Painless Ways to Plan a Greener Wedding

Painless Ways to Plan a Greener Wedding

Written by: Claire Marika

Tips and tricks to make your wedding more environmentally friendly

A wedding provides a great opportunity for you to include some green ideas in your celebrating. It makes for nice symbolism too–as you and your spouse begin your life together you will not only be working to build a strong relationship and a happy family, but also a healthier world.

Your wedding is a day you’ve probably been dreaming about since you were a kid, and those dreams might not have involved you in Grandma’s dress, plantable invitations, or locally produced food. Though “the greener the better” is certainly not bad as mantras go, you shouldn’t give up your every childhood dream in favor of a 100% green wedding. This list includes many options, so just incorporate the ones that will work best for your dream wedding. You can also use most of these ideas in your everyday life once the big day has come and gone.

Attire

-Buy a used or vintage dress, or check to see if your mother or grandmother still has her wedding dress. Wearing a family treasure (altered to your fit and taste) can make your wedding day even more special.

-Look for dresses made of natural fabric such as hemp or organic silk. Or, if you find a new dress you’re totally in love with, think about donating it after the wedding.

-Have your bridesmaids wear dresses that they will wear again. It can be fun and beautiful to let them choose their own dress according to your color specifications.

Photography by: Claire Marika Photography

Decor

-Use potted flowers or plants as decorations that can double as favors

-If you’ve got a little space and some time to plan, you could grow your own flowers! This doesn’t require much more than the occasional watering, and could be a fun project for you and your fiance’. It’s also a great way to save some cash.

-Make your own decorations. This can be a fun project to do with bridesmaids.

-Send cut flowers home with guests or donate them to a local hospital or rest home

-Use soy based candles instead of paraffin, which is a petroleum product

-Have an outdoor wedding, or choose a venue with lots of windows to make use of natural light if your wedding is during the day.

Photography by: Claire Marika Photography

Food

-Each food item in the average U.S. meal travels 1500 miles from farm to plate, and comes much further if it is out of season in our hemisphere and has to be brought in from the other side of the world. The fuel consumption and carbon emissions required for this type of jet-setting is excessive, not to mention the environmental impact of poor agricultural practices, and the human toll of labor exploitation. Buying locally grown food that is in season puts more money into the farmer’s pocket, supports sound growing practices, and allows you to experience a much broader range of seasonal food–as you’re not limited to varieties that are bred for their ability to withstand days in the back of truck, not for their flavor.

-Try to find a caterer who is willing to use locally grown food that is in season, and visit Local Harvest to find farmers and local food suppliers in your area.

-Also, consider serving domestically brewed beverages (Design Sponge)

-Don’t let leftover food get thrown away! Arrange to have it sent home with guests or donated to a homeless shelter or food bank.

Photography by: Claire Marika Photography

Gifts

-If you’ve already got most of what you need for your home, consider asking friends and family to donate to charities instead of giving you material gifts Changing the Present.

-Register with the I Do Foundation (I do foundation), which gives a percentage of the cost of your wedding gifts to a charity of your choice.

-Give seeds or plants as the favors. Anthropologie makes seed bombs, which are very pretty.

Jewelry

-when getting engaged, opt for conflict fee diamonds (amnesty usa), lab created diamonds (greenkarat, or ziamond.com), vintage rings or bands made from recycled gold. You could also keep the bling minimal and stick with a simple band.

-Shop for handmade jewelry for you or your wedding party on etsy.com.

Photography by: Claire Marika Photography

Paper Goods

-Ask your caterer to use real dishes and table cloths. If your wedding is DIY, you could purchase plates and dishes from a thrift store for a fun mix and match look (and donate the ones you don’t want to keep after the wedding).

-If you’d prefer to use disposables, make sure they’re made of recycled materials or are compostable. (design sponge)

-Print your invitations on eco friendly paper. There are tons of options here; from selecting an FSC (fscus) certified paper (available from most printers), to going with handmade plantable paper.

(twisted limb paper, invite site,or green field paper)

-Try to find a printer that uses soy based inks

-Make your invitations lightweight in the paper department by printing a two sided postcard, avoiding double envelopes, and trying to keep inserts to a minimum.

-If you need to get a lot of information out to your guests, create a wedding website or blog to keep them updated instead of printing multiple inserts.

Photography

-Ask if your photographer can provide online proofing rather than printed proofs

-Make sure you get prints and albums of your special day.  Posting your photos online is a great way to share your wedding day memories with friends and family, but a print on your wall or an album on your coffee table requires no electricity to view time and time again.  Plus, physical prints have better color, detail, and they will last much longer than a lifetime. Your wedding photos deserve the best.

Travel

-Take travel into consideration when choosing your wedding location, and try to select a place that will minimize how far guests need to travel.

-If guests will be traveling from far away, consider offsetting their emissions as your gift to them, or asking them to do it as their gift to you. ( terra pass)

-Have your ceremony and reception at the same location, or provide a carpool or shuttle between locations to minimize fuel usage.

Photography by: Claire Marika Photogrpahy

-You can have an eco-friendly honeymoon by opting for a staycation (designspongeonline.coml), a camping/glamping honeymoon(goglamping.net), ecotourism (rei.com, planeta.com, responsible travel.com) or staying in a family run B&B.

About the Author~ Claire Marika is a Utah wedding photographer with a passion for
her clients and a bright, clean, and creative visual style. You can see
her work at clairemarika.com.