Macon Magazine

At the home of the bride’s parents two days before the wedding of Mandy Schmitt and Sean Mahoney, a bevy of large pails held armloads of glorious wild flowers and greenery - purple verbena, pink thistle, bright green curly dock, fuzzy lamb’s ear and much more, all cut from local fields and woods.

Collecting native, local and in-season vegetation was just one component of a grand plan for a large wedding that was both stylish and friendly to the environment.

“My parents went out this morning and gathered all this,” said the bride-to-be, indicating the array of woodland treasures. “This is the way it used to be, when you used what you had.”

The wedding took place May 9, a golden and perfect evening, at St. Joseph Catholic Church. The bridesmaids’ fragrant bouquets held some of the woodland bounty. More of it, with the addition of native oakleaf hydrangea blossoms from a local garden, graced several table centerpieces for the reception at Hay House following the wedding Mass.

The use of local floral materials eliminated the need to ship exotic flowers from afar, thus saving fuel and reducing the gala event’s carbon footprint. And there was a second benefit: The cost of the woodland bounty was zero.

Mandy is director of sustainability for the city of Atlanta, working out of the office of Mayor Shirley Franklin to improve the city’s green programs, including water and energy conservation, reduction of solid waste and emissions and improving the rate of recycling. She is passionate in her quest to minimize environmental damage and to educate others in means to achieve sustainability.

Months ago, Mandy and Sean began planning a green wedding. Growing up in Macon, Mandy learned from her parents, Jerry and Elaine Schmitt, to treasure the earth and its bounty of natural gifts. Mandy is a graduate of Mount de Sales Academy and holds degrees from Emory and Duke universities including law, biology and environmental studies and environmental management.

“Protection and stewardship of our resources was something that we talked about a lot in our house growing up,” Mandy said. “I also was exposed to the concept of social justice very early on through my Catholic education at St. Joseph’s Catholic School and later MDS. To me, protection of our natural resources is the ultimate social justice. Everyone needs clean water, air and arable land.”