‘Days’ makes green pitch with a hitch

It’s supposed to be one trip down the aisle and a white wedding. Then again, life on soap operas is always much more than it’s supposed to be.

In the case of Sami Brady (Alison Sweeney), the ultimate villainess of daytime television on NBC’s “Days of Our Lives,” this will be her 10th time down the aisle.

And on this occasion, it’s a green wedding.

The conniver of Salem isn’t marrying Kermit the Frog. Rather, Sami is marrying Lucas Roberts (Bryan Dattilo) on Tuesday and Wednesday in what is being touted as television’s first green, or environmentally conscious, wedding.

The people behind the scenes started discussing the possibility of going this route a while back and set up a bulletin board about the idea in a hallway of the set, says Greg Meng, executive in charge of production.

“The crew, the grips, everybody has been contributing information on green,” Meng says. “This is really cool. Green is not a trend. It is really the future.”

The wedding will show that a green wedding need not be a potluck picnic and bridesmaids in tie-dye.

Rather, with the help of Carley Roney, co-founder of the Knot Inc., a media company devoted to wedding planning, the show has gone all out. The couple’s invitations were on recycled paper, and soy candles will cast the romantic glow.

Ben Ford, son of Harrison, is catering the affair from his restaurant, Ford’s Filling Station, where he serves local, organically grown food.

The groom is wearing a hemp suit, Dattilo says.

Given all this recycling, it’s rather in keeping that the bride too is recycled from other weddings.

“Sami has been through this wedding thing a number of times,” Dattilo says. “So she is trying to spice it up and create a new theme. She thinks it will be good if she creates good karma, and it will be good for them. She is probably sick of the run-of-the-mill weddings.”

Since so many viewers glean ideas from television, everyone involved in this wedding says they hope the show helps prospective brides.

“We definitely hope to inspire, and not in a preachy kind of way,” Sweeney says. “It’s such a perfect opportunity because the characters didn’t know anything about it. The characters are learning what it is to be green or eco-friendly, and it is giving a mini-education on the subject.”

Even if people don’t put the ideas -- such as serving an organic cake made with free-range chicken eggs -- to use for a wedding, they might for a party, Sweeney says.