Bermuda's 9 Beaches Resort Targets Green Crowd With 'Eco-Chic' Weddings

-- Hotels, 5/1/2008

The 9 Beaches resort in Bermuda has begun offering “Eco-Chic Weddings,” a green package for couples desirous of environmentally friendly nuptials. The package, which starts at US$9,140 for 40 guests, includes six bottles of organic champagne, a tiered organic wedding cake, organic flower arrangements and sustainable centerpieces made with harvested seashells and clean-burning or soy candles. The eco-chic event is capped with the couple's planting of an endangered Bermuda cedar tree at the resort, complete with permanent personalized monument marker. Couples may opt for vegetarian or vegan catering. The package also includes a pre-ceremony Reiki/Swedish couples massage.

“The hotel has ramped up its position in making the resort more eco-friendly,” says Kay-Annie Reid-Young, weddings and events manager at 9 Beaches. “We decided to see if we can go ahead and make it known that we can cater to people who are a little more environmentally friendly.” Among the resort's other green aspects are its artificial nests for Whitetail Tropicbirds, its implementation of xeriscaping to conserve water and its use of recycled rainwater. Hotel accommodations are in stilted cabanas, which reduce environmental impact to the surrounding land.