UPDATED Dec 5, 2020
I am all about the little things we can do to help save the environment. Big events such as a wedding can create a lot of waste, from one use decoration, wedding attire, to food waste. Here is how we can create a green wedding.
Misconception about green/ eco-friendly and sustainable wedding
It’s often a misconception that a green wedding won’t be as nice, its time consuming and expensive. Honestly, no one expects you to be perfect. This blog is all about educating you on easy sustainable switches you can make to be kinder to the environment.
Benefits of a green wedding
– It’s easier than you think
– you’ll actually save money
– you’ll feel good about yourself
– your actions might create a domino effect on inspiring other friends and family to do the same for their wedding.
You don’t have to be grand you don’t even have to do all of the suggestions. Just do what you can.
How to reduce your environmental impact on your wedding day
Localy sourced food
When it comes to food and beverage hire caterers that source their ingredients from local farms. I know that this is not always so easily accessible, if so talk to your caterer and see if you can work something out. If this is not possible try picking ingredients that are in season. Not only reduces having to transport ingredients from all over the world but you get your food at its peak flavour.
Inquire with your wedding venue about food waste, how we can avoid this? do they compose? do they have recycling available on site?
key points for Food Catering; hire a farm-to-table caterer, pick in-season ingredients for your menu and inquire about food waste and composting practices.
When it comes to beverages at your wedding, sourcing out from local brewery and winery is a great way to support local business. Avoid having plastic water and opt to get kegs instead of individual pack beers (it’s cheaper!)
Eco-Friendly Florist
Hiring an eco-friendly florist means the flowers are grown responsibly without polluting the land with chemicals. Having locally grown flowers means they don’t have to be grown in from somewhere else. Decreasing Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.
Key points: Hire an eco-friendly florist, Opt to go for flowers that are in season during your wedding, You can also get dried flowers, they are stunning and you can keep them long after your wedding day, Use potted plants for decor
Fake flowers rental are also making their debut. There are some amazing vendors that can make them look very realistic. No one can tell it’s fake unless they went up close and touched it.
Eco-Friendly Stationery (signage and invitation)
– Opt to have minimal signage, Instead of printing your table plans, menus and welcome signs, display them on reusable chalkboards or framed glass
– Consider using online invitation and rsvp read all about it on my blog.
Blog: Online RSVP – Why you should include them in your planning
– Eco- Friendly wedding invitation made from recycled paper. I have even seen plantable invitations, thats cool! right?
Hire Transportation
As I have mentioned earlier, that having less vehicle travel will help Decreasing Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, hiring a bus or using fewer vehicles helps reduce GHG.
– Reduce the carbon footprint by hiring a bus to shuttle your guests to your venue if it’s out of town.
– Encourage carpooling!
Pre- loved dresses
Think of renting a wedding dress and groomsmen suit. I know this is very controversial! if this is not for you, then don’t do it. But consider checking out some really amazing rental sites. Some people think they will pass down their wedding gown, but would you even want to wear your moms??? By opting into a rental dress you can get a name brand dress that you might not otherwise be able to afford plus it’s not taking up space in your closet afterwards.
Let your bridesmaid pick their dresses.
It can be in the colour palette of your choice but allowing your brides to pick their dresses lets them spend the amount of money they are comfortable with. Plus they can also pick the style that is most flatter for their body. This allows them to reuse the dress in the future.
Check out my Pinterest for bridal dress inspiration
〰 There are also a lot of wedding day accessories you can rent online
I’m a huge accessories fan, I don’t have a lot but I do like to invest in my jewelry. There are some that don’t care for it but want a nice one on their wedding day. Renting is a great alternative.
Donate your wedding dress afterwards
If you did opt to buy your wedding dress, after the wedding you can donate your dress to charity.
Brides Against Breast Cancer: Donated wedding dresses are made affordable for others while helping fund breast cancer causes.
Brides for a Cause: Sells donated dresses to raise funds for various women-focused charities.
Embrace Minimalism
Decor plays a big role in creating a lot of waste during your wedding day. The amount of money spent on decor alone can add up quickly. Here are a few quick and easily sustainable wedding switches.
– Instead of buying decor items, see if you can rent them instead. reducing the amount of one-use items. plus you’re saving yourself the hassle of selling it later. there have been far too many times that the items I want to seek just end up collecting dust.
– Pick a venue with lots of natural beauty
You won’t need to decorate the place because it already has a beautiful setting.
– Use Biodegradable confetti
– Move away from balloons and lanterns, they are pretty but can be replaced for something more eco-friendly
Go Vintage
Recycling is good for the earth, checking out second-hand stores such as flea markets, thrift shopping, Kijiji, Facebook market to name a few is a good way to save money and include unique decorations to your wedding day.
I have seen people upcycle mason jars and wine bottles as flower containers, it keeps the flowers/plants’ life a little longer.
I’m a huge fan of glass jars and candle stands for table decoration. You can make it a chic and rustic look.
Wedding Favours
Wedding favours are one of the things that just happened to be apart of traditional weddings. You’re already treating your guests to an evening of fun, dinner, drinks, and dancing, so a parting gift isn’t required. That’s right you don’t need to spend hundreds of dollars on a wedding favour. Maybe instead of this, you can invest in a better photographer, an exceptional dj or a wedding planner.
But if you are thinking of adding it to your day here are some tips:
– Edible/ consumable wedding favours – example yummy cookies for table name tags, example, soup, coffee beans, olive oil in a jar, succulents, plantable paper, seeds, etc…
– Choose something useful
– Consider donating the money you will spend on favours to your favourite charity
– I’ve seen small potted cactuses double as decoration and favours on the table.
– you don’t need a wedding favour for every guest, far to often I’ve seen a lot of guests just leave wedding favours so do consider that when ordering.
Sustainable Rings
Diamonds have a long history of unsafe working environments, child workers and funding wars in undeveloped countries. It’s safe to say that finding conflict-free and ethically sourced diamonds is not easy. Other alternatives for diamonds are;
– Lab-Grown Diamonds
– Buying recycled/pre-loved diamonds
– or opting to forgo diamonds altogether and stick with gems
want more information on conflict-free diamonds click here
Gift Registry
Instead of registering for all big chain stores opt to include sustainable brands or locally made products into your registry. It’s an easy step to add to your wedding day.
I know a lot of couples that live together prior to getting married so they have all the necessities for their house. Instead of asking for things, see if your guest can fund your honeymoon, photographer. date nights or building your dream house. Start your registry at GiftSpace
Keep things Intimate
When you decided to have a more intimate wedding you’ll have fewer mouths to feed, less favours to buy, fewer tables to decorate and fewer people to transport. Keeping an intimate wedding gather not only saves you a lot of money but its a more eco friendly way to go.
Have any ideas for more sustainable and green wedding? comment below! 👇
