7 Ways to Design the Perfect Eco-Friendly Wedding
Create the smallest carbon footprint possible on the biggest day of your life. We’ve put together this handy list of 7 tips to help you have the perfect eco-friendly wedding!
It’s your big day, and you’ve realized that your love for the environment rivals your love for your intended! You want to have the smallest carbon footprint possible for your nuptials, and we applaud you. We’ve surfed the web for the best eco-friendly wedding tips around and collected them for you below. With this list, you’ll be able to show your love for your future spouse, and the world.
Where Is Your Ring From?
Photo by Alvin Mahmudov
Eco-friendly doesn’t always mean the earth. It also applies to the people on it! If you have the option, shop for rings that are antique or passed down, or from dealers that source from socially conscious companies. The least eco-friendly way to wed your beloved is to source a blood diamond. Never fear, many popular retailers have made a commitment to ethical sourcing. If you do research beforehand, you’ll be able to find a vendor easily.
Reduce, Reuse, Recycle Your Invites!
Photo by Clem Onojeghuo
An easy eco-friendly option is to opt for recycled paper for your invites. It’ll make for a cheaper option as well, and many recycled papers have a charming texture that will fit your environmentally friendly theme easily. Consider cutting down your guest list in order to have an intimate gathering that will produce less waste.
Source Seasonal
Photo by Roman Kraft
Sourcing local is a great way to supplement food and flowers. You’ll support local business and may be able to find sustainable vendors who will work with your vision. Sourcing in-season flowers is a great way to reduce carbon footprint, as the extra efforts to produce flowers out of season, preserve and transport will be costly and not beneficial to the environment.
Choose Biodegradable
Photo by Phyek for Aevia
Handwashing a hundred dinner plates, forks, salad bowls, dessert plates and more maybe won’t be the best option for your event. While this would be the best option for your eco-friendly impact, you can do just as well with biodegradable plates. With the interest in eco-friendly living, many companies have figured out how to produce biodegradable dinnerware that won’t clog up landfills for decades.
Decorate Thoughtfully
Photo by Lanty
The tendency to go overboard with table cards, tent cards, and paper goods as far as the eye can see is popular at weddings. However, this isn’t the best way to protect the environment. Instead of relying on paper goods to accent your wedding, search thrift shops and your own home for reusable decor. Tables can be decorated with secondhand or borrowed candle holders and statuettes, and table numbers can be written on chalkboards or pieces of wood with paint.
If you really want to cut back, feel free to ditch the programs and menu cards at your wedding. These look nice but are thrown away almost immediately and serve no purpose to the guest. Instead, create a lovely display for your eco-friendly wedding with paint or chalk to keep guests up to date on what to expect.
Repurpose Your Wedding Dress
Photo by Celia Michon
If you don’t have a set vision for your wedding day garb, consider recrafting a dress from an existing one. We all know that thrift stores and maybe even your own attic hold someones cast-off wedding dress from another decade. With some re-imagining, a lonely gown may get a new life. Seamstresses and designers can often use existing dresses to create an updated pattern. Furthermore, accessories like sashes and veils can usually be found on eBay or secondhand sites for a fraction of the price you’d pay!
Skip the Elaborate Favors
Photo by Christiann Koepke
Fancy paper boxes around a single cookie at each place setting? Delicious, but often wasteful. Most guests don’t pay too much attention to the favors you select, and you can really create an eco-friendly wedding experience by re-imagining traditional wedding favors. Instead of elaborate packaging and treats sourced from bakeries that may engage in waste, consider hand-making favors with more meaning. Do you make your own tea mixtures or a killer salsa recipe? Look into creating organic and waste-free favors yourself with biodegradable packaging. Your guests will love the gesture and extra effort!
When you sit down and think about it, there are so many ways to cut out excess paper goods and waste from your eco-friendly wedding. The result not only helps the environment but tells your guests more about you as a couple than a program fan on every seat will. Let us know about your favorite earth-friendly wedding tips below!
