A guide to making your Wedding more sustainable

Eco-friendly writer Daisy Moss explores ways to ensure your Big Day makes less of a big impact on the planet with this guide to making your Wedding more sustainable

They say your wedding day is one of the most special days of your life, so you want it to be everything your partner and you have dreamed of. 

Unfortunately, weddings create a horrendous amount of waste each year, but this can easily be avoided. There are many small tweaks you can make to your big day that will help to protect the planet – and it won’t cost you any more than a less eco-friendly wedding. 

In fact, it will save you some money! 

So making wedding plans with your partner, try to take a few of these ideas onboard to mark the occasion in a way that is wonderful for you, and for Mother Nature. 

Propose With Vintage Jewellery

Jewellery manufacturing is an extremely wasteful and exploitative process that is damaging to people and environments across the World. So, a fantastic alternative is to propose with a vintage engagement ring. 

Not only will you be avoiding the mass production process which has a significant impact on our planet, but you will be able to select a beautiful and unique piece of jewellery that reflects the character of your partner – rather than a mass produced identikit diamond engagement ring,

Additionally, when you buy vintage (or second hand) jewellery, tax would have already been paid on the item once, so you don’t need to pay it again. This means that you can buy a ring that has the same quality metal and a gemstone with the same colour, clarity, cut and carat as a modern equivalent, but for 20% cheaper. 

There is also something quite romantic about the fact that the ring has a strong history of its own – and you will be adding to that with your marriage. 

Send Online Invitations

There are many eco-friendly invitation options that are stunning if you want to send physical invitations, however the most sustainable option is to go completely paperless and send invitations online. 

You can find plenty of websites that will enable you to design beautiful wedding invites (some are free and others you have to pay for) that can be sent out digitally and also receive RSVPs digitally. 

Many solutions provide a personalised website for your wedding that will enable people to RSVP, find important information about travel and accommodation, and also allow you to update guests with any news about the big day, post photos and any other information unique to you and your wedding. It can even be quite exciting for guests to have a wedding hub they can explore and it is very different to what they might have experienced before. 

Although you may need to pay a small amount to design the invitations and set up the website, it will be far less than the cost of paying for all the invitations to be printed and posted. 

And most importantly, you won’t be using up any resources.

Choose Your Location Carefully 

Before committing to a wedding venue, ask them about their sustainability efforts. 

Do they use renewable energy sources? Do they prioritise limiting food waste? How do they neutralise their environmental impact? What is their recycling policy? If they can confidently offer you information in answer to these questions they could be the right venue for you.

And being considerate of the environment doesn’t mean you will have to compromise on beauty. For a non-traditional and beautiful wedding you could get married at a National Park or National Trust location. Not only will the backdrop for the wedding be jaw dropping, but some of the money you pay will go towards the preservation of the venue and protecting local wildlife. You might need a special permit, but this is something you can discuss with them. 

Prepare for some seriously beautiful photos! 

Use Your Local Florist and Local Flowers

Rather than using a big city company or a florist that imports flowers from around the World, use a local florist who sources local seasonal flowers. There will be no better fit for your wedding aesthetically than seasonal flowers and you will have reduced the carbon footprint of your wedding considerably as a result of the lack of transit. 

From bright and beautiful summer blooms to stunning winter shrubs, there is no need to look further afield for your flowers. Plus, supporting local businesses who are environmentally conscious is always a brilliant thing to do. 

Use Petals As Confetti

Plastic, paper or rice confetti can be extremely damaging to wildlife, so use an even better eco-friendly alternative. 

Air-drying wildflower petals will give you the most beautiful confetti that is safe to use. Rather than buying the petals, you can collect them over a long period of time, saving you plenty of money. Make sure you aren’t picking any flowers that are poisonous though – nasty rashes and nausea aren’t a good look in wedding photos! 

When you’re ready to start putting your confetti bags together mix in some dried lavender for a beautiful scent. 

You won’t find confetti that looks better than this, it will smell amazing and it won’t be harmful to the environment. 

Rent, Sell or Donate Your Wedding Outfits 

Rather than buying your wedding suits and dresses, consider renting them. Again, you will cut out the damaging mass production that comes with most of the clothing industry and you will save money. Most people buy a wedding outfit and never wear it again, keeping it stored away somewhere. However, renting is a great opportunity to reduce waste and still feel like a boss. 

If you really have your heart set on a particular style that can’t be rented then support a local tailor who uses responsibly sourced materials. And the same goes for the wedding dress. 

After the wedding, you can sell or donate the wedding outfits to once again reduce waste and to let someone else enjoy your beautiful outfits on their own special day. 

Select Reusable Wedding Favours

One way to encourage responsible habits from your guests is to give them reusable wedding favours. 

Selecting something that will replace non-sustainable items in their home will ensure that not only are you preventing waste at the wedding, but you could also encourage change for years to come in other people. 

For example, you could gift each guest some beeswax wrap that they could take home their slice of cake in – and then keep for years to keep food fresh at home. Or you could give each guest a small terracotta pot with some herb seeds, to encourage them to grow their own rather than buy packaged versions from the supermarket. 

There are so many options to suit you and your guests, so be creative and think about how you could inspire positive change through this simple gesture. 

Carefully Select Biodegradable or Reusable Decorations

When you look at wedding decorations, ask yourself, are they either biodegradable or reusable?

Using natural materials that are biodegradable will look absolutely beautiful and it will protect the planet. You could also rent decorations that will be used over and over again, allowing you to achieve the aesthetic you have always dreamed of without such an impact on the environment. 

Companies will come and set up the decorations as you wish and collect them after the wedding, which takes the stress off you and will make the venue look amazing. 

When looking for a company to rent decorations from, try to find one that is also conscious of their footprint and uses natural materials, such as linens, wood, vintage tableware and solar lighting. 

Gifts from Guests: Ask For Donations To Environmental Charities 

When you don’t specify anything as a wedding gift, it’s likely that people will default to buying you items you don’t really need that will come heavily packaged and wrapped. So, a fantastic alternative is to ask for donations to go towards an environmental charity. 

When you set up your online RSVP website, you could have a section on Gifts that contains a link to an environmental charity of your choice. This could also be highlighted on the invitation. 

You could choose a wildlife conservation charity, a charity that protects the ocean or organisations that push for changes in policies to make renewable energy more affordable. Choose something that is important to your partner and you and it will be really special to use your union as a way to get your guests involved in supporting that too. 

Final Thoughts

Your wedding day is a very important day for you, your partner and your loved ones, but if you aren’t conscious it can have a severe impact on the environment. These small and simple changes will definitely not lessen the enjoyment of your day – if anything, they will make it even more special and beautiful! 

When making choices about your wedding day, try to consider whether there are more eco-friendly alternatives. The smallest things make a big difference when it comes to the environment, so be innovative and start setting eco-friendly trends that others will follow. 

If you do nothing else, try to shop local. Use local tailors, florists, caterers and venues to support hard working businesses and to reduce the impact that long distance transportation can have.

We hope that you have a magical day and create memories that last a lifetime. Thanks to you making these mindful choices, the environment will benefit too. 

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Daisy Moss is a writer specialising in eco-friendly living. When she isn’t writing, she loves finding new ways to live sustainably without spending a fortune!