WEDDING PLANNING ADVICE - How To Plan A Waste-Reducing Wedding, By Coordinated By Kirsty

9th December 2020


Today's blog is courtesy of the lovely Kirsty of Coordinated by Kirsty; all images courtesy of Aurora Collective (don't forget to check out the beautiful vegan styled shoot they were drawn from).

Most of us are making a conscious effort to reduce the amount of waste we create in our everyday lives, and aim to keep our personal carbon footprint as small as possible. We all have an increasing awareness of the impact that we leave on the environment, and I have no doubt that David Attenborough’s recent documentary ‘A Life on Our Planet’ has brought the issue to even more people who hadn’t before thought about just how imminent the issue of global warming really is. So if we are reducing waste and making eco-conscious choices in our day to day life, why not for your wedding day? As a wedding planner with over 5 years of experience in the industry, I have seen first hand how much waste a single day can create. This is why I now focus on planning weddings with an eco-conscious approach. 

I am sure that for a lot of people when they think of an eco-friendly wedding they have visions of rustic and outdoorsy – but if that isn’t your style then it doesn’t have to be that way. No matter what you wedding style; vintage, contemporary, rustic or something beautifully alternative, there are so many things that you can consider and choices that you can make to reduce waste and lessen the environmental impact of your big day. Today I would like to offer you a few things to think about, and some of the easiest ways to reduce waste on your wedding day. 

Invitations

In a traditional wedding invite, you tend to include lots of little pieces of paper or card, each with different information about the day. Often when these are mass-produced, they are not made with recyclable materials or eco-friendly inks. You may have the occasional guest, usually family members, who will keep the invitation for its sentimental value, but most others will simply throw it away when no longer needed. There are a couple of options when it comes to looking for an alternative. The first is to instead use technology, which we are all using every day anyway! There are some great apps and websites you can use that send invites and RSVPs, and allow you to put all of the information that you would usually send in a wedding invitation. When doing things this way, it does also mean that you can easily update any changes or additional information as your plans progress. If however you are set on sending physical invites, then I would suggest you use an independent designer and creator who uses recycled materials and works to a sustainability ethos within their business. One lovely option that I have seen recently is to have invites printed onto compostable seeded paper. They can be planted and the seeds will grow into beautiful wildflowers, whilst the rest of the material decomposes naturally into the ground. 

Props & Decorations

I know that it can be so tempting to get excited and buy every wedding sign, prop, vase, basket and any other little touches you see for the big day. There are so many things that you can buy for your wedding, but do you really need to buy them? Have you thought about what you are going to do with all that stuff afterwards? I am sure you will soon realise you don’t have space for it at home, and it may well end up going in the bin. Instead of buying decorations and props, I would highly recommend hiring them. There are so many incredible stylists with a wide variety of items for hire. Not only are you reducing waste by reusing items rather than buying new, but this service also tends to come with a stylist who can help bring your wedding style and design together with beautifully thought out finishing touches. 

Wedding Favours

One of the easiest things you can do to reduce waste at your wedding is to not provide wedding favours. I would hate to tell you how many wedding favours I have had to throw away at the end of a wedding in the past, I can promise you that there are always more left behind than taken home. My simple advice is just not to bother with favours at all. If you really would like to give out favours, then I would suggest either something edible (that isn’t wrapped in single-use plastic), something natural like packets of flower seeds, or a charity donation. 

Flowers

I don’t think it is that often that we think about where the flowers that a lot of florists use come from. A huge number of flowers are grown on mass in places like Holland and then flown over to the UK. Reduce your wedding carbon footprint by making use of locally grown flowers. There are so many stunning British wildflowers and an increasing number of florists who specialise in using homegrown flowers. It is also worth thinking about how many arrangements you actually need – do you really need to fill the entire room, will they all be seen and appreciated? Save yourself money and reduce any potential waste by having fewer arrangements. A really heart-warming idea also comes from what you could do with the arrangements after the wedding, you could donate them to a local care home or hospice for others to enjoy. 

Food

I know it isn’t always easy to judge how much food will get eaten but try not to over-cater. I can almost guarantee that if you are having a full wedding breakfast as well as an evening buffet later on, you don’t need as much on that evening buffet as you think. Your guests that have been there all day should be nice and full from the wedding breakfast, and any evening guests generally have something to eat before they arrive – so don’t expect everyone to eat another meal's worth. If there is any food left over, then avoid throwing it in the bin. For example, I have worked with a fantastic catering company in Kent, who specialise in vegetarian and vegan menus, who donate leftovers to a local animal sanctuary for the animals to enjoy! 

There are a countless number of ways in which you can reduce waste at your wedding, but in my opinion, these are the tops ones to approach. Each of these elements can be responsible for producing a large amount of unnecessary waste, yet can be addressed quite easily. Happy conscious wedding planning!

 


Previous Blog Post

 
SEARCH
SUBMIT
JOIN

Search Green Union

Type in your search terms and click ENTER / RETURN to search our website.

Wedding Blog Tags

Wedding VenuesReal WeddingsWedding InspirationWedding Flowers

Wedding Directory

Affiliates - (coming soon)Bridal AccessoriesBride and Bridesmaid DressesCakes and Catering

Wedding Advice

1. Getting Started - Wedding Budget - Wedding Planning Tips - Your Wedding Planning Timeline
';