In a world of imminent climate change it is ever more important to do our part to save the Earth’s natural resources. Here are my top tips for an eco-friendly, plastic-free wedding…
Wildlife friendly wedding favours
Packing and products can use up a lot of the planet’s resources. Think about giving your guests something something useful, and environmentally-friendly instead.
I have seen a lot of Beautiful Wildflower Seed Favours as a gift at last year’s weddings. Your guess will love it when they see their gardens blossom and the bees will find a much needed source of food from the pollen. You can personalise the paper packaging too.
Scented Candles are a lovely gift too. A great supplier of natural candles and bath and body products is Join Store London , made in the UK by Mother Nature and handcrafted using pure essential oils and only natural, plant based ingredients.100% natural and cruelty free, never tested on animals.
Join handcrafted are not just natural but they smell gorgeous too and make great wedding deco elements leaving your venue in a divine scent!
Or you just leave the favours entirely and you make a statement of donating the money to a charity of your choice. Let your guests know and inspire them to perhaps donate too.
Helen & Ed have chosen to donate to the Extra -Mile instead of investing in wedding favours..
Conscious Choice of Decor
Borrow or hire whatever you need. Prop and hire companies have so many beautiful styling items, and you won't need to worry about packing them up and trying to sell them afterwards. Anything you put on the table or decorate with, look at it and think about ways to use natural materials instead of plastic ribbons, place markers and table confetti/glitter. Regarding confetti, use biodegradable. For example Real Flower Petal Confetti Company is natural real flower petal confetti grown in the UK countryside. Biodegradable, environmentally friendly and accepted as non-littering at wedding venues and churchyards. A great bonus as some venues won’t let you use confetti unless its biodegradable more out of the reason that they can’t be asked cleaning it all up after your wedding. The GreenWedding in Cornwall started using homemade pom pom confetti instead, they can look great on your photos!
Re-use or borrow stuff, it can be surprising how willing people are when it comes to offer things from their own weddings. Wood and wild seasonal flowers are always a beautiful sight at weddings. You can collect some lovely coloured glass vases from charity shops, or collect jars. I have seen gin or wine bottles too. Slices of wood with names carved into them make a great table decor and you can take it one step further and ask the National Trust for off cuts from their land managing programme.
And be aware when it comes to your decor balloons are one of the worst environmental issues.
Helen & Ed had a ‘green’ wedding at the Eco Park Porthtowan with locally sourced flower petal confetti from Cornish Gardens Confetti…
Vintage bottles collected from charity shops used as vases and tea light holders…
Wooden center pieces with wild seasonal flowers in recycled jars…
a great DIY table plan made from wooden pallets and pheasant feathers for a farmer’s wedding in St Ives.
Ask for eco-friendly wedding gifts
Avoid plastic packaging and explore other gift ideas instead.
If you’ve got everything you need why not ask your guests to donate to a charity of your choice instead. You can set up your own page with JustGiving . Or ask your guests to donate towards your honeymoon. On Honeyfund you can set up a custom page where you big day and your honeymoon can be funded your own way.
But if you do have a wish list then ask for eco-friendly gifts and make sure you only ask for things you really need and will use.
Use recycled paper for invitations and go digital
Make sure you search for stationary companies that use only recycled paper. Or even better, don’t use paper invites at all and set up a wedding webpage with all the relevant information for your wedding and use e-invites. The webpage is great way to send your guests directions and contacts for your big day and after the big day you can set up a photo gallery for everyone to relive the day.
Regarding your wedding photos, don’t print them all, just the ones you want for framing or an album. Most photographers gladly deliver their photos digitally these days anyway. But if you want a printed album ask your wedding photographer for eco friendly wedding albums.
Buy Ethical Wedding Rings
Try and find wedding and engagement rings in antiques shops or search for suppliers that use recycled gold or fairtrade silver.
Visit Friends of Earth for their guide on buying ethical jewellery.
Choose locally sourced organic food and drink for your wedding feast
One scary wedding statistic is it takes an average of 1,500 miles for food to get from farm to table. So when it comes to your food, the most eco-friendly thing to do is source food locally.
Search for a supplier that uses local, seasonal and organic food or ask your caterer to do this for you. Plus locally sourced food is likely to come with less plastic packaging. Many Cornish venues and caterers are now offering locally sourced food for your wedding meal. Or you could take it one step further and have a vegetarian or vegan wedding meal so your food is not contributing to climate change. I know vegan and vegetarian is not everyone’s thing, but if you do have a meaty feast planned, think about finding suppliers who provide organic lamb and beef, locally reared and maintaining high levels of animal welfare. A great example is the award-winning Nancarrow Farm near Truro, their feasts are absolutely delicious and completely organic and reared on the farm. A stunning wedding venue too!
