There are many ways to plan your big day while also considering the environmental impact. Celebrating and being kind to the earth can go hand in hand! The following suggestions are based on my personal experience with wedding planning and what I found most helpful.
It's worth noting that organizing an eco-friendly wedding isn't overly complicated; it mainly involves resisting the pressure from an industry that promotes excess as necessary for a fantastic event and guest experience, which is just not true. Given that most people, even seasoned event planners, have never organized their own wedding, it offers a great opportunity to embrace learning by doing while staying open to the outcome.
I’ve divided this post into 2 parts:
General Insights
Specific areas to consider
General Insights:
1. Name your vision and values with your partner for the day and beyond ~ this will help guide the decision-making process, and keep you grounded when decisions get overwhelming✨
2. SHARE your vision! What’s important to you and your partner about the day/process? Share it with your people 👯
3. Build your team and ask for support ~ surround yourself with people who understand/share your vision and ask for help when needed or to brainstorm ideas
4. Don’t be afraid to ask/ make requests of venues or vendors~ I was SO pleasantly surprised by this and the desire to create a sustainable event sparked some great conversations.
5. ***It’s more than ok to say “No” to traditions or things that just aren’t aligned ~the wedding industry can make you feel like you need to satisfy expectations that aren’t even real, especially when it comes to single-use items or things people won’t use again.
—> Prioritize experiences over stuff🙌 💃🕺 Those fuzzy pink slippers for the bridesmaids? Nobody will remember them after today! Cups with your name on it? Unless you’re dying to have them, just say no! :)
As part of your vision,
What aspects are non-negotiable?
—> We knew we wanted to have our event in Georgia and to find a venue that would work with us on throwing a low-waste event
What are you willing to let go of?
—>We had to let go of some of the details regarding clothing and transportation. I wanted to provide an easy option for bridesmaids to rent their dresses, but for various reasons, we were not able to go this route. Rather than stress about it, I decided my energy was better served to focus on greening other elements:)
**How do you and your partner want to feel at the end of the day?
Your budget, the size of the wedding, and overall vision are important factors. The smaller, the less impact, but if you’re like me and the size started small and grew larger due to forces outside your control, there are ways to work with it.
Specific Areas to Consider:
Compost/Waste
Does the venue offer compost, recycling, reusable plates, and glassware?
I recommend letting vendors know your priorities in creating a low-waste event and what that means to you. Ask questions to see if the venue will work with you on this. If not, it might not be the best fit.
Our venue had both recycling and compost available. Greg and I brought our Tupperware containers to take home leftovers, and the remaining food was packed up, and delivered to folks facing food insecurity. While all food and beverages were served on ceramic plates and glassware, I noticed in one of our contracts that the staff would receive meals on disposable plates. I asked if they could use glassware instead and they agreed.
Getting ready areas: Check with your venue to see what they can provide regarding beverages and food in the getting ready areas. I asked if it would be possible to have reusable cups for water (luckily they had a water cooler) with zero plastic products and Empire Mills did a fabulous job of meeting our requests. It is SO helpful to find a venue that will work with you. Thank you, Empire Mills!
Bottom line—>It never hurts to ask or make requests!
Transportation
Location -where will the majority of guests be traveling from?
Is public transportation an option?
Carpooling or sharing rides can be helpful. We tried to plan the majority of our events within walking distance from our hotel blocks with shuttles to the remaining hotels to help cut back on car use.
Time of Year-Food in Season/Local Produce
Georgia in June was peak season for produce!
Flowers
Local and in-season
The most helpful advice I found in Vogue: “Having a wedding sans florals is the best way to have a sustainable affair- but if you don’t want to forgo flowers entirely, work with your floral designer to choose locally produced and in-season florals, which cut back on the transport expenses and carbon footprint. “Whether it be florals, food, or beverages, by sourcing as much as possible from local providers, such as flower farms, it will help reduce the environmental emissions caused by shipping items from afar,” notes Ward. At the end of your event, you can even donate any extra florals or arrangements so they can get a second life.”
Invitations/Save the dates
Seed invitations: Botanical Paper Works:
We worked with Katherine Elizabeth Events (a college friend) and Katie helped us design beautiful invitations made from cotton scrap fibers.
Going digital is an option.
We printed our programs but limited the amount printed (another compromise with family).
Lodging
Lodging that will work with you on creating a low-waste event is key (ie reusable glassware and water pitchers instead of plastic water bottles). The Farmhouse Inn is a wonderful example of accommodations that reflect our values- solar energy, recycling, compost, low waste, conservation, land restoration, a commitment to a low carbon footprint, and the most incredible farm-to-table breakfast. We booked the inn for the bridal party. Other hotels were more or less receptive to our requests regarding low waste.
Rings
Conflict-free diamonds:
Wedding Party/Bridal wear
Prioritize renting or vintage over buying new when possible.
My dress was made from an antique table cloth and I wore my mom's veil.
Bridesmaid dresses: We tried to make renting dresses work. The ideal scenario would be to have the option to rent dresses at least 2 weeks ahead of time and be able to return a week later, especially if guests are traveling. I am surprised this doesn’t exist (or maybe it does but I was unable to find it).
Rent the Runway has options but has a narrow window of time to rent and return dresses.
I have seen wedding parties successfully pull off a combination of previously used dresses/rent the runway with one or two colors. Unfortunately, this didn’t work for my crew, but if you can organize ahead of time and feel comfortable, go for it!
I was also in conversation with a designer who had the idea of buying white dresses from the Real Real and dyeing them the same color. Unfortunately, the timing was too close to make it work with my bridesmaids living in different locations. I highly suggest starting this process at least 7-8 months before your big day.
Ordering from Poshmark or preowned bridesmaid dresses is also an option - the only downside is not being able to return dresses if they don’t fit.
Registry
Donations to organizations, cash funds
—>What organizations or causes have meaning for you?
Instead of receiving gifts, we requested our guests donate to New York Cares or The Madison-Morgan Conservancy. We also set up a cash fund for our honeymoon. The involvement of the conservancy was particularly meaningful, as it symbolizes a personal connection to our wedding location in Morgan County. The Conservancy was also started by me and my father when I was in high school. While it was a suggested donation, we raised more money than anticipated to support the Conservancy's efforts in protecting farmland and forests for future generations. Read here to learn more.
Other details:
Welcome gifts and departure gifts are becoming less of a trend - if you have your heart set on this, some options could include: plants/donations/ seed packets/food they can eat on their way home!}
End of night Exit: petal tossing/lavender instead of rice/confetti
Overall:
**Don’t be afraid to ask/make requests of vendors or venues
Talk about your vision with everyone- how can your wedding party support?
Make it a team effort—> let guests and vendors know your priorities and ask for help when you need it
Remember this is one day- and an opportunity to practice. Progress over perfection is key! You can easily drive yourself crazy obsessing over smaller details
If you are planning a wedding and you’ve made it this far, I’d love to chat! There are a million ways to go about this, and most folks are doing it for the first time. I am very happy with how our process turned out and would love to offer any support based on my personal experience.
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