I have to say the last 14 days have been extremely full, but I have been truly amazed by the wonderful array of fair trade items available, more especially those suitable for weddings. I can smile a little now (with hindsight) at how I approached most of the challenges with some trepidation, not knowing if I’d be at all successful – who’d have thought you could buy:

Fair Trade Wedding Stationery

Fair Trade Gift Lists

Fair Trade Wedding Gowns

Fair Trade Wedding Outfits

Fair Trade Accessories (scarves, jewellery, bags, belts, and shoes)

Fair Trade Relaxing and Pampering Goodies

Fair Trade Flowers

Fair Trade Venue Decorations

Fair Trade Music

Fair Trade Wine

Fair trade Beverages

Fair Trade Chocolate

Fair Trade Wedding Cakes

Fair trade Photo Albums/Frames

and of course this list is not exhaustive. There’s all the fair trade produce waiting to be developed into a ‘Fair Trade Wedding Feast,’ and what about Fair Trade Finance Initiatives: ‘‘What a wonderful wedding gift it would be if someone opened for you an account with Shared Interest a leading provider of finance for Fair Trade organisations’’

Hopefully however, this challenge has helped to inspire… high on my agenda for completing this challenge was to encourage:

• Wedding Couples to consider purchasing fair trade goods as part of their celebrations - even if it’s just one thing…

• Suppliers to specifically advertise their fair trade products to wedding couples – many couples have said that they’ve experienced difficulties sourcing fair trade items for their wedding…

• You to find out more about the issues surrounding fair trade – for starters why not take a look at the: Fairtrade Foundation; British Association for Fair Trade Shops; International Fair Trade Association; World Fair Trade Day; News; and the Trade Justice Movement

“Wouldn’t it be Loverly” if fair trade products became such a normal part of our everyday lives, that we automatically included them in our wedding celebrations? I am aware however, that during the course of this challenge I’ve ignored a number of issues about purchasing fair trade goods. Not least the cost in financial, and environmental terms. I’m very much hoping that these, and other related topics can be discussed soon on the Ethical Weddings Open Forum or as a ‘Hot Topic’ on the main Ethical Weddings website.

To end, and before I have a celebratory glass of my favourite Fairtrade Chilean Red Wine, I’d like to say an enormous thank you to everyone who has emailed me over the fortnight, with feedback about this challenge. If I’ve not responded yet, I will – soon! Also later this week we’ll be looking at some of the suppliers you’ve told us about.

See you here for next year’s Fairtrade Fortnight’s Challenge…?
Alex

If you’d like to learn more about Ethical Weddings Ltd please contact Katie Alternatively why not sign up for a free Ethical Weddings Newsletter?

To close this challenge I thought it was appropriate to search for fair trade photograph albums and frames…

Albums
Rose Petal Album from Myakka

Wedding Album from Fairly Goods

Mother of Pearl Album (also in red) from Ganesha

Handmade paper Album from Shared Earth

Gold blockprint Album from People Tree

Satin & Bamboo Album from Sunlover

Indian; Nepalese; Sri Lankan albums from Paper High

Photo Frames

Mackintosh Photo frame from Fairly Goods

Mother of Pearl Photo frame from Ganesha

Wooden photo frames from Shared Earth

Double flowers frame from Shared Earth

Batik Photo Frames from Anjuna

and that’s the end… of my Fairtrade Fortnight Fair Trade Wedding Challenge!

See you here a little later for a few closing thoughts, but in the meantime please forward this link to spread the ‘fair trade wedding’ word!

Alex

Today’s fair trade wedding cake has proved problematic to source online (hint, hint!). After numerous ‘fair trade wedding cake’ search engine results, I have only found two possible sources:

Fancy That! Wedding Cakes based in Oxfordshire. While they don’t mention a specific ‘fair trade wedding cake’ they do mention (advice page) couples requesting ‘ethical’ wedding cakes, with fair trade ingredients.

Virginia Sharp Couture Cakes based in Earlston, unfortunately however, I have experienced trouble accessing their own website: www.virginia-sharp.co.uk But in the Free Index it says: ‘Virginia Sharp offers organic and fair-trade ingredients as well as cakes suitable for vegans or those with special dietary requirements. A percentage of profits are donated to the benefit of fair trade.’

Therefore from today’s searching, it would seem that if you want a specialist to make your wedding cake it’s best to contact a local wedding cake supplier and ask if they can use fair trade ingredients - like the fair trade chocolate fountains I found for yesterday’s challenge.

