General Tips

1. Choose who you invite carefully, don’t just invite people to make up numbers. This will reduce the environmental impact from traveling, invitations, and food and drink preparation.
2. When you want to know how much carbon emission does your wedding have, you can use a carbon calculator. You can then try to offset that by contributing the equivalent amount to organizations like Zero Carbon Weddings or CarbonFund.org.
3. Encourage their guests to carpool when going to the venue.
4. Make use of local artisans where possible.
5. Hire a photographer who uses recycled paper for his photos and albums.
6. If you have to use disposable items (like plates and cups) try to use of organic-based disposable items like corn based plastic and sugar cane plates.

Green Venues

7. Try not to choose an isolated venue so guests don’t have to travel far.
8. Try to have your wedding at a central location near public transport.
9. It would be better if the venue is an outdoor location to avoid using lights.
10. If you are having the reception at night time, if possible, try using candels for table lights, as not only is this romantic but it will also be memorable for everyone involved.
11. Try to find a venue that makes water conservation and recycling a priority. Also ask the venue if it only uses local suppliers where possible.
12. Try and use some green transportation when it comes to getting yourself to the church. We like the idea of a horse and carriage, but these days hybrid cars are becoming more and more popular.
13. Hold the wedding ceremony and reception in one venue to avoid traveling which contributes to carbon emissions.
14. Choose a venue whose management contributes to a cause for a local art gallery or botanical garden.
15. If you can, look for venues that have solar power panels. Establishments using these solar panels have reduced energy usage.
16. You can choose local parks that have recreation areas or community centers.
17. Community recreation centers and clubhouses are a great alternative venues for hotel receptions

Invitations

18. Create a website to communicate preparations.
19. Create a wishlist of eco-friendly products on your wedding site for your guests to know what gifts to give you.
20. E-mail invitations and inform the guests the principle behind not using traditional paper invitations
21. If you do send invites by post then focus on the eco-friendliness in the invitation content.
22. Try to minimize resources used in creating the invitation’s design.
23. You can choose to give the paper invitations only to a few special people like your close family (ie. mum and grandma!) who can appreciate them.
24. For your invitations, you can use organic products like cotton, hemp, or bamboo.
25. Send postcards as invitations to save paper on the envelopes.
26. For something a bit different why not make your wedding invitations from rags and put them through a production processes similar to that of a printed letterpress and use handset type using vegetable-based inks.
27. If you preferred to send paper invitations, at least use recycled paper.

Clothing

28. Vintage gowns are very popular these days.
29. There are many charity stores that have wedding dress sections. Buying from them is contributing to a cause and helping to reduce fuel use in making new dresses.
30. Grandma’s wedding dress can be customized! Not only does it evoke a sentimental value; it helps to reduce costs, fuel emissions, and further use of organic products in creating a new one.
31. Men can look really good with the use of organic hemp suits.
32. Rent a gown instead. You will only use it once.
33. If possible, and this is mainly from the men, try and choose an outfit that you can use for other formal occasions.
34. If you opt for a new wedding gown, try to find one that uses organic fibers.
35. Your flower girls can use custom-made dresses that they can use over and over again.
36. Any environmentally conscious bride can wear a wedding gown made from natural fabrics with detachable bottoms that makes it suitable for both the wedding ceremony and reception and even for some formal occasions in the future.
37. You can look for auctioned vintage dresses at eBay instead of buying a brand-new wedding gown.

Wedding Rings

38. Choose a conflict-free diamond that’s certified under the Kimberly process.
39. Read up on details about conflict-free diamonds from Amnesty International before you buy your diamond wedding rings.
40. It’s always wise and eco-friendly to choose vintage rings. This way you can help reduce the environmental impact of creating a brand-new one.
41. You can also melt down the metals of an old ring and make a new one out of it.
42. Choose diamonds that are mined in peaceful countries like Canada and Australia.
43. Instead of diamond rings, wooden touch wood rings can be an eco-friendly alternative.
44. Try to find diamond stores that give a percentage of its proceeds to environmental preservation organizations like the Association of Responsible Mining.
45. Recycled jewelries can help the environment a lot besides exuding the value of sentimentality.

