Eco Friendly Wedding

Zero Waste said it best "The average US wedding produces a massive 400 pounds of garbage and 63 tons of CO2. If your guest list is over 100, your carbon footprint could be much, much higher, and in most cases, the waste generated won’t be biodegradable. That means your decorations, single-use cutlery, and plastic cups will still be here when your great-great-great-great-great-great-great grandchildren are thinking about their wedding decor!"

You don’t have to go to the extreme to have a more sustainable wedding. Even just being conscious of the waste you could produce is a huge step in the right direction! One of my favorite ways to avoid waste is to keep your guest list small! This is a tough one, I know. it can be hard to cut your list down but doing so can make drastic changes in helping reduce excess on your wedding day! Excess waste also equals wasted money. Going green on your wedding day is all about keeping things local, using more natural materials, and intentional planning! Check out some of the ways below that you can make changes!

Venue

Picking an Eco-Friendly Venue is one of the first steps to making your wedding more environmentally friendly! A venue that can host both your ceremony and reception in the same location will help cut back on travel for your guests. If you do plan to have two different venues for your big day, consider having a shuttle to bring your guests to and from locations! This is a great option if your venue has limited parking as well! Also having a wedding local when possible to avoid air travel. You don’t have to give up your destination wedding to have a sustainable wedding though. If travel is unavoidable, you can check out sites like My Climate to view how to offset your travel carbon footprint!

Does your venue offer rentals? Take advantage of what your venue has to offer and cut out consumption by renting when you can! I’ll talk more about decor next but when looking for a venue, try looking for one with natural decor like one outside in Nature! Not only will natural decor save you some money but it will also help avoid waste. Get married outside with gorgeous natural scenery in places like a Vineyard, Forest, Mountain, Greenhouse, etc. All of these would all make for stunning locations for your vows but also need little to no decor to be absolutely perfect for your wedding day. Just remember to abide by the Leave No Trace principles when enjoying the outdoors! If you decide to go with a more standard venue than just out in nature, ask about recycling/composting. If this is something they offer, great! If not, they may be able to recommend a local company to help!

Decor

Rent when you can or buy secondhand! There are a lot of venues that offer rentals for everything you will need but if not there are also a lot of great rental companies that can help you out! Renting can be a bit more expensive but it is a great option to save space before/after the wedding, avoid the stress of having to get rid of items and save you so much time in the long run. Buying secondhand is another great option when you can’t rent! There are so many Facebook groups where past brides go to sell their wedding decor. Thrift shops are also amazing to find unique pieces to really make your wedding decor pop!

Donate, reuse or sell your decor! Once the wedding is over, don’t just trash your decor. Be intentional when buying your wedding decor! You can really cut costs and avoid over buying if you’re intentional with your wedding purchases. If it’s pieces you love, you can incorporate some of it into your home decor! This is such a cool idea that I’m seeing so much more often lately and how awesome to have a mirror or picture frame from your wedding, in your home, to view all the time! For everything you can’t use in your home, sell to another bride or donate to a local thrift store after the wedding!

Florals

Arguably one of the most beautiful ways to add detail to your wedding day! There are fortunately many ways to get the most out of your flower arrangements while also helping to protect the environment. First off, avoid floral foam in your designs. Thankfully, most florists have already moved away from this practice but be sure to double check with your florist to be safe though. Floral foam contains a lot of chemicals and is often not biodegradable! Moving your ceremony florals to use in your reception decor is another trend I’ve seen many couples do lately! Also, decorate your tables with your bridesmaids bouquets! Find a florist that is locally sourced, this will reduce the need to transport! Choose seasonal, locally grown flowers! Once the wedding is over consider donating your florals to a local nursing home or hospital!

Get Creative! Dried floral arrangements & bouquets are becoming increasingly popular and I can see why! Not only can you keep them in your home after to avoid waste but they look absolutely stunning! Want to skip flowers altogether for your centerpieces? Potted plants, like succulents can be taken home by guests after the wedding. Books, Fruit/Veggies(compost after the wedding), or Lanterns are just a few options for flowerless designs. Don’t be afraid to incorporate whatever you and your fiancés interests are into your day!

