Eco
Friendly living is becoming really popular at the moment. So how can you apply
this to your Wedding Day? http://www.greenishwedding.com has some great tips! Here is
what they suggest:
General Tips
1.
Choose who you invite carefully, don’t just
invite people to make up numbers. This will reduce the environmental impact
from traveling, invitations, and food and drink preparation.
2.
When you want to know how much carbon emission
does your wedding have, you can use a carbon calculator. You can then try to
offset that by contributing the equivalent amount to organizations like Zero
Carbon Weddings or CarbonFund.org.
3.
Encourage their guests to carpool when going
to the venue.
4.
Make use of local artisans where possible.
5.
Hire a photographer who uses recycled paper
for his photos and albums.
6.
If you have to use disposable items (like
plates and cups) try to use of organic-based disposable items like corn based
plastic and sugar cane plates.
Green Venues
7.
Try not to choose an isolated venue so guests
don’t have to travel far.
8.
Try to have your wedding at a central location
near public transport.
9.
It would be better if the venue is an outdoor
location to avoid using lights.
10.
If you are having the reception at night time,
if possible, try using candels for table lights, as not only is this romantic
but it will also be memorable for everyone involved.
11.
Try to find a venue that makes water
conservation and recycling a priority. Also ask the venue if it only uses local
suppliers where possible.
12.
Try and use some green transportation when it
comes to getting yourself to the church. We like the idea of a horse and
carriage, but these days hybrid cars are becoming more and more popular.
13.
Hold the wedding ceremony and reception in one
venue to avoid traveling which contributes to carbon emissions.
14.
Choose a venue whose management contributes to
a cause for a local art gallery or botanical garden.
15.
If you can, look for venues that have solar
power panels. Establishments using these solar panels have reduced energy
usage.
16.
You can choose local parks that have
recreation areas or community centers.
17.
Community recreation centers and clubhouses
are a great alternative venues for hotel receptions
Invitations
18.
Create a website to communicate preparations.
19.
Create a wishlist of eco-friendly products on
your wedding site for your guests to know what gifts to give you.
20.
E-mail invitations and inform the guests the
principle behind not using traditional paper invitations
21.
If you do send invites by post then focus on
the eco-friendliness in the invitation content.
22.
Try to minimize resources used in creating the
invitation’s design.
23.
You can choose to give the paper invitations
only to a few special people like your close family (ie. mum and grandma!) who
can appreciate them.
24.
For your invitations, you can use organic
products like cotton, hemp, or bamboo.
25.
Send postcards as invitations to save paper on
the envelopes.
26.
For something a bit different why not make
your wedding invitations from rags and put them through a production processes
similar to that of a printed letterpress and use handset type using
vegetable-based inks.
27.
If you preferred to send paper invitations, at
least use recycled paper.
Clothing
28.
Vintage gowns are very popular these days.
29.
There are many charity stores that have
wedding dress sections. Buying from them is contributing to a cause and helping
to reduce fuel use in making new dresses.
30.
Grandma’s wedding dress can be customized! Not
only does it evoke a sentimental value; it helps to reduce costs, fuel
emissions, and further use of organic products in creating a new one.
31.
Men can look really good with the use of
organic hemp suits.
32.
Rent a gown instead. You will only use it
once.
33.
If possible, and this is mainly from the men,
try and choose an outfit that you can use for other formal occasions.
34.
If you opt for a new wedding gown, try to find
one that uses organic fibers.
35.
Your flower girls can use custom-made dresses
that they can use over and over again.
36.
Any environmentally conscious bride can wear a
wedding gown made from natural fabrics with detachable bottoms that makes it
suitable for both the wedding ceremony and reception and even for some formal
occasions in the future.
37.
You can look for auctioned vintage dresses at
eBay instead of buying a brand-new wedding gown.
Wedding Rings
38.
Choose a conflict-free diamond that’s
certified under the Kimberly process.
39.
Read up on details about conflict-free
diamonds from Amnesty International before you buy your diamond wedding rings.
40.
It’s always wise and eco-friendly to choose
vintage rings. This way you can help reduce the environmental impact of
creating a brand-new one.
41.
You can also melt down the metals of an old
ring and make a new one out of it.
42.
Choose diamonds that are mined in peaceful
countries like Canada and Australia.
43.
Instead of diamond rings, wooden touch wood
rings can be an eco-friendly alternative.
44.
Try to find diamond stores that give a
percentage of its proceeds to environmental preservation organizations like the
Association of Responsible Mining.
45.
Recycled jewelries can help the environment a
lot besides exuding the value of sentimentality.
Wedding Flowers and Decors
46.
Instead of cut flowers, you can borrow potted
plants from a nursery.
47.
You can also buy new flowers or plants but
donate them afterwards or let another couple borrow them.
48.
To decorate the aisle, use organic rose
petals.