Another way is to ask you guests to contribute to your meal, it helps to keep the costs down too. Have a ‘best cake’ competition!
Don’t use disposable grocery and recycle whatever you can. You can buy cheap mix and match grocery from charity shops or if that’s not your style think about hiring before using disposables. Don't use straws or plastic cutlery, full stop. Perhaps get a few paper straws for people who really want one, and use wooden cutlery that's later collected up and can be composted.
For evening food, takeaway boxes can be replaced with bagasse boxes or cardboard boxes, depending on what food is going in them. Your caterer will know which one is suited best.
Part of a Vegan Wedding Buffet at Ecopark Porthtowan. So delicious! It’s amazing what their skilled chefs can create…
If you have a meat feast wedding meal make sure it’s organic and locally reared like at Nancarrow Farm.
A cake buffet supplied by wedding guests
A fun thing to do: let your guests bring some home baked cakes along and make it a competition!
The Wedding Dress
One of the biggest waste of resources at weddings is the wedding dress. It costs hundreds or thousands of pounds and will only be worn one day! Think about buying a dress a little different, something you can wear again. You can stand out from the crowds in not wearing a traditional white dress…Or you could buy one second hand from vintage shops or ebay. Same for the groom’s suit and bridesmaid’s dresses and accessories, buy something you can wear again. And consider selling it afterwards if you don’t wear it anymore.
Another option is to choose your wedding dress supplier wisely. Claire L. Headdon's bridal wear collection uses silk fabrics that are all organic, eco-friendly and fairtrade. Handmade in Cornwall, her beautifully designed gowns are ‘environmentally friendly’ and you can still look stunning on your wedding day!
Bella’s gorgeous Ballroom style wedding dress! Something you can wear again on a special night out and such an eye-catcher compared to the traditional white dress! Phil is wearing his scottish kilt, no words needed ;-)
Seasonal flowers
Try to choose flowers which are locally grown and in season. Also ask your florist to avoid plastic ribbons etc and instead use natural materials. Or consider using a bouquet with dried or silk flowers which lasts forever and can be used afterwards as decoration in your house.
Choose an organic wedding cake
As your baker or wedding cake maker to use organic local ingredients in your cake. You could even have a dairy-free cake that will be suitable for vegans and better for the planet. Try not to waste food with a cake that only gets half eaten, consider using it as the main dessert or think about having individual cupcakes or a cheeseboard instead.
Oh this cake! Love it, and 100% organic too!
Environmentally-friendly transport
Ideally find a wedding venue close to home to avoid any unnecessary travel. At least stay in the UK where your guests can car share or use public transport instead of flying. Regarding wedding cars, think about making a statement and hiring a horse carriage, very classy! Or turn up at your wedding with an electric car or even a bicycle.
Encourage guests to consider leaving the car at home if possible and use public transport or you could hire a bus for them– it means they can enjoy a few drinks too!
Choosing the right venue
Choosing where to tie the knot is a big decision. Your venue sets the scene for everything else on your wedding day and we are so lucky to have plenty of beautiful venues on our doorstep here in Cornwall with many of them taking big steps towards becoming more sustainable.
Cornish Tipi Weddings for example is set in beautiful scenery of woodland and lakes to bring you a fairytale venue. They have no electricity on-site (except in the timber-decked marquee), and restricted car means guests are using minimal resources.
Green Weddings at Eco Park Porthtowan Cornwall. A stunning hill top position overlooking the Cornish Coast. Perfect for an informal celebration with the environment in mind. They are passionate about ensuring your wedding leaves as little mark on the world as possible. The wedding menus are 100% Vegetarian and /or Vegan using locally and ethically sourced ingredients. And believe me they are mouthwatering delicious!
The Eden Project one of the most stunning venues in the UK! And weather proof too as you will be in a mediterranean biome where it never rains, definitely a bonus with the unpredictable weather here in Cornwall! Eden is a charity, so everything you spend with them helps to further their transformational social and environmental projects locally and internationally. And the food, oh so delicious! Of course locally sourced too.
Nancarrow Farm Set in a secluded valley near Truro 5 lovingly converted 5 barns create a beautiful venue. They have an in house catering team providing a tasty menu from locally sourced produce and all the meat comes from animals reared on the farm. Also a host of the infamous Nancarrow Feast Nights, which I highly recommend!
There are many more venues who are doing great work to go ‘greener’, but I would sit here all day to list them all. If you are keen on a ‘greener wedding’ please email me and I will send you a list of eco-friendly suppliers.