Not getting married, but recently I happened to attend a wedding. A really over-the-board lavish one. You might even have attended one. All the grandeur and the resulting waste had me thinking about the needless strain we are putting on our already-suffering mother earth.
Planning an Eco-friendly wedding
Wouldn’t it be much cooler (pun intended) if we planned an eco-friendly wedding? A little research shows me it’s not that hard. In fact, it can be so much simpler and even cheaper! Here’s how we should all be planning our weddings:
Start with the ring
Diamonds, right? Most people don’t know the history of diamond mining and how precious this gem is. If you knew it, you probably will choose some other gem.
You don’t have too. Recently many labs have taken to creating diamonds. These manmade diamonds are less expensive, look exactly like the original diamonds and even cost you less! So why ever not?
Invitation Cards
That’s actually the first thing that came to my mind. Why do we need to create invitation cards from the best materials? However fancy the invite it; it’s going to end up in the trash can. So, make it easier on the environment and go with recycled paper.
If your budget allows it, you can also add in seeds inside the card so that when they end up in the landfill, they end up doing a little good to the environment.
Keep it Simple
If you want to celebrate your wedding the eco-friendly way, then just keep it simple. Cut down on the extra expenses. You will need to do a little audit of your own and decide what you really don’t need. For instance, you could probably do without the grand stage.
Planning the menu
Food is probably the one item that goes wasted a lot. You might want to rethink the menu items and the quantity. Remember, you don’t always have a 100% attendance at weddings. Plan for 10% not showing up on the big day.
Another thing you can do is choose locally sourced, in-season food items. They will also be cheaper. You should also make arrangements for the leftover food. Distribute them among the guests or better still, arrange for them to be delivered to a homeless shelter or a place where they accept leftover food.
Wedding Registry
Don’t create your wedding registry after visiting a home store. Think of what you really need in your home. If you rarely have any special guests, you don’t have to spend hundreds of dollars on fine china or beautiful placemats.
You can also take this one step forward and add sustainable products on your wedding registry. Go creative and ask guests to grow 10 plants instead of gifts.
Flowers and Decorations
When choosing flowers, go for local and in-season flowers. They will be cheaper. Plus, local is more sustainable. You could even ask your wedding planner to get your0ou flowers from someone else’s wedding. More cost saving. Plus, technically you didn’t use any extra flowers. For decoration, you can also go with preloved ones.