Make Your Own
You could of course make your own fair trade wedding cake?

After searching ‘wedding cakes’ on the Internet it’s very easy to find design ideas, from the traditional wedding cake design, to a tower of cup cakes – we had 300 cup cakes for ours!

Also now that the number and variety of fair trade products have increased (see the Fairtrade Foundation for a list including: fruits, nuts, dried fruits, preserves, sugars, honey, coffee, and of course chocolate) there are many more fair trade recipes available. This then means a fair trade wedding cake could be a: fruit cake, chocolate cake, cheesecake, tart, torte, or even a mousse. Today I’ve found…

This Divine White Chocolate Cheesecake from Divine Chocolate Recipes, which has a wide selection of cake and dessert recipes. There’s also the online Fairtrade Cook Book that has a list of cake and dessert recipes on their Dessert; Party; and Ingredient pages. Additionally there’s the Fairtrade Foundation Recipes Page which includes: Fairtrade Chocolate Cake, Fairtrade Tiramisu, Chocolate Cake with CandiedGinger and Banana Choc Chip Muffins.

Alternatively why not have a browse through some of the fair trade cook books for inspiration. I found the following books at the Africa Book Centre: ‘Just Desserts: 50 Sweet Surprises With Fair Trade Ingredients’ by Ralf Kabelitz; ‘Cooking with Coffee: 60 Recipes Using Fair Trade Coffee’ by Lucas Rosenblatt, Judith Meyer and Edith Beckmann; ‘Desserts and Drinks: from Around the World’ Chunky Cookbook; and ‘A Fair Feast: 70 Celebrity Recipes for a Fairer World’ by Vicky Bhogal

With these and the other fair trade recipe books available (Africa Book Centre) it’s also easy to imagine a Fair Trade Wedding Feast. But as today sees the end of my search for fair trade food products for this challenge, I will have to come back to this idea another time!

See you tomorrow when I return for day 14 and my last challenge!

Alex

Chocolate Cocktails
Sanderson’s Divinitini Cocktail recipe from Divine

Wedding Favours
Wedding Favours from A lot of Chocolate

Personalised Wedding Favours from A lot of Chocolate

Table Decorations/Extras

Chocolate Slabs from Chocaid

Belgian Finest Selection from Traidcraft

Feast

Divine Summer Spice Ice from Divine

See also Gary Rhodes’ Fairtrade Banana Fritters with Bitter Chocolate Sauce from Waitrose; Oxfam’s Beetroot and Chocolate cake and Green and Black’s recipe book

Coffee Time

After dinner mints from Divine

Assorted Milk & Dark Dippers from Chocaid

Fairtrade Chocolate Ginger or Honeycombs from Traidcraft

Centre Piece / Chocolate Fountain
From The Original Chocolate Fountain Limited

From A lot of Chocolate

Gifts
(wedding list, mother of the bride, bridesmaids…)
Lovers Gift Hamper from Ethical Superstore

Divine Extravagance Kit from Ethical Superstore

Fairtrade Chocolate Basket from Eden4flowers

Maya Gold Fairtrade Selection from Green and Blacks

The Chocolate Fair Trade Game from Oxfam

All far too tempting… !

For a comprehensive list of Fairtrade chocolate go to the Fairtrade Foundation website and look at their ‘buy fairtrade chocolate‘ page alternatively look at their chocolate pdf file.

From my internet search today I found selections at: A lot of Chocolate; Co-op; Ethical Superstore; Fairly Goods; Goodness Direct; Kallari; Mondomundi; Traidcraft.

Back tomorrow – only two more days left!

Alex

Coffee
To quote the Fairtrade Foundation ‘You’re spoilt for choice when it comes to shopping for Fairtrade coffee!’

For an extensive list of range and availability check the Fairtrade Foundation’s page ‘buy fairtrade coffee’ or look at their coffee pdf file. From my internet search today I found the following suppliers:
Ethical Superstore; Fairly Goods; Fairshare-Soho; Mondomundi; Traidcraft

Tea
Likewise for the wide range and availability of Fairtrade tea also look at the Fairtrade Foundation’s webpage ‘buy Fairtrade tea,’ or look at their tea pdf file. From my internet search I found the following suppliers: Ethical Superstore; Fairly Goods ; Fair Share-Soho; Just Bazaar; Mondomundi;Traidcraft.

