Lara and Ben celebrate organic love at DIY eco festival wedding

Is this the most environmentally conscious wedding ever?

The day after the DIY eco festival wedding of Lara Stavrinou and Ben Brown, there was just one small bag of rubbish to dispose of. The eco-friendly couple and their families had worked hard to create an organic day, minimizing their environmental footprint.

Lara and Ben, aged 30 and 29 respectively, married on the groom’s parents’ property in Devon. “We both love the outdoors and didn’t want a conventional wedding, so we decided to do it ourselves,” says Lara. “Ben’s parents used eight tonnes of gravel to make the field flood proof, spent months pruning trees and planted flowers to go with our colour scheme. They even made a living arch and a fire pit.”

Friends helped decorate the marquee, the bride’s dad shipped in 20 kilograms of haloumi from their hometown of Cyprus and the bride’s mum catered the event using organic vegetarian food. “The day after the wedding, we had bags of compost and recycling, but only one small bag of rubbish,” smiles Lara.

Photos courtesy of Jessica Milberg Photography.

“Ben’s sister was our project manager for the day. She ran with the spreadsheet I made and everything went smoothly without us having to worry,” explains the bride.

 

Lara’s strapless wedding gown with ruffles and floral adornment was later matched with a leather jacket! “It was a charity shop find … my mum pulled it apart and put it back together as something new,” says the bride.

Entertainment for guests included lawn games like bochi.

“We specifically asked for no gifts,” says Lara. “Friends travelling to Devon and spending a long weekend with us was more than enough.”