We all need to try and be more sustainable and eco-aware in our everyday lives. Recycling more, wasting less, consuming less plastic, and consuming less in general.
Weddings can also be eco-conscious if you want them to be. here’s a few tips on how you could make your day more environmentally friendly, less wasteful and still have an amazing time into the bargain.
Some of you will have been planning your weddings you whole life in one form or another. being green doesn’t mean it’s going to remove any of the amazing details you want from your day, but it is going to make you think slightly differently about what you want, what you need and what is a huge waste on resources.
Your dress, does it need to be new? Does your mum, gran, great aunt have a vintage masterpiece which they would be happy to pass on to you for you to wear, and maybe adapt a little to your own design?
Second hand wedding dresses are a thing too and a lot less expensive than buying brand new.
The day itself, obviously the smaller the wedding, the less waste. have you considered eloping or having a micro-wedding with just your close family present?
If you’re still set on 100+ guests though you can still be green if you want to be.
Favours - your guests do not need favours, well they don’t need something that they are going to either bin or hide in a drawer when they get home anyway. Consider a cupcake, a donation to a charity on their behalf, or something that is easily recycled.
Confetti - once thrown, where does confetti go? it gets blown away but it doesn’t go away for some time. Consider options such as Dried flower petals, dried leaves, bird seed, rice (not pudding!)
Glitter is one big micro plastic nightmare... avoiding an excess of the sparkles would greatly help. Consider your wedding invites, table names, table confetti - would a handmade paper or chalkboard alternative look just as stunning? Perhaps you could send e-invites instead, cutting out paper/glitter altogether.
Your venue - ask your venue what they can do to help your wedding be more eco-conscious. Do they recycle their glass bottles? do they use green energy? So they compost food waste. I have been to some of the most amazing weddings and they haven’t all been in big hotels/castles. They have varied from church halls, to bell tents in a woodland to log cabins & they have all be amazingly special days for everyone involved.
One particular wedding that stands out for me was one of my friends weddings in Aboyne Victory Hall, they decorated the place themselves, batch catered themselves (a delicious lscagne) and the best thing was that all of their plates, and cutlery were compostable made from plant leaves!
Food - Does it have to be meat? Could you provide a delicious vegetarian alternative maybe? Or just simply cut back on the meat products used?
Travel - do you need to jet great aunt Mildred from Australia to attend your wedding? Would a live video stream be an option instead?
Following on from travel - does you honeymoon need to be a round the world epic on a plane or would travelling somewhere within europe, on a train, in a campervan, on a ferry be just as amazing?
The same applies to your Hen/Stag do. There is a trend to have an ‘away hen or stag do’ these days. Just consider the impact this might have on the environment if you all jet off to ibiza for a long weekend of drinking - could this be done closer to home?
Suppliers - source your wedding suppliers locally to your wedding venue. This means less miles travelled. There are fabulous photographers, videographers, bands, entertainers, venue decorators etc all living in Aberdeenshire. They don’t need to come from London, or even abroad to be able to attend.
What I’m trying to say here is, don’t feel guilty for having a big white wedding. You don’t have to get married in a cave to be eco. Just making a conscious effort to try and include greener aspects to your day is an excellent start, cutting out unnecessary waste, or exchanging something’s for something recycled, secondhand or hireable.
I haven’t gone into everything you could possibly do to be eco-conscious here, but if you are in the early stages of planning and would like any help or advice then please do get in touch. babeinthewood.com/contact