5 Ways to Make Your Wedding Eco-Friendly
Posted by Kristina Proctor on March 2nd, 2010Going ‘green’ on your wedding day doesn’t have to be painful or expensive. There are a few steps you can take to lower your carbon footprint and create a greener wedding.
- Lowering the guest list. Between travel, hotel, transportation, lighting, catering and more, your wedding’s carbon footprint can get rather extensive. By lowering your attendance you also lower carbon emissions, food costs and more- resulting in saving money. You can calculate your possible wedding carbon emissions here.
- The invitations. Fewer invites means less paper waste. Think about electronic options! Your grandmother might prefer RSVP-ing with a stamped envelope, but your best friend might feel that a private email reply will suffice. Give your attendees the option to RSVP electronically.
- Keep it local and organic! Most areas, especially metros, have farmer’s markets and local organizations that support local businesses and growers. These merchants can provide you with insight on what’s in season for flowers and produce.
- Bring the ceremony and reception together. If you are not having the ceremony and reception in the same location, make the reception within walking distance or a short drive of the ceremony. This not only reduces confusion and lag time between activities but cuts down on the car emissions.
- The Dress. There is no doubt that finding the perfect wedding dress is on the top of your priority list. Instead of heading to the bridal shop for a brand new one, think about wearing a recycled dress! Give a consignment or a thrift store a try. There are also several online stores and resources focused on recycled wedding dresses.
While going green takes a little extra effort, it can save you in the long run. Take the couple in the video for instance. They went against the traditional inside ceremony and went with an outside wedding. Between the natural light, locally picked flowers and recycled cutlery, they were able to go green- their way.
Thanks for visiting our Wedding Blog While you're here you may want to check out our wedding vendor guide and if you liked this post, feel free to share your comments below!
Tags: Eco-Friendly Wedding, Eco-Wedding, Enviromentally Friendly Wedding, wedding advice, wedding tips
Love these eco tips! Simple and effective ways to make a big difference.
Thanks Dognbird! I’m actually using these for my wedding. I think some people thinks that going green can be expensive and difficult. But it’s simply changing the way you think.
Thinking locally really helps. :)
The flower tips are especially nice. Everyone should go with what’s in season, whether they’re trying to be eco-friendly or not. And it’s always good to support small business.
These tips are more like going cheap than going green. Also, why do I have to specify my gender in order to comment?
Hey Shannon, thanks for commenting. The reason you have to specify your gender is so that you get the appropriate avatar next to your comment. If you had chosen ‘male’ your avatar would be that of a guy.
Hi Shannon, Thanks for the comment. The goal was to show that going green doesn’t have to be an expensive option. Going green can help with the wedding budget. Do you have any tips for going green?
The site I work for, xtra xtra.com, is a FREE and ECO-FRIENDLY way to send out engagement and wedding announcements. (It’s great when those two things go hand in hand, right?) Of course I’m biased because I work here, but I had to chime in because I think it is a great tool for brides. I know I will post my engagement and wedding announcements this way!
Another way to go green at your wedding is to choose eco friendly wedding favors such as tree seedlings or seed favors which guests can take home to plant and enjoy for months (or even years!) to come.