Wedding Flowers and Decors

46. Instead of cut flowers, you can borrow potted plants from a nursery.
47. You can also buy new flowers or plants but donate them afterwards or let another couple borrow them.
48. To decorate the aisle, use organic rose petals.
49. It would be better to use organic local plants instead of imported plants and flowers. which require travel.
50. Keep away from decors that are disposable.
51. Potted plants can look just as nice as cut flowers.
52. You can also use potted herbs like lavenders as decors.
53. Organic candles like those made from beeswax or soy are earth-friendly.
54. If you can’t avoid balloons completely, make sure you get FSC certified ones.
55. You can reuse the flowers used in your wedding as table and dance floor decors during reception.
56. After you wedding flowers are used, you can donate them to local hospital or senior citizen nursing homes.
57. Hire a local florist who grows her own flowers and potted plants.
58. Try to only use flowers that are in season, otherwise the flowers will have to imported.
59. Avoid unnecessary washing of table cloths by using recycled paper for the table cloths.

Wedding Food and Drinks

60. Make use of organic, local, and seasonal foods.
61. Instead of alcoholic beverages, you can serve organic fruit juice and sparkling water.
62. There are good organic wines and beer available.
63. To offset the costs of food preparation, you can donate excess food.
64. Instead of commercial table napkins, use recyclable ones.
65. If you are going to serve chocolates make them from organic ingredients.
66. Buy your local produce from farmer’s markets or local farm to save on gas and carbon emission in transport.
67. Look for a caterer who knows about sustainable catering.
68. If you prefer to have beverages served in your wedding, you can source a local brewery to provide you and your guests beverage right from their keg.
69. It’s healthy and helpful to the environment when majority of the food served would be vegetarian cuisine.
70. Bake your own wedding cake or ask a loved-one to do so with organic ingredients.
71. You don’t have to have a wedding cake, you could have a fruit pie made from fruits from the local orchard. Wonderful!
72. Make sure the kind of seafood you have on the menu is sustainably harvested.

Wedding Favors

73. For every traveling guest, give a tree seedling to make a small effort to offset carbon emission.
74. Instead of giving away traditional wedding favors, you can donate instead to charitable institutions. Try to look for a charity in Changingthepresent.org.
75. Organize a tree planting activity in lieu of a bridal shower and document everything so that you and your friends will have something to look back and see your trees blossom in the future.
76. Herbs in small pots can be taken home as wedding favors. They are ready for planting.
77. Give away tree saplings in biodegradable pots as wedding favors.
78. Use cotton paper or soy ink to send them your wedding thank-you note.
79. Choose a local artisan to make your wedding favors.

Wedding Honeymoons

80. Select an eco-friendly resort or hotel to spend your honeymoon.
81. Think about indulging in cause-oriented activities such as volunteering in an orphanage for a week as your honeymoon.
82. There would be less impact to the environment when you travel to nearby places or highly accessible locations that won’t require you to transfer from one mode of transportation to another.
83. Take the low carbon route when you’re heading toward your honeymoon destination.

Wedding Planner

84. Choose a green wedding planner who is knowledgeable about the local area.
85. A green wedding planner must be creative enough to think of holding eco-friendly themed activities.
86. It’s helpful if he or she has experience in organizing environmental awareness activities.
87. A green wedding planner must not only be imaginative and innovative, he or she must be resourceful. He or she should know where to get eco-friendly alternatives that are more affordable.

Wedding Gifts

88. Come up with a charity list for your wedding guests instead of receiving traditional wedding gifts from them.
89. Give handcrafted wedding gifts. Buying hand-crafted wedding items will help support international trade projects and small local business and local design talents.
90. Look for gift items that are made from recycled products.
91. You can give these home starters some eco-friendly garden products that encourage nature and wildlife awareness.
92. Avoid giving highly packaged goods as wedding gifts.
93. For your bridesmaids’ dedication and hard work, you can give them an organic spa day as your bridemaids’ gifts or you can host an organic spa day treatment in your own home.
94. Organic home-made cosmetics will make excellent and affordable bridesmaids’ gifts in the same way that they can be used by members of the bridal entourage.
95. Before buying wedding presents, check whether they are all energy efficient.
96. Earth Day books make excellent wedding presents for a newlywed couple.

