If you have a wedding to plan imminently, no doubt you'll have reached for our special marriage magazine, free with today's paper. If you've got to the frustrating stage of list-making and and adding up how much it all may cost, you might be already having a re-think.
All too often weddings go hand in hand with wild excess. You want to have the best day and best party of your life, and the obvious way to do this is to throw money at the problem. If such bridezilla behaviour has you Googling cheap flights to Vegas, planning a green-tinged wedding will excuse you from much of the frills and frippery associated with traditional white weddings.
To be honest, you don't even need to be eco-minded. It is just a great excuse to cut down on waste, fuss and cost, and have a truly original wedding into the bargain. And no one can accuse you of skimping on the canapes if you're caring for the planet into the bargain.
Where to start? The best way to have an eco wedding is to look at each aspect of the event and work out how carbon intensive providing your guests with whatever it is will be, and then the best way to fight that. Here are some tips:
Location: try to hold back your Coleen tendencies and keep it local. Does it have to be indoors? If you have it in a marquee at least that will save on heating bills and World Inspired Tents have some amazing ideas for a really original venue.
Food: You don't have to forage for 100 guests to create an environmentally-friendly menu. Source ingredients locally and, if you are hiring caterers, choose a small, independently-owned company.
Wine: Use this opportunity to find your favourite English, organic and fairtrade wines, and make sure all your guests know where they're from so they can start buying them themselves.
Invitations: Do you really need to send them? I know they're pretty, but they are also bloody expensive and end up in the bin. Why not send e-invitations to everyone who will be online, and just have a few printed out for any guests who don't use the internet?
Gifts: You don't have to waive a gift list altogether to have a green wedding, though that would help. Do make sure you only ask for things you either need or will use regularly, and try and make them ethical choices. The Fairtrade Gift List and By Nature should help you come up with some ideas.
If you haven't got as far as planning the wedding yet and are still panicking about the proposal itself, make sure you buy an ethically mined and conflict free engagement ring. They aren't hard to find anymore so no excuses.
If you want to party like there IS a tomorrow, Ecomyparty's unique range of totally biodegradable, ethically-sourced and all-round environmentally-friendly party ware makes it totally convenient to hold a stylish wedding reception without any eco-guilt.
Every single thing Ecomyparty sells, from the fairly traded rubber balloons to the plates made from the leftovers of the world’s sugar industry, is totally compostable, so the waste from one party can be used to grow the flowers and food for the next! And when the guests leave, so does the party ware – every single thing we sell, including our packaging, is 100% biodegradable and can all be scooped into one of our eco waste bags and tipped onto a compost heap where it will naturally break down in a matter of weeks.
At a comparable price to all those awful plastic forks and polystyrene cups that have been lingering for far too long now, there is simply no reason not to eco your party...
www.ecomyparty.co.uk
Posted by: Helen Thomson | Wednesday, 17 September 2008 at 01:21 PM
Hi,
I have recently got married, I would like to promote a great ethical jewellery company called CRED. They have a shop in chichester but are also online. They offer a bespoke service but also have a great existing wedding collection.
What I had intially thought was that they would be considerably more expensive but they weren't. As a company they can quarantee you transparency from mine to buyer. So that you the consumer are insured of where the stone and the gold has come from and the communities and people involved in the process.
It is amazing to have a set of rings that I know has positively benefited the enviroment and the miners. Especially as i had not realised the impact that mining had and just what a difference one could make.
Check them out at www.credjewellery.com
Posted by: penelope ram | Thursday, 30 October 2008 at 03:00 PM
Not a wedding comment, but over the last three years we have eco'd our Christmas. Instead of buying shedloads of useless gifts for everyone, I get one each for my children (obviously grandparents can't be stopped from buying more!) and then we spend - say - £500 at Oxfam Unwrapped on behalf of everyone else.
Who would want a plastic reindoor that poops chocolates when you can buy a supply of drinking water for an entire community, or a donkey, or educational materials, or.... There is so much to choose from, and my kids love planning how to spend their Christmas budget.
http://www.oxfam.org.uk/shop/Hub.aspx?catalog=Unwrapped
Posted by: Morag | Thursday, 06 November 2008 at 10:29 PM
Hi Ethics Girl,
Thats a great idea, an eco friendly wedding, I'd never have thought of that, I will be adding a few pages to my various wedding based web sites about eco weddings.
Thanks
Posted by: A Cheap Wedding | Saturday, 07 February 2009 at 03:16 AM
Hi Ethics Girl,
if you want eco friendly tableware at your wedding come and check out our eco friendly disposable plates and bowls made out fallen palm leaves. They are a great alternative to other options.
They are very unique and hard wearing, almost wood-like in appearance and texture, but with the ability to breakdown in 6 months.
to come and have a look or get a free sample please check out..
www.thewholeleafco.com
alternatively email me on peter@thewholeleafco.com
Posted by: peter george | Monday, 30 March 2009 at 04:24 PM
Why not use a potted plant as a beautiful alternative to a cut flower centrepiece? There are so many options around, daisies for a romantic whimsical look, orchids are modern and sculptural. Tie ribbon and organza around the pot or place into bowls for a pretty look. You can then pass these on as gifts to guests and relatives, or plant them in your own garden as a reminder of your special day.
www.churchmouseweddings.co.uk
Posted by: elaine | Wednesday, 27 May 2009 at 03:35 PM