Blog Action Day: How To Have A Green Wedding

Today is Blog Action Day a day when bloggers around the world will unite and write a post about an issue in the hope of making a difference.

This year the topic is the environment so I thought I might post about eco friendly weddings. Weddings, with all the trimmings can do a lot of harm to the environment.

Australians are lucky- we have great support in planning green weddings. dedicated to making your wedding environmentally friendly. Natural Weddings, they provide a directory, newsletter and other enviro friendly tips. Green Wedding Guide & A Green Event also a lot of information to get you started. You may enlist special services like the Green Wedding Guide Consultancy which will assist you in making green choices for your wedding day.

There are various ways you as a bride (and as an engaged couple) can plan a wedding that’s more conscious of your environment.You can consciously choose to lessen your impact on the environment- from a spring wedding (not too hot to pump up the aircon and not too cold to use heating) I’ve chosen various ideas to share with you today.

For the bride

• For jewelry try to find conflict free diamonds and planet friendly gold.
• Bridal wear can be made from fair trade fabrics which are chemical free. Silks and linen are good choices.
• Consider using your mothers wedding dress or other sentimental clothing>otherwise a gown which can be dyed an worn again.
• Use mineral based makeup

For the accessories

• Consider using recycled paper for your invitations and stationary.
• Use local producers for your flowers. Use flowers that are in season. Instead of flower arrangements at your ceremony, consider marrying in a garden or buying potted plants such as rose bushes which can be planted into your garden after the wedding. Donate your bouquets to a retirement home. Use organic fruit and vegetables instead of flowers (it can work!)

A gorgeous green apple centerpiece from theknot nonfloralbio

• Use a digital photographer- cutting out the use of printed previews and film and you can email the shots to friends so they can decide if they want any printed.

For the venue

• Keep the ceremony and reception close together to cut down on carbon emissions from cars. Otherwise consider hiring a method of transport such as a bus which will cut down on the numerous vehicles used.
• Use a reception venue which is aware of the impact an event as big as a wedding might have on the environment and takes measures to reduce this. A venue like Red Scooter in St Kilda, VIC is now carbon neutral.
• Create a feast from locally produced & organic ingredients
• Use acoustic musicians to cut down on power used
• Instead of plastic and other chemical based fabrics used for marquees try to find a marquee company that uses canvas marquees.
• For decorations consider using reusable items such as glass vases that you can take home or give to guests to use, small topiary trees or fabric linens and real crockery rather than disposable which can be reused. For candles use soy or beeswax candles rather than traditional variety.
• Alternatively choose a ceremony and/or reception venue like a beautiful forest setting where no decoration is required- let nature speak for itself!
• For favours, consider giving seedlings, seeds or donate to an eco friendly charity such as Oxfam.
• Instead of buying new things, borrow them! Reuse items (with the owners blessing!) instead of buying new ones.

A seedling favour from Celebrate With Seedlings

Added Extras

• For your honeymoon, consider staying in Australia at an eco friendly resort such as Allawah Retreat in Cairns, QLD.
• Instead of a gift registry, ask for a donation to be made to your favourite charity or ask all guests to chip into one larger present such as a bed or dining setting rather than numerous individual gifts.

For further inspiration check out the Earth Friendly Weddings blog or Emily Anderson’s blog Eco Chic Weddings and buy her book