Your wedding is going to be one of the most special days of your life, so you want to make all your dreams come true. However, traditional weddings often come at a cost for the environment. There is so much waste associated with weddings, from guest travel to clothes, flowers, and food. So, we are here to help you make a few eco-friendly choices! You won’t need to compromise on anything that you want for your big day and with these suggestions, your day could become even more special and also affordable!
Propose With Vintage Jewellery
The first thing you can do to make your wedding more eco-friendly (before it’s even begun) is to propose with vintage jewelry. The mining of diamonds, gemstones, and metals is extremely damaging and exploitative, particularly as a result of poor planning and regulation. It can also be exceptionally dangerous. So, choosing a vintage engagement ring, and then complimentary vintage wedding rings, is the best way to avoid this completely.
There are so many absolutely beautiful vintage engagement rings out there just waiting to be loved and appreciated by a new owner. The level of craftsmanship that went into creating these rings is often unparalleled in modern equivalents, they are so beautiful and you completely cut out the need to create a new ring. Also, they are usually much better value, as vintage jewelry is VAT exempt, making it 20% cheaper than modern rings for the same quality.
The most special thing about choosing a vintage or antique engagement ring is that you can continue a beautiful love story and be a part of carrying it on.
Keep The Guest List Small
The next tip to make your wedding more eco-friendly is to keep the guest list small. With a smaller wedding, every single type of waste is reduced. Not only this but with fewer guests, there is so much less stress and it will cost so much less! You are also going to have so much more flexibility with the venue you choose, as a smaller guest list massively increases your choice.
The biggest benefit of having a small wedding guest list is that you can spend the majority of your day with your nearest and dearest, without having to spend the entire day trying to have a chat with all of your guests. Many brides and grooms barely get to spend any time together on their wedding day (as weird as it sounds), but with a smaller wedding, you will get the alone time you deserve on your special day. You can also consider the rules of setting good fitness and diets goals in 2023 that will also help in the wedding time.
Think About Your Location
The next thing that you need to do is think about your location. Some venues won’t care one bit about their environmental impact, so it is important that you ask a few essential questions early on. Don’t be afraid to ask them whether they use renewable energy, how they dispose of their food waste, their recycling policy, what they are doing to become carbon neutral, how they maintain their outdoor spaces. If you are planning to have a vegan menu (see below) then this is also something to bear in mind. Making sure that you are comfortable with the venue and their environmental commitment from the very beginning is key.
Choose Seasonal and Local Flowers
Another way that you can make your wedding more eco-friendly is to choose seasonal and local flowers. When you go to your florist and show them a photo of a bouquet that you like, it is likely that a lot of the flowers will need to be imported. Of course, this has an environmental impact. So, a beautiful alternative is to choose flowers that are in season and local to you. Go to a local florist and ask them which flowers are in season locally to you.
There is no better way to tie your flowers into your wedding day than making them seasonal. Plus, this will save you money!
Have A Vintage Outfit
Next up, you can choose a vintage outfit. The wedding fashion industry is extremely wasteful, with the process of making wedding dresses being very labor, resource, and material intensive for an outfit that is only worn once!
So, you should consider a vintage outfit, whether that be a dress, jumpsuit, or suit. All of the same benefits that you get with vintage jewelry are apparent, so this is definitely worth looking into. After you have worn and loved your dress, you could either take it to a seamstress to have it repurposed or you could sell it on so it can be loved by someone else.
Make Your Menu Vegan
In terms of your food, why not make your menu vegan? A plant-based diet is the most sustainable option when it comes to food, so this should certainly be considered. When you first visit your venue, ask if they offer vegan food. If not, you could negotiate on the price and have external caterers come in.
Vegan wedding food doesn’t have to be boring at all by the way! Here is an example menu that will make sure that none of your guests miss meat:
Canapes: Satay Aubergine Skewers, Courgette Fritters with a Mint Dip, Caramelised Red Onions Hummus and Crudites, and Veggie Bao Buns
Starter: Warm Winter Squash Salad with Agave and Mustard Dressing, Candied Walnuts and Micro Greens
Main: Mushroom and Beetroot Wellington with Dauphinoise Potatoes and Winter Vegetables
Dessert: Vegan Chocolate Torte with Raspberry Sorbet and Shortbread Biscuits
Skip Buffets
Whilst we’re on the topic of food, it is advised that you skip buffets and instead opt for a meal for each guest. Buffets are great when it comes to variety when you have a lot of guests, they create so much waste! Creating a meal specifically for each guest is a much more eco-friendly option. Plus, a sit-down meal is a perfect opportunity to spend some time with your new husband or wife.
Go For Eco-Friendly Confetti
When you finish the ceremony, having your guests throw confetti over you is a tradition. However, in the past, it was often plastic confetti was used. Even in small amounts, this could massively impact the local land and wildlife. So, choosing an eco-friendly alternative is ideal. Many venues don’t even let you use plastic confetti anymore, so eco-friendly choices should be the choice no matter what.
Over the course of a few months before your wedding, you could collect petals to dry out in your garage. In the days running up to the wedding, you could cut them up slightly and mix them with lavender to make them smell amazing! This will look and smell far more beautiful than plastic alternatives.
Rethink Your Wedding Favours
Last but not least, you can rethink your wedding favors to make them eco-friendly. Choosing just any old favors for the sake of it is not only impersonal but is also a massive waste, as people are unlikely to use or appreciate it. Instead, you could choose favors that are eco-friendly and you know will get used to!
If you’re having a winter wedding and want something food-themed for your favors, you could have stir-in hot chocolate sticks that your guests will appreciate. You could go in a completely different direction and choose flower bombs. These are biodegradable little boxes filled with wildflower seeds. When your guest gets home, they can simply throw the bomb on their garden, and over the coming months, the box will completely decompose, the seeds will be released and the flowers will begin to grow! Every time your guests look at their garden, they will be reminded of their special day.
Final Thoughts
So, there you have it! Hopefully, we have shown that you don’t need to compromise on your dream wedding, but you can make a few simple swaps that will help to make your wedding so much more eco-friendly.
