Five Tips for an Eco-Friendly Wedding (Even if You’re on a Budget!)
You’re excited for your wedding, but you’re worried about the effect your wedding can have on the environment. It’s understandable, from disposable decor and invitations to fuel and utility costs, weddings can be hard on the planet. Don’t worry though, with these tips, you can create your dream wedding without sacrificing sustainability!
Let Nature Set the Scene
Photo by Courtney Chau Photography
Consider an outdoor wedding in a scenic location such as a vineyard, garden, or by a lake. This cuts down on the amount of cut flowers and decorations because the setting is the decoration! Plus an outdoor wedding means you’re not worrying about air conditioning or lighting. Having your reception at the wedding spot (or vice versa) will save on fuel costs from driving to the secondary site (and it will save your out of town guests from getting lost!).
If you do choose an outdoor site, consider your climate. If you live in a hot climate and want an outdoor setting, choose a morning ceremony.
Eco-Friendly Food and Drinks
Photo by Ria Mackenzie Photography
Food and drinks are the highlight of the reception and where a majority of resources go. If you can, work with a caterer who uses organic foods that are locally sourced. In order to stay within a budget, offering vegetarian options are usually less expensive, or even consider appetizers and small bites rather than a full, sit-down meal.
If your wedding is an informal event, instead of going with disposable table settings and paper products, try renting reusable linens and place settings.
Sustainable Centerpieces
Photo by Ria Mackenzie Photography
Lovely centerpieces add beauty to your wedding, but unfortunately, most of them are disposable. Consider your theme and decorate your tables with vintage teapots, crystal bowls overflowing with fresh fruit, or little plates of tiny cakes or macarons.
If you have your heart set on flowers, instead of having fresh-cut floral arrangements that only last a few hours, consider bouquets of dried flowers or container flowers that you or your guests can bring home and plant in the garden! Bonus points for perennials!
Favors to Pay it Forward
Wedding favors are often expensive without getting much in return - bags of mints, magnets, small candles. Make more of an impact that your guests will love by taking the money you’d spend on favors and making a donation to your favorite charity. Leave a note on place cards or digital place settings.
Create a Wedding Website
From R.S.V.Ps to itineraries to place cards, traditional wedding communication is pretty wasteful! Instead of worrying about printing and mailing information for everything but the invitations, create a wedding website! There, you can set up where guests can R.S.V.P., look up directions, and get registry information. Check out The Knot’s Wedding Websites, or design your own through WordPress
You can even put your seating chart on your website, or even a draw up a simple roster where you have the table number and who is seated at each table.
At Lyra Vega Bridal, we know the importance of being eco-friendly! That’s one of the reasons we prefer an online footprint rather than the carbon footprint left by a brick and mortar store! Plus, our affordable wedding dresses are handmade to order, minimizing waste and climate-controlled storage needs. See how a Lyra Vega wedding dress can be a great part of your eco-friendly wedding and schedule a free online consultation today!
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