49.
It would be better to use organic local plants
instead of imported plants and flowers. which require travel.
50.
Keep away from decors that are disposable.
51.
Potted plants can look just as nice as cut
flowers.
52.
You can also use potted herbs like lavenders
as decors.
53.
Organic candles like those made from beeswax
or soy are earth-friendly.
54.
If you can’t avoid balloons completely, make
sure you get FSC certified ones.
55.
You can reuse the flowers used in your wedding
as table and dance floor decors during reception.
56.
After you wedding flowers are used, you can
donate them to local hospital or senior citizen nursing homes.
57.
Hire a local florist who grows her own flowers
and potted plants.
58.
Try to only use flowers that are in season,
otherwise the flowers will have to imported.
59.
Avoid unnecessary washing of table cloths by
using recycled paper for the table cloths.
Wedding Food and Drinks
60.
Make use of organic, local, and seasonal
foods.
61.
Instead of alcoholic beverages, you can serve
organic fruit juice and sparkling water.
62.
There are good organic wines and beer available.
63.
To offset the costs of food preparation, you
can donate excess food.
64.
Instead of commercial table napkins, use
recyclable ones.
65.
If you are going to serve chocolates make them
from organic ingredients.
66.
Buy your local produce from farmer’s markets
or local farm to save on gas and carbon emission in transport.
67.
Look for a caterer who knows about sustainable
catering.
68.
If you prefer to have beverages served in your
wedding, you can source a local brewery to provide you and your guests beverage
right from their keg.
69.
It’s healthy and helpful to the environment
when majority of the food served would be vegetarian cuisine.
70.
Bake your own wedding cake or ask a loved-one
to do so with organic ingredients.
71.
You don’t have to have a wedding cake, you
could have a fruit pie made from fruits from the local orchard. Wonderful!
72.
Make sure the kind of seafood you have on the
menu is sustainably harvested.
Wedding Favors
73.
For every traveling guest, give a tree
seedling to make a small effort to offset carbon emission.
74.
Instead of giving away traditional wedding
favors, you can donate instead to charitable institutions. Try to look for a
charity in Changingthepresent.org.
75.
Organize a tree planting activity in lieu of a
bridal shower and document everything so that you and your friends will have
something to look back and see your trees blossom in the future.
76.
Herbs in small pots can be taken home as
wedding favors. They are ready for planting.
77.
Give away tree saplings in biodegradable pots
as wedding favors.
78.
Use cotton paper or soy ink to send them your
wedding thank-you note.
79.
Choose a local artisan to make your wedding
favors.
Wedding Honeymoons
80.
Select an eco-friendly resort or hotel to
spend your honeymoon.
81.
Think about indulging in cause-oriented
activities such as volunteering in an orphanage for a week as your honeymoon.
82.
There would be less impact to the environment
when you travel to nearby places or highly accessible locations that won’t
require you to transfer from one mode of transportation to another.
83.
Take the low carbon route when you’re heading
toward your honeymoon destination.
Wedding Planner
84.
Choose a green wedding planner who is knowledgeable
about the local area.
85.
A green wedding planner must be creative
enough to think of holding eco-friendly themed activities.
86.
It’s helpful if he or she has experience in
organizing environmental awareness activities.
87.
A green wedding planner must not only be
imaginative and innovative, he or she must be resourceful. He or she should
know where to get eco-friendly alternatives that are more affordable.
Wedding Gifts
88.
Come up with a charity list for your wedding
guests instead of receiving traditional wedding gifts from them.
89.
Give handcrafted wedding gifts. Buying
hand-crafted wedding items will help support international trade projects and
small local business and local design talents.
90.
Look for gift items that are made from
recycled products.
91.
You can give these home starters some
eco-friendly garden products that encourage nature and wildlife awareness.
92.
Avoid giving highly packaged goods as wedding
gifts.
93.
For your bridesmaids’ dedication and hard
work, you can give them an organic spa day as your bridemaids’ gifts or you can
host an organic spa day treatment in your own home.
94.
Organic home-made cosmetics will make
excellent and affordable bridesmaids’ gifts in the same way that they can be
used by members of the bridal entourage.
95.
Before buying wedding presents, check whether
they are all energy efficient.
96.
Earth Day books make excellent wedding
presents for a newlywed couple.
Eco Friendly Wedding Photos –
www.greenerphotography.org
97.
Make sure your photographer only uses digital
photos, to save on the chemicals used in film photography
98.
As the photography to only use recycled photo
books
99.
Ask if the studio is carbon neutral, and if
they are make sure you purchase the offsets, or confirm that the carbon offsets
are included in price.
100.
Make sure the images are posted online for
review, not printed.
If you would like
Kliq Weddings to cover your Video and Photography of your Wedding then please
visit our website at: www.kliqweddings.co.uk to find out how we can help you.
