Your wedding is not only of the most special day of your life, but it can also be one of the most wasteful, with excess food and single-use items landing up in the bin, bunches of flowers thrown away and guest favours left behind.
Making a few small changes can have a significant impact on the overall sustainability of your wedding. Incorporating ‘green’ aspects can be more budget-friendly too.
Keen to hear some ideas about hosting a sustainable wedding with less waste? To help you plan a ‘greener’ wedding, we’ve rounded up 5 eco wedding ideas:
1. It all starts with the venue
The easiest way to have an environmentally-friendly wedding is to pick a wedding venue that can accommodate your sustainable wishes.
One of the biggest ways to cut down energy consumption (and a beautiful choice too) is to have your wedding outdoors where the sun can provide your lighting. If you’re having a brunch or day wedding, you can consider having both the ceremony and the reception outside.
At Harrington House, the choice is yours when it comes to weddings. We have a number of both indoor and outdoor options for you to choose from, which means you can easily bring an outdoor ceremony indoors later or celebrate your entire day in our bountiful gardens and sweeping lawns.
Even if you’re not so keen on the outdoor aspect, simply having your ceremony and reception at one venue makes for a greener wedding as guests don’t have to travel between to get from one event to the next, as it cuts back on fuel emissions.
If you choose a wedding venue like Harrington House that is already tastefully decorated, you won’t need to bring in too much additional decor – just a couple of touches to make it ‘yours’. Using a venue that fits in with your style by default will not only save you money, but will also cut down on the resources needed to deck your wedding out with decor.
2. Go the recycled route
If you choose printed stationery, opt for recycled paper or use other upcycled materials like fabric, leather or wood offcuts. These days, you can even find recycled paper that has seeds inside it – when you plant the paper, the seeds grow into flowers or herbs, which means that the paper doesn’t go to waste.
Better yet, you can choose to go all-electronic when it comes to invites and save-the-dates. Wedding websites are a popular way of giving your guests all the details that they need to know before the Big Day.
3. Something borrowed
Where possible, borrow instead of buy! This saves money, and helps to save the planet. Here are some ideas of wedding wares that you can rent or borrow rather than buy:
- Wedding dress – rented or second-hand wedding dress shops may have your dream dress waiting just for you…
- Do you have any heirloom rings in your family? Using an existing ring is a special touch that also saves resources.
- From candlebra to vases to signboards, decor providers offer a wealth of items for rent.
- Your caterer can likely provide glassware, cutlery and crockery, or recommend someone who can.
- Consider using decor items you already own or used pieces you’d like to incorporate into your home after the wedding.
- Perhaps getting beer on-tap is another option instead of all those bottles and cans to throw out later?
4. Pot the plants
Flowers can be one of the most wasteful aspects of the wedding, as they die soon after being used or are simply thrown away after the wedding. For a more sustainable choice, use potted or plantable flowers that can double as guest favours.
If you’re more of a bouquet bride, have your wedding planner or someone in your wedding party arrange your wedding flowers into small bouquets for your guests to take home so that your flowers can at least be enjoyed for a few more days.
Another option is to forgo the flowers completely. Many brides these days are getting creative with floral alternatives such as candles, fabric offcuts, paper flowers, whatever you can imagine!
5. Greener gifts
You can use your registry to continue your ‘green’ start into the rest of your marriage by asking for items that will help make your household more sustainable. Some ideas include stainless steel straws, a composter, a worm farm or a Wonderbag.
Many couples these days already live independently and don’t actually need many more household items. If this is the case, why not consider asking your guests to donate money to an environmental charity in lieu of a gift?
Let’s make your eco-friendly day happen!
We hope that these ideas have been helpful and given you some green-spiration! At Harrington House, it’s our goal to give you your wedding, your way, and we will do all that we can to accommodate your eco-friendly wedding wishes. Give us a shout, and let’s chat.
Sources:
- https://www.marthastewartweddings.com/388261/ways-plan-eco-friendly-wedding?slide=763862
- https://www.brides.com/story/earth-day-eco-friendly-wedding-ideas
- https://www.theknot.com/content/eco-friendly-wedding-guide