Eco Friendly Wedding Photos – www.greenerphotography.org

97. Make sure your photographer only uses digital photos, to save on the chemicals used in film photography
98. As the photography to only use recycled photo books
99. Ask if the studio is carbon neutral, and if they are make sure you purchase the offsets, or confirm that the carbon offsets are included in price.
100. Make sure the images are posted online for review, not printed.

Do You Have Any Tips?

101. We would love it if you shared any tips which you are using to make your wedding that little bit greener, so please leave a comment below. Thanks!

photo credit: puja

If you’re interested in a traditional or romantic look, a vintage gown may be your best eco friendly option. Even in weddings without a green focus, vintage gowns have recently become popular. The beauty and style of the past is being embraced by both women seeking formal dresses and designers creating formals.

Though a well-preserved wedding dress from the mid-century or earlier may cost even more than a new design, you can scour charity and thrift shops for dresses that are equally beautiful but in need of some loving care. Many thrift stores even have a wedding section now, so you can browse for the dress of your dreams more easily. For another vintage option, you can keep the dress in the family and have a local dressmaker customize your mother’s wedding dress—or even your grandmother’s.

Eco chic is one of the newer fashion buzzwords, and if you’re not interested in vintage, it’s the best way to go green. Eco chic designers work exclusively with sustainable fabrics and often create cutting edge designs out of such fabrics as hemp. You can even pick up something green for the groom, as organic hemp suits abound for men. If you go the eco chic route, seek out something that you’ll want to wear after the wedding so it isn’t just a one-purpose dress.

Another option is to rent your dress rather than to buy it, which is something that grooms have been doing regularly for decades. Though renting the dress just leaves you with memories of it, your memories will be good ones and you may just save a bundle, too.

photo credit: tanakawho

One of the easiest ways to give green wedding favors is to choose potted plants rather than flowers to decorate the venue. They can add to the ambiance of your wedding, and then guests can take them home afterwards. To emphasize green living even more, use potted herbs that your guests can use rather than simply decorative plants, such as lavender, which symbolizes devotion.

If you like the idea of giving plants but want to make a larger statement, you can give each guest a native tree seedling. Not only do native seedlings provide a life-long symbol of your eco wedding, they also offset carbon emissions that guest travel can cause. Since traveling guests may not be able to take a seedling with them, you can also include a tree-planting ceremony in your wedding festivities.

As nice as they are, living plants can pose problems. If you want a different sort of wedding favor, another eco friendly option is to give sustainable, regionally-produced products. Look to local artisans and organic farmers at farmer’s and craft markets for these products.

Alternately, you can make a donation to an environmental organization instead. This is an especially nice option if you can donate to the organization in an individual’s or family’s name. A gesture like this can encourage those who aren’t yet living in an eco friendly manner to take first steps towards a green lifestyle.

Whichever option for eco friendly wedding favors you choose, you can be sure that your guests will remember the message as well as cherishing the wedding favor.

photo credit: zenobia_joy

The most eco friendly option is to forego paper invitations altogether and instead use online invitations. Since online invitations may seem much less formal than traditional invitations, let your guests know why you’ve chosen this option. To make things easier for your guests, you can also put together a website to provide all the details they need from details about the eco friendly choices you’ve made for your wedding to information on the bridal shower, rehearsal dinner, and bachelor/bachelorette parties.

If you do need to send out paper invitations, you can still make them eco friendly. The first step is to design an invitation that uses as few resources as possible. Though multiple envelope invitations do look good, they use much more paper than necessary. A simple postcard can serve as your Save the Date card.

If you choose paper invitations, limit the number of invitations you send out. Use paper invitations only for those guests who need one, or for whom it would be especially meaningful. Once you know how many paper invitations you need, choose a green paper option such as recycled paper or a paper made from renewable sources and try to use an eco friendly ink too. Whichever option you choose, buy local to offset the environmental problems that shipping creates.

After the wedding, keep the eco friendly tone to your correspondence and consider sending out thank you notes online rather than on paper. For those guests who need a paper card, keep the same guidelines in mind for their thank you cards as you did for the invitations.

