How to have a more sustainable wedding.
Sustainable weddings are becoming more and more popular for the modern couple. There are so many small and unnoticeable ways that you can make your wedding sustainable that your guests wont even notice and it means that you are able to do your bit for mother earth.. Keep reading for my top tips on how to have a more sustainable wedding day.
Choosing your venue
The best way to make your venue be more sustainable is to go local! If most of your guests are driving or even walking to your venue it is much better than getting all your wedding guest on a plane and flying them to a destination wedding. With local venues if guests need to drive it is likely that they wil car share automatically cutting down on carbon emissions and making your wedding more sustainable! With a plane not everyone will catch the same flight some may make a holiday out of it and fly out earlier stay longer there for making more emission due to multiple flights to get your guests to and from venue. Also try and keep everything at one venue to cut down but if you need to have two venues think about hiring a coach big enough to get everyone transported to the second venue in one go!
Eco Friendly Menu
There are many ways you can make your menu more eco friendly. Try using a caterer that uses local produce that is organic or fair trade. This again cuts down on emissions as the food needs to travel less to get to your caterers and to your venue. It may end up slightly more expensive but its worth it! If you are brave enough you could also offer 50% vegetarian menu this would be a great way to make your menu eco friendly and for those guests that still want meat they can have it. Its a win win. Try and do the same with your wine, look for local suppliers that provide organic and fair trade options. Go for china crockery and cutlery that can be hired in or reused try and stay away from disposable dinnerware as this is one of the main offenders!
Stationery
One really easy way to make your stationery more eco friendly is to use a wedding website! There are lots of different apps and companies out there that offer e-invites and websites that you can then send your guests all the information they need and keep updating with important information such as menu choices and accommodation near by as much as you like without needing to keep printing invites. Alternatively in your printed invites see if your stationer can use recycled or natural paper, or even better use paper that has seeds integrated into it so that your guests can plant this and grow something beautiful.
Source local flowers
Using flowers that are in bloom in the season you are getting married is the best and easiest way to make your wedding more sustainable. If you choose flowers that are out of season they would need to be flown in- creating more carbon emissions. A great way to make your floral eco friendly would be to use lots of foliage and greenery, use herbs, potted plants that can be planted after the wedding. Another great way to make your wedding more eco friendly is to ask your florist to make your arrangements foam free. Oasis foam is not eco friendly its a one use only product and is one easy way to make a dramatic difference in making your wedding more eco friendly. Also think about what happens to your flowers after the wedding, will your guests take them as gifts or would you donate them to a local hospital or hospice?
Reusable Decor
Hiring in decor is a great way to make your wedding eco friendly. Companies have stocks stocks of decor items that will make your wedding beautiful and its a great way to also save money as you are hiring in these items and then giving them back you are not out of pocket and havent got loads of decor linging around your home after the wedding that you would then get rid of. Decor hire companies will stock everything and anything and you are bound to find exactly what you are looking for! Also take a few visits to your venue to see if there is any built in decor that you can save hiring. Such as a barn - does it have fairy or festoon lighting already in place. Is there beautiful greenery that you can utilize as a backdrop for your ceremony. Make sure you take it all in on your visits!
Wedding Favours
When it comes to wedding favours there are lots of fabulous eco friendly options to choose from. You could bake your guests shortbread or cookies, souce local jams or honey, make your own alcohol or source if from a local supplier. Or another great way is to do charity donations. Most charities offer the option where you make a donation to the charity and they provide you with a badge that you can put at each guests place and let them know that a donation to charity has been made for them instead of a favour.
Go Preloved
If you really want to go eco friendly go preloved. There are loads of beautiful bridal shops that offer preloved or vintage dresses at a fraction of the original price that look brand new and perfect for your wedding day. A lot of preloved dresses you wouldnt even know have been worn. Do your research and have a look for some preloved and vintage bridal shops in your area.
