Cram Photography. www.debcramphoto.com
ABOUT THE CONTEST:
Clay Hill Farm’s Green Wedding Giveaway® is about celebrating real people making a difference in the world. Stripping away the layers of stress and decision by including all the necessary wedding ceremony & Reception essentials; Location, caterer, coordinator, date, florist, photographer, videographer, DJ, honeymoon location, wedding accommodations, transportation, menu, cake, music, rehearsal luncheon and formal wear, the true beauty of a wedding emerges…the couple’s relationship! Weddings are really a celebration of two people making a commitment to a future that is better together than alone. Isn’t that the real reason people get married?
Considering this ‘real reason’ can lead to an understanding of the emerging parallel between a commitment to each other and a commitment to the Earth, as both are about compromise and collaboration. This is one of the fundamental messages in CHF’s annual wedding challenge: the Green Wedding Giveaway.
Year three in CHF’s wedding giveaway is the year the full message of this project and contest will be revealed, as the green themes of supporting the community, of giving-back and of collective collaboration, will supersede the ‘contest’ aspect of the challenge. Clay Hill Farm’s Green Wedding Giveaway contest has always been about giving back and celebrating the beauty of relationships that are stronger together, than apart. This year’s contest truly reinforces the commitment to giving back with the theme; when you celebrate the Earth, everybody wins! All three finalists this year will win a green wedding package at Clay Hill Farm! Every finalist this year wins by giving back.
The other theme woven through this year’s all-new contest is; You don’t have to sacrifice your dream to make a difference in the world! A call to action for couples who never considered themselves green in some way, this theme can encourage a connectedness to green living that can become universal when broken down in shades. How do you create a green lifestyle? We answer… maybe you already have.
That a green wedding can be a traditional dream wedding with all the trimmings, is a concept that we, at Clay Hill Farm, want to shout to the world! It’s not about the extremes. With only slight shifts in priorities and faith in quality, every couple can make a difference in the world. What makes a green wedding, green? The bride and groom! Clay Hill Farm can give a green start to every wedding with our commitment to natural beauty, but the personal decisions, the vendor choices made and the philosophies embraced, will determine a unique shade of green for each couple. Every shade is worthy of celebration! Short of wearing a styrofoam wedding dress, there are few weddings that can’t be considered green in some way. Natural beauty will always have a place at the wedding table.
So how does this contest change lives? By spreading a message of green connectedness. By empowering, encouraging and celebrating real people making a difference. By sharing, learning and teaching the ways that small collective steps can lead to a bigger impact in our communities.
In 2008, Clay Hill Farm became one of the first businesses in Southern Maine to be certified as a state Environmental Leader, and from there a green-thinking influence has helped shape our community outreach and given our traditional path, a purpose. The first restaurant in the country to be certified as a natural wildlife habitat and bird sanctuary in 1991, the natural beauty of Maine has always been a part of Clay Hill Farm; in the restaurant, in our kids programs and in our events. The launch of the inaugural Green Wedding Giveaway in 2008 brought us the first winners, Jonathan Blakeslee and Joelle Guerard-Blakeslee, who opened our eyes at Clay Hill to local food resources and farmer’s markets. They helped teach us the importance of food origin, they became a part of our Clay Hill Farm community, and had their dream wedding at Clay Hill Farm on the summer solstice in June of 2009. The Green Wedding Giveaway 2010 winners, Sean Patch and Debi Pian-Patch, helped us sponsor 23 ninth graders from NYC, who had never left the city, to celebrate Earth Day in Maine. They planted veggies in Clay Hill’s newly expanded garden, they learned about sustainable living from an eclectic group of local purveyors and businesses at Clay Hill Unplugged, and they camped under the stars at the Youth Enrichment Center at Hilton Winn Farm. (To watch the NECN clip about the trip: click here) The students went back to NYC and started community programs of their own to change lives and raise awareness of green-living in all shades. Debi & Sean’s dream wedding was at Clay Hill Farm on July 10, 2010, and some of the veggies Sean’s students planted, were featured in their wedding salad.
Taking the best of both years of the contest and showcasing the true message of why we started this project, CHF’s Green Wedding Giveaway 2011 focuses on the inspiring ripple effects of green awakening and giving back to the community. The community give-back events/programs our three finalists will create this year in their five week campaign for public votes, will live long past their weddings. The beauty of giving back and the meaning and message of the contest that we are all green in some way, will allow couples to truly shout it to the world this year and make a difference! Empower, awaken, explore, inspire! That’s Clay Hill Farm’s Green Wedding Giveaway 2011. Learn more…
-Jennifer Lewis-McShera
Clay Hill Farm
www.greenweddinggiveaway.com
www.clayhillfarm.com
www.chf-ecoreach.com