I’ve also found this gift box from Steenbergs called the Wedding Tea Selection which you can have personalised with the bride and grooms names!

Also don’t forget you can buy Fairtrade Sugar to go with the coffee and tea!

See you for tomorrow’s challenge…
Alex

“ My dream is to have a good job that will give me a good salary so I can send my children to school to study a higher education. I hope to live sufficiently and not depend on others. I want to encourage others and I want others to love and respect me.”

Cambodian Woman quoted in Hagar’s newsletter which arrived today to mark International Women’s Day (Hagar is an organisation working with vulnerable women and children though social programmes and social enterprise Hagar Design Ltd , Hagar Soya Ltd and Hagar Catering)

——–

Today’s challenge is perhaps one of the easiest, and I know many couples have included fair trade wine to their weddings celebrations already.

A really good place to start your search for the fair trade wine is of course the Fairtrade Foundation, which has a webpage dedicated to Fairtrade Wine, Beer and Spirits with a list of stores that stock them. This includes (alphabetical order): Asda; Booths; Co-op Stores; Broughton; Pastures;M&S; Sainsbury’s; Somerfield; Spar; Tesco; Threshers; Virgin Wines; and Waitrose.

Alternatively if you want to purchase fair trade wine online (including mixed cases) I’ve found: Ethical Superstore; Pure Wine; Smithfield Wine; and Traidcraft. While I was searching I also noticed ‘fair trade wine tasting’ events advertised around the country, as part of Fairtrade Fortnight – maybe something to think about ?

Additionally for today’s challenge, I decided to go ‘out and about’ in Sheffield to see what I could find. I managed to get to Asda, Co-op, Morrison’s, Sainsbury’s, Threshers, and Waitrose, and would like to say very big thank you to all the members of staff who took the time to talk with me about fair trade wine, weddings services, and fair trade issues.

All the stores had fair trade wine available, and most noted that sales are on the increase, particularly over this Fairtrade Fortnight. In testament to which in one store I found only one, lonely Fairtrade red wine left sitting on shelf next to a large empty space where the others had been!

From my trip out I’ve concluded that it’s probably best to search on the internet first, to see what you’re interested in, who stocks it, and what type of service they can arrange for your wedding (i.e. delivery to the venue, glass hire, sale or return, wine tasting…) before going to the supermarket itself.

Well I think it’s time to have that glass of red wine now (no I couldn’t just leave it all alone on the shelf like that…?!)

Alex

I wonder if you noticed any Fairtrade Fortnight events in town over the weekend? I overheard the words ‘fair trade’ several times as I was out and about. I also found various Sheffield Initiative for Fairtrade (SHIFT) posters, and saw a large Fairtrade banner on the town hall. In fact Sheffield is one of over 200 towns/cities to have been awarded ‘Fairtrade Status’ which leads me nicely into today’s challenge…

While it may be difficult to find a specific ‘fair trade wedding venue’ (wedding venue owners have you seen this? converting your workplace) how about having your wedding in a: Fairtrade Town; Fairtrade Church; Synagogue; Fairtrade Restaurant; Fairtrade University Hall; or Fairtrade School Hall?

Searching for interior decorations on the other hand, has completely overwhelmed me. There’s a vast array suitable for decorating a wedding venue, and I’m completely spoilt for choice as to what to put here. As such I’ve decided the remainder of today’s challenge will be in pictures only, in the hope that this will inspire you to search online, and in shops to find items that suit your own taste…

Interior design ideas from Om Gallery

For the table:

Fair trade Seat cushions from myakka

Fair trade Chinese brocade table runner from Anjuna

Fair trade Joba vases from One Village

Fair trade pressed glass candle sticks from Ganesha

Fair trade antique nickel lanterns from myakka

Fair trade heart shaped candles from Fairwind

Fair trade personalised pouches from More Than Gifts

Fair trade serving spoons from Fairly Goods

Fair trade golden grass place mats from Ganesha

For a ‘Relaxed’ Space (perhaps in a marquee or side gazebo?):

Fair trade Soft Furnishings from Sacred Lotus

Fair trade throws & cushions from Chandni Chowk

Fair trade Rugs from One Village

Fair trade embroidered wallhanging from Anjuna

For the Garden

Fair trade lanterns from myakka

Fair trade chimes and mobiles from Fairwind

Fair trade applique parasols from Ganesha

Fair trade kites from Sunlover

For the children - big and small!

