Simple ways to have an eco-friendly wedding

Having a wedding theme is all the rage these days, but what if you don’t care for themes, only the environment? That’s easy. Make the environment your “theme” by using these simple ideas to create your perfect eco-friendly wedding.

Vintage furniture

For couples who are having a DIY wedding or who are trying to spend less, buying cheap plastic chairs can often be cheaper than hiring some out from a company. The problem with plastic chairs is that they’re not very environmentally friendly. So a good solution would be to purchase mismatched, second hand, vintage chairs from charity shops, online, anywhere, to make the eco-friendly message speak loud and clear. If your budget is not as tight, you could hire furniture from a company who will either have matching sets or have mismatched ones. It all just depends on your aesthetic and budget.

Locally-sourced flowers

Something important to consider when you plan your wedding is where the flowers are from. If you’re getting your flowers from somewhere overseas, is that really the best thing for the environment? Eco-loving babes should definitely buy locally sourced flowers for their bouquets and centrepieces to make sure they’re sticking with their environmental goals. Plus, locally-sourced flowers will be cheaper than imported ones anyway, so win-win!

Cruelty-free makeup & hair products

Another simple and easy way to stay on track with your eco-friendly wedding is to choose makeup artists and a hairdresser who will use cruelty-free makeup and hair products. This includes products that are vegan, are palm oil free and weren’t tested on animals. You could either find someone who only uses products like this or take a little shopping trip and purchase the products you want your beauty team to use. Just ask them first before you launch in so you’re all on the same page.

Fairtrade diamonds

If you’re newly engaged and you and your partner plan to pick the ring together then consider getting conflict free diamonds. Many retailers sell ethically sourced diamonds now so they’re very easy to come by. This obviously also stands for any diamond jewellery you wish to wear at your wedding.

A local, used or vintage dress

A lot of people say the most important thing about a wedding is the dress. The problem with wedding dresses is that many brides wear them once and then end up either keeping them perfectly preserved for the rest of their lives or they donate them to charity. This means that there are an abundance of wedding dresses sitting in charity shops waiting to be used again. If you like the idea of reusing things instead of buying new, then why not take a look at some charity shops? We’re not suggesting you walk down the aisle in an 80s puffed sleeved number though. Many brides have found genuine high end, designer wedding dresses in charity shops for a fraction of the cost of a new dress. How can you go wrong?

Another way to stay on the eco-friendly path would be to get a vintage dress. This is easy enough to do. Pick your favourite era and grab a beauty from one of the many vintage wedding dress boutiques cropping up around the country.

Lastly, if you have your heart set on a new dress then don’t let your environmental values stop you from getting what you want. You can easily improve how eco-friendly that dress is based on where it was made. Just like the flowers, get something locally designed and made. You’ll be wearing something extremely unique, something bespoke and if it’s local then it’s travel footprint is low meaning you can sleep easy that you made an ethical choice.

Zero waste catering

Catering is always a point of contention for us environment lovers and warriors. Wedding catering tends to mean waste. There tends to be things left on people’s plates, there is often more food than required and there will always be leftover cake. A simple way to make sure there is no waste is to have a buffet, finger food or hire food trucks. A buffet means any leftover food hasn’t been contaminated and can be eaten later. And the same goes for finger food. Food trucks cook their food fresh so no wastage will come from that option either. When it comes to cake, consider sending some home with each guest in individual recycled cake boxes so that none gets left uneaten. You can even freeze cake if you still have leftovers.

Vegetarian food

As we all know by now, eating meat isn’t great for the environment. So, if you’re keen to really make a stance at your wedding, you can opt for vegetarian catering. Vegetarian food is delicious and healthy and often when people who are big meat-eaters eat really good vegetarian food, they love it. So you need not fret that your meat-loving grandfather will complain. If you’re committed to your eco-friendly goal, then a vegetarian menu is the obvious choice. Many catering companies are vegetarian these days so you’ll have a range of choices for your animal-free feast.

Recycled paper invitations

Recycled paper invitations are a great way to keep on the eco-friendly theme. You can get recycled paper in a range of colours and textures from rustic looking to even beautiful plain white invitation paper. Recycled doesn’t have to mean rustic, so shop around and you’ll find the perfect eco-friendly paper for your invites.

Hire rather than purchase

Depending on your budget, hiring items for your wedding is a really great way to stay on the eco-friendly track. Many people buy for their weddings and then end up throwing out table cloths and the cheap chairs they got on sale. So if you want to minimise waste, then shop around for hire companies so you don’t need to worry about what your purchases are doing to the environment.