How to plan a sustainable wedding
15 July 2022 by Emily Ochi – Pop Celebrations & Events
Sustainability and being “eco-friendly” can sometimes just sound like trendy buzz words, or maybe something unachievable to the average person. Weddings can be a source of a lot of waste with plenty of single use items, but with some forethought and consideration you can make your wedding as eco-friendly as possible.
Planning an environmentally friendly, sustainable wedding means you can interact with our beautiful planet in a way that is responsible, reduces our footprint and sends less waste to already overflowing landfills – and who doesn’t want that? We’ve outlined a few ideas here to get you started!
The Exit Toss
The exit toss is always a special moment. Between the opportunity to have a final celebratory send off and the beautiful photos it offers, it’s tempting to throw a whole heap of sparkly confetti and really get into the party spirit.
However – who’s going to clean it up afterwards? Options such as plastic confetti, glitter, even rice (!!) can be detrimental to the environment, so we’ve rounded up some eco-friendly ideas for you. Try these instead!
- Water soluble confetti – often made from rice paper, it degrades once wet!
- Big, beautiful ribbon wands that can be swirled and twirled to your heart’s content – you can reuse them for future events, or pull them apart and recycle.
- Confetti made from natural foliage – simply use a shaped hole punch on dried leaves or flowers for the ultimate eco friendly choice. Bonus points for choosing native flora!
Choose Sustainable Jewellery
Who said new automatically means better? You can also consider your jewellery when it comes to the sustainability stakes. Mining diamonds naturally can come at a hefty cost to both the environment and human rights, depending on where they’re sourced from. However, do a little digging around for some laboratory diamonds (also referred to as lab or cultured diamonds) and you just may be pleasantly surprised at the beautiful pieces that are the same chemical and physical structure to natural diamonds – but grown in a lab in about 30 days!
If you want to really up your sustainable wedding game, leave modern day mass production behind altogether and look for vintage and estate jewellery. Their stunning craftsmanship is second to none, and may just be more affordable than you think!
Send Invitations Digitally
Save some trees and your back pocket – from bills to prescriptions to shopping, so much of our daily life is online. Why not your wedding invites? It’s kinder to the planet to forgo a hard copy, and the added bonus – no last minute messages from guests who need details because they can’t find where they left their invite!
You can find ways to easily manage your RSVPs digitally with online forms – you can even ask your guests to suggest 1-3 songs on the form that will get them up on the dance floor to include in a playlist!
Source Eco-friendly Florals
We may not have British country gardens and roses galore, but Australia has some truly beautiful flora. Choose native species for your floral arrangements where possible – they’re hardy and are well suited to our conditions.
As a general rule, roses need more water than most other flowers. Explore some of the native options available through your local florist and you won’t just be environmentally sustainable, but help a hardworking small business be sustainable too!
Reduce Food Waste
Grazing platters and buffets may look like a cosy Instagram dream, but consider how much of the food you serve will go to waste at the end of the night. Explore some other dining options to ensure that served food will be eaten, or can be safely packaged up and eaten at a later date (midnight snack, anyone?).
Choose Sustainable Wedding Favours/Bonbonniere
As tempting as it is to get a cute little party favour printed and given to all your guests – will it be in landfill in 50 years? Think about ways you can reduce your environmental impact in this area.
We really recommend an edible favour that can be nibbled on in the coming days (or on the drive home!), or a packet of native seeds so your guests can grow their own rosemary or other herbs and think of your special day when they cook at home – get creative!
Rent/Hire What You Can
Think about how much stuff you’ve had to pack every time you’ve moved house – we accumulate a LOT of material possessions in our lifetime!
Rent as much as possible for your wedding. Not only will it be the more sustainable choice, but you won’t end up wondering what to do with everything at the end of the day! We can help you with hiring a gorgeous array of decor to suit your style and add the perfect touch to your sustainable, eco-friendly wedding – just get in touch and ask us about our all inclusive wedding packages.
Are you ready to book your wedding decor for you ceremony or reception? Hit the book now button below to get in touch today!