Fair trade wooden dominos set from myakka

Fair trade stacking toy from Fair Trade Stand

I have to end here, but I hope this inspires you to look as there are so many more lovely items available!

Happy searching!

Alex

Currently Fairtrade Roses from two Kenyan farms are available in a number of UK high street retailers including: Asda, John Lewis, Sainsburys and Somerfield.

John Lewis will deliver certified Fairtrade flowers, but cannot guarantee a delivery date. If you want to order flowers for a specific date, you have to buy from the non-Fairtrade list. The same applies to Imogen Stone’s Fairtrade flower delivery service. Arena Flowers can, however, deliver flowers which conform to the Fair Flowers Fair Plants (FFP) standards on a specified date for a small extra charge.

Trying to find a florist who will do wedding displays with fair trade flowers seems to be problematic. So far my search has only found Imogen Stone who is an independent florist that stocks Fairtrade flowers and advertises a wedding service. However, I’ve not been able to confirm if they can use the Fairtrade flowers in the wedding displays…

In the meantime my friend Hannah has looked into finding a fair trade florist willing to do wedding arrangements, but she’s struggled to find one. The best compromise seems to be to find florists who will provide flowers that are sourced according to the Fair Flowers Fair Plants standards and discuss your requirements with them. A list of these florists is available here, although be aware that there are not many outside London or Edinburgh!

Hannah did find one company, Paradise Flowers in Edinburgh, who have just joined the FFP initiative, and were very helpful. They were able to do the flower arrangements for a wedding in Yorkshire, ensuring that all flowers sourced within the EU met the Dutch MPS standards on environmental and social issues and that all flowers sourced elsewhere met the FFP standards. Hannah says: ‘whilst this isn’t a ‘perfect’ solution, it does give you some reassurance when you are buying the flowers for your special day.’

So are there any alternatives?

To begin with, I tried sourcing plants thinking they’d also look lovely in the home after the wedding, and would be a wonderful reminder of the day. Unfortunately I couldn’t find a plant with an official Fairtrade mark on it today. There is however, this white orchid ‘commonly known to represent love, beauty and magnificence’ from the Fair Flowers Fair Plant selection at Arena Flowers

I then wondered about fair trade dried flowers, and managed to find a small selection from Star Beck

I had no luck looking for fair trade silk flowers either, but going on the ‘dressing up’ challenges last week, I was left wondering if it’s possible to approach a silk flower specialist (there’s a number of them advertising on the internet) and ask if they would consider using fair trade fabrics? Or perhaps the dress designers using fair trade fabrics would consider it? Unfortunately time precludes any further investigation today, so please let me know if you have any info on this?

My final idea, while not the most obvious (nor perhaps the most popular) is ‘grow your own.’ With fair trade flower seeds now available at
Fair Play Seeds, Traidcraft, and the Ethical Superstore it is possible, if of course you have the time and resources! I grew our wedding flowers but at the time I hadn’t heard of fair trade seeds, in fact I wonder if they existed then? Currently it seems the selection of fair trade flower seeds available is extremely small, and their suitability for most weddings is doubtful, but maybe they could be included amongst the other flowers?

Today’s challenge has been rather frustrating, but let’s hope tomorrow’s is better – Venue Decorations

Seven challenges down, only another seven to go!
Alex

Relaxation in a box
Perhaps the most perfect item I’ve found is this fair trade ‘Relaxation in a box’
from Mondomundi  which is described as: ‘All you need to unwind and calm your mind and body’ and includes ‘massage oil, shower gel, foot salts, as well as a rose scented candle in a decorative holder and rose scented pillow… presented in a gift box covered in rose coloured handmade paper.’

However, I’ve also found lots of other really lovely fair trade ‘goodies’:

Fair trade soap 
To start with how about buying some fair trade soap  made from pure vegetable oil and delicately perfumed with natural essences from Bishopston Trading Company. You can also find fair trade soap from Ganesha, One Village and Sacred Lotus.

Alternatively, there’s this lovely fair trade Natural Bath Gift Set  from Mondomundi that includes bath salt ‘that relaxes the body muscles.’

Fair trade scented candles & incense
For fair trade scented candles you can find these Zen Sense Terracotta Candles at Fair Wind: ‘The simplicity of a Zen rock garden has been combined with classic Asian fragrances to produce these elegant meditation candles.’

