Environmentally Friendly Flower Ideas For Your Green Wedding

Flowers are a traditional element of most weddings, and you’ll probably want to use them in some way—even if it’s just in the bridal bouquet. However you might use flowers and foliage, keep the focus on local and organic to keep your wedding green.

photo credit: Jeff Belmonte

One eco friendly option is to use potted flowering plants—or even just foliage plants—as décor for the wedding venue. If you buy these plants from a local nursery, you’re not adding to your carbon footprint and the plants are likely to be healthier as well. At the end of the wedding, you can give guests the plants as wedding favors. If you’d rather donate them, they could brighten a local hospice or elderly care center.

If you want to supplement your décor with flowers, be sure to keep them to a minimum since they aren’t reusable. You may just want to use them as accent pieces and in your bouquet, though a romantic use is to have your guests toss organic rose petals as you walk down the aisle, so their fragrance accompanies you to the altar.

For any flowers you use, think local. An especially good choice is a local, seasonal flower, grown organically. Regional wildflowers and other native plants can be incorporated into a bouquet that says something about your commitment to sustainability.

If organic local flowers aren’t available, it may be better to focus on local flowers rather than to have organic flowers shipped to you. Investigate the growing practices of the flower provider to determine which is the more eco-friendly choice.

After the ceremony, give away the flowers you used as décor instead of throwing them away. Guests can take flowers home as favors and as a remembrance of your eco friendly wedding.