Though your invitations may not be traditional, your guests will appreciate the care that you’ve shown for the environment, and your eco friendly wedding will be off to a great start!

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.

photo credit: Philgarlic

Your menu choices are the place to begin, and there are three elements to emphasize: organic, local and seasonal. You’ll probably not be able to find an all-organic caterer unless you live in a larger metropolitan area, but you can provide any caterer with guidance that will lead to an eco friendly meal. Instruct your caterer to buy local organic products whenever possible, which should be plentiful at a farmer’s market if there’s one in the area. Keep seasonal ingredients in mind as the basis of your menu.

As for drinks, focus on organic and healthy options. Rather than soft drinks, provide your guests with sparkling mineral water and organic fruit juices—especially locally produced juices, if any are available. Your guests will also appreciate organic wine and beer selections.

Place settings are another consideration. If you choose not to use actual linens for your tables, be sure to choose recycled napkins and tablecloths. It’s traditional to use placecards at a wedding dinner, and you don’t have to forego this tradition to be eco friendly—you just need to get creative!

At the end of the meal, donate any extra food to a needy cause. Not only is this a green option, but it demonstrates your compassion—which is a great note on which to begin your life together!

photo credit: dennis and aimee jonez

If you have your heart set on a diamond, make sure it’s conflict-free. Ask the retailer for certification that the diamonds they sell are 100% conflict-free. If they can’t prove their diamonds are conflict-free, shop elsewhere. Profits from diamonds mined in war-torn African countries are often used to fund civil wars, including purchasing arms and carrying out devastating damage to both civilians and the environment. If you don’t know much about the Blood Diamond controversy, Amnesty International has a good overview of the problems, as well as some guidance you can use as you shop for your conflict-free diamond.

If you’re not satisfied with the diamond retailers you talk to, or if you’re just looking for a different option, you can look into buying vintage jewelry. Because of the wide array of styles available, you’re likely to find something that appeals to you in any metal you desire and with any gemstones you prefer. If you can’t find a vintage piece you like, you could instead choose to melt down an old piece of jewelry and have a jeweler fashion it into a custom design.

If you want to make more of a statement, you can choose a wedding ring in a nontraditional material. Many couples are choosing wooden rings to help symbolize their commitment to a green and simple lifestyle. Touch Wood Rings is one wooden ring company that’s gaining in popularity. Run by a couple out of their rural home, Touch Wood Rings creates only custom rings and is a sustainable and eco friendly company. A bonus of wooden rings is that they are much less expensive than typical wedding rings, generally only a few hundred dollars.

When you choose an eco friendly wedding ring, every time you glance at your hand, you’ll not only be reminded of your love for one another, but you’ll also be reminded of your commitment to the environment.

photo credit: CarlosMendoza

Before you begin thinking about what you want the venue to look like, consider where you want to hold your wedding. Though it’s tempting to hold a wedding in an isolated natural location—and though it seems that this would match your green wedding ideas—this may actually lead to a less eco friendly wedding if it means your guests have to travel a long ways. Instead, think first about a centralized location where most of the guests don’t have to travel too far. Once you know your general location, start scouting around for a place that speaks to you. Look especially for venues near public transportation, if possible, to cut the carbon emissions that your guests will generate as they travel.

When possible, choose an outdoor venue for your wedding. When you hold your wedding in a beautiful outdoor location, you can rely on the natural beauty as your decorations and won’t need to add much to create an elegant wedding atmosphere. Additionally, an outdoor venue uses fewer resources than an energy-inefficient reception hall.

When possible, hold your reception in the same venue as your wedding rather than having your guests travel to another location. You’ll save energy and resources since your guests won’t have to drive, and you’ll also create a more relaxed atmosphere so you can truly enjoy your ceremony.

As you’re choosing your venue, be sure to ask questions to make sure that you’re selecting the most eco friendly venue that you can. Some important questions are whether they participate in recycling, conserve water and support local suppliers. If they don’t currently do these things, talk to them about why they’re good choices. Even if you don’t convince them or don’t end up using their venue, you may influence them to make eco friendly choices in the future.