Ganesha also offer a lovely selection of fair trade Aromatherapy Pot Candles and Traidcraft have these fair trade floating candles. 

Or try some fair trade incense. There’s this beautifully handcrafted incense gift box  from Anjuna, or these Mini Incense & Cone Gift Sets from Fair Wind. Both also sell the incense and incense holders separately.

Continuing on the same theme, you can buy a fair trade Romantic Bliss Gift Box containing ‘three tea light candles, aromatherapy oil, ceramic diffuser and a CD containing music for aromatherapy’, from Mondomundi.

If you don’t need a gift box then you can buy a fair trade oil burner from Ganesha, or Ambient perfumes and a burner from Fair Wind.

Fair trade massage 
In their natural skin care range, Sacred Lotus sell fair trade Massage Oil, fair trade Salt Scrub, and fair trade hand and body lotion.

By the way – did you know you can get Fairtrade cotton wool from Traidcraft?

Fair trade lounging… 
If you’re not about to rush off (which hopefully you’re not if you’re reading this post about pampering!), why not also enjoy relaxing in some really comfy clothes from Gossypium who have a wide selection of fair trade and organic clothes including yoga wear.

Or perhaps you could even lounge around the house in these Fairtrade Cotton Short Pyjamas from M&S – for him  or these Fairtrade Cotton Jersey Stripe Pyjama Top & Bottoms for her.

Okay, this all sounds very tempting, so I’ll end now to see what I can buy today!

See you tomorrow for Challenge 7: Flowers, and in the meantime – happy relaxing!

Alex

I thought today’s challenge would follow well after the last two, but no more socks – I promise!

There’s actually an abundance of beautiful fair trade accessories available to mix and match with your outfits and it’s been really hard to choose which ones to include today, but going from head to toe here are a few suggestions:

Shawls and Scarves 
Let’s start with some of the gorgeous fair trade shawls and scarves available, which I am sure would complement many wedding outfits:
The Tussar Silk Collection  which are part of a wide variety from Chandni Chowk  or chiffon and silk wraps from Ganesha who also have an extensive selection. Alternatively there’s:
Manumit
Fairly Goods 
Ambanature

Fair trade jewellery 
I’ve managed to find an extraordinary amount of fair trade earrings, necklaces, and bracelets so here we go…

For specific fair trade jewellery suppliers have a look at:
Fair Trade Design
Jungle Berry for Brazilian jewellery
Love That Stuff
Silverchilli

There are then a number of suppliers who include fair trade jewellery amongst their other items (you may need a cup of coffee at this point!):
Anjuna
Fair Wind
Just Bazaar
Manumit
Mondomundi
Pink Planet
Tumi
You should be able to find fair trade bags and purses amongst these as well.

But if it’s cufflinks you’re after then why not try:
Fair Wind
Just Bazaar
Silverchilli

Wedding Rings 
And let’s not forget those all-important fair trade Wedding Rings! Have a look at the wonderful ones at Cred Jewellery or check out Silver Chilli’s selection, where Katie and Jamie from Ethical Weddings found their wedding rings.

Also if you need somewhere to put all this beautiful jewellery, how about a beautifully carved fair trade Jewellery Box  or embroidered Jewellery Roll.   And if you’re looking for a belt to go with your wedding outfit, Manumit has a lovely selection.

Shoes
And finally… fair trade shoes

I’m probably not the best person to be looking.  Why you ask? Because I wore a pair of very soft pale pink trainers and I doubt very much that there are many brides who’d consider doing the same?

However, after a slightly frustrating search this morning, I finally managed to find these from the beautiful collection of fair trade shoes from Native by Native who say: “all our products are fair traded, both Helen and Quint visit all our suppliers and most are small family concerns.”

Otherwise it’s (seemingly) sandals only! So perhaps for wedding guests how about these flower sandals
from Traidcraft or leather ones from One Village?

It is, however, good to read that high street shoe retailers have begun to supply fair trade shoes, so perhaps it won’t be too long before we see a fair trade bridal shoes collection.

After today’s searching I think tomorrow’s challenge is very appropriate: Relaxing and Pampering!

Until then happy ‘Fair Trade Wedding’ shopping!

Alex

P.S. If you do fancy the ‘informal’ option with your shoes then you can get your fair trade trainers from Ideal Trading or a fun pair of flip flops from Ganesha!