Invitations

It's becoming more and more popular to save a little money and use e-services for invites, save the dates and thank you's! In today's online world, this is a great option to cut costs and help out a little environmentally. Creating a wedding website and let your guests RSVP there makes it quick and easy for them and also helps you keep track of everyones answers all in one place without worrying about things getting lost in the mail or someone forgetting to fill everything out before sending it back!

If your not wanting to use the internet for all your paper goods needs (I don't blame you at all, they're one of my favorite wedding details!) there are some amazing options when picking who to go through to have your invites made! Paper Culture offers recycled paper invitation suites that are stunning! They also plant a tree with every purchase and you can get 20%off by signing up for their email list! You could also go the seedling route and order through a company like Greenfield Paper Company , their plantable seed paper can planted in the ground and gives a beautiful texture to your wedding invites!

Registry

It can be easy to get carried away when adding to your registry! Try and be intentional about what you put on your list. Do you really need/want it? Or are you just trying to fill the list. Now a days more and more couples are ditching the coffee pot requests and registering for experiences over stuff! This is an awesome idea and those memories or jet skiing on your honeymoon are sure to outlive a new decorative bowl.

One of my favorite wedding registry ideas I’ve seen is to have your guests donate to a charity. There are so many amazing charities, pick one close to your heart for your guests to make contributions to!

Feeding Your Guests

Choosing a plated meal may seem more expensive but it actually helps cut down on cost and waste to preorder exactly what your guests will eat the day of. This option also helps insure your guests eat around the same time and they can sit and relax at their table instead of waiting in long lines for the buffet. If you decide to do a buffet, consider reaching out about donating leftovers to a local soup kitchen or getting to go boxes so your guests can take some food home with them. Composting food leftover is also a great option if none of the above works for your day of needs!

Try avoiding disposable dinnerware if you can by renting plates & silverware or buying mix-matched plates from a thrift shop or previous bride. This will not only help cut waste but also look beautiful on your tablescape the day of. If you’re unable to rent or reuse, biodegradable is always an option!

Wedding Favors

Rethink your wedding favors by ditching them all together, picking something local made, or doing an edible good! So often favors are not taken home or thrown out (by you or your guests). This is not only environmentally wasteful but financially as well. Things like cookies or other snacks will usually be eaten up or can be donated if you have leftovers. Putting them in a mason jar is a great idea as well because they can take the jar home as well and reuse! One of my favorite favors I've snagged while photographing a wedding was flower seed packets! This is a cost friendly option and so cute for a spring or summer wedding! You could also so succulents or other potted plants and they can double as tables cape decor!

Vendors

Short and Sweet with this one. Be Thoughtful About Who You Hire

Hire vendors that care about the environment and who’s ideas align with yours. Vendors that share similar views as you will make wedding planning so much easier. Don’t be afraid to ask your vendors lots of questions before hiring!

Exit Alternatives

Skip the Confetti & rice tosses. They may look great in photos but there are other, easy switch, alternatives that are even more beautiful! If you still want a dramatic send-off before your reception, go down the natural route with dried flowers or dissolvable confetti! You can use any of your favorite flowers, dried, or even use leaves or herbs! All these are biodegradable and you can use a whole punch on the leaves to make them more easily tossable. You can find dried flowers for tosses on Etsy or Amazon! The Confetti Bar has a ton of options for dissolvable confetti in every color you could need!

Reduce. Reuse. Recycle. Donate

The biggest takeaway I hope you have from all this is, reduce when you can, reuse when you can, recycle when you can, and donate what you can!

Reusing things from your wedding day in the future puts your money to good use but you can also incorporate things you already have or borrow from family members. Jewelry worn by your grandmother is sure to be more special than a necklace bought from the Mall. Repurposing minimizes what you have to buy and makes your wedding day that much more unique!

Purchase products from organizations that give back. Donate leftover items to thrift stores or shelters. Incorporate your grandmothers jewelry instead of buying new. And Recycle everything you can instead of just throwing it away! Of course some of this may not all be possible for you but making some small changes can go a long way!