A wedding is supposed to be one of the best days of your life. It is the day you make a commitment to your special person to love and spend the rest of your life with. A lot of hard work and planning go into making a wedding perfect for you and your special someone. With all love and fuzzy feelings going around the environment may slip your mind. Don’t worry, we have some tips on how to be environmentally friendly while still having the wedding of your dreams!
How to Have an Eco-friendly Wedding
Mikayla Richards | May 22th, 2017
Venue
Outdoor Venue: Outdoor venues are beautiful and green. Outdoor venues use less electricity, and they make for breathtaking pictures.
Local Venue: By picking a local site your guests will travel less, therefore, reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
Eco-friendly Venue: When researching venues, look into if they are eco-friendly. Ask if they use organic tablecloths, have recycling programs in place, or have energy efficient appliances. It is the little things that make all the difference!
One vs. Multiple Locations: Limit the number of places where your wedding takes place. By doing your limit the how much your guests will have to travel. Your guests will thank you and so will the planet.
Where ever you decide to have your wedding, please remember to clean up after. Provide garbage and recycling containers to avoid litter.
Flowers & Decor
No Flowers: Flowers seem like they are a necessary, but there is no written rule that you have to use them. Go with a non-traditional option instead like a bouquet made out of old brooches or buttons. One wedding even used puppies for their bouquet!
Seasonal Flowers: Buy what is in season for your area. When you purchase out of season flowers, they usually have to be shipped from far away, putting more unnecessary greenhouse gasses into the atmosphere.
Local Flowers: Support local businesses and buy local flowers. The shorter the distance traveled equals less greenhouse gas emissions.
Organic Flowers: If there is a type of flower you really want and they are not in season or sold locally, look for organic flowers. Organic flowers are grown without the use of any chemicals. When using chemicals to produce a bouquet, it affects the soil and can cause harm to the workers growing them.
Less is more: By limiting the number of flowers used, the less waste is created!
Donate: When the big day is done, don’t throw out your flowers! Give them to a hospital or a retirement home, by giving the flowers away you prevent them from becoming waste a little bit longer and brighten someone’s day!
Lighting: For lighting check to see if your venue uses solar powered lights, LED bulbs or ask if you can bring your own soy candles!
Reusable Decorations: Pick decorations that can be utilized again. One time decorations are wasteful because they end up in the landfill almost immediately. Create centerpieces that guests might want to take home like potted plants and flowers. Use picture frames that you could use in the future. Check out secondhand stores and thrift shops for items you can use. Also, donate your decorations to a thrift store after for another bride to discover.
Food
Local Food: Local means less transportation which means less pollution. Plus, by buying locally, you are supporting the community!
Organic Food: Organic food can be a bit more expensive, but it helps the environment because it is grown without chemicals and in a sustainable way.
Food Quantity: Think about the amount of food needed for the number of guests. Brides worry that there will not be enough food, but more times than not there is sufficient food, usually too much. If there is too much food for guests to eat, then it creates a lot of waste.
Cake Size: When deciding on a cake, be realistic. Pick a cake that makes sense with the number of guests you have. Not sure what size is right for your wedding, talk to your baker they will be able to give you an idea of a good size.
Donate Food: At the end of the night, if there are leftovers give them local shelters instead of throwing it all out!
Invitations & Save the Dates
Go Paperless: Mail is old school. Be bold and go completely paperless. Email invitations and save the dates. Guests will receive them faster, you will save money, and no waste will be created in the process.
Recycled Paper: If you want to go traditional and mail invitations, print them on recycled paper!
The Dress
Used Dress: There are so many options when deciding to go with a used dress. You can borrow your mom’s dress or rent a dress. Plus, the vintage trend is really in right now, so instead of buying a new vintage inspired dress, actually buy the real deal!
New Dress: You can buy a new dress and help the environment. Look for frocks that are made with sustainable materials like organic cotton, silk or hemp. Also shop local because the less the dress has to travel the better for the environment.
Donate/Sell/Rent/Save Your Dress: Most people already do this, they store their dress in case their daughter or granddaughter want to wear it on their big day. If you want to earn some money but still keep the dress try renting it out. Dresses can be sold or donated if you don’t want to keep it. By not throwing it out you keep it out of a landfill!
Honeymoon
Stay Local: You don’t have to leave the country or even the city to have a great honeymoon. By staying local you dramatically decrease the amount of greenhouse gasses released into the air from traveling to a sunny destination. Have a stay-cation, the planet and your wallet will thank you for it!
Eco-tourism: When picking your honeymoon look at eco-tourism destinations. Eco-tourism is low-impact tourism that allows tourists to see exotic natural environments without damaging them.
With these tips, you can guarantee that your big day will be a matrimony both you and the environment can celebrate, together!
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