Ten eco-friendly wedding ideas that your guests and the planet will love!
The ultimate celebration of love – a wedding, involves a lot of planning and there’s usually more than enough time to make sure every detail is executed to perfection. We think it’s the perfect opportunity to bring a little love for the environment into the celebrations too. While people don’t intend to host nuptials that may have detrimental effects on nature, if sensitized, we know they’d be happy to make their big day a happy one for the planet too! After all – weddings are all about the future and the future of the earth is in all our hands.
Here are 10 easy ways you can start a new chapter in your life and have a greener celebration at the same time.
E-Invite for Invite-E
Technology makes going paperless at the wedding easy and smart. E-invites, messages and save-the-dates get there quicker and can be much more creative. And not only do they conserve paper, but they also cut down on the expense of creating physical invitations and also couriering them.
Photo Courtesy: Kankotri
Seeds of Love
E-invites will work with most of your friends and family but maybe some of your more elderly guests aren’t accessible on email. So if you know someone without a smartphone or who is not comfortable with tech, send them invitations on plantable paper. This product, made from biodegradable materials, has seeds embedded in them and when planted, sprouts into a beautiful plant that doubles up as a wedding favor!
Photo Courtesy: Pink Whistle Man (left)
Plastic Policing
Plastic is a moment in your hand, a lifetime on the planet. This convenience has become a nuisance and its use is riddled with guilt. Try and steer clear of plastic during the wedding. Ditch the water cups and bottles, use crockery from the reusable material – glass, ceramic, metal or even bamboo and other biodegradable material. You could even use some of that cool edible cutlery!
Watch out for the décor elements too – skip the plastic bits and bobs and encourage your guests not to wrap your presents in a plastic coated paper.
Photo Courtesy: Ivy Weddings (left)
Discern. Dedicate. Decorate.
A lot of the decor we see at weddings lasts just as long as the function. Have a chat with your planner and figure out which elements your planner and decorator can reuse and then be vigilant about sticking to those materials for beautifying your wedding venue. This will not only help ease the expenses but also hold back the trash production.
Bring in bright drapes, brass bells, striking cushions, Rajasthani puppets, creative lighting etc. The ways to avoid using one-time decorations especially those made with non-biodegradable materials such as thermocol and so on are endless.
Photo Source: Pinterest
Using Florals With Morals
Flowers are usually a big part of weddings and eliminating the use of cut flowers entirely is a tall order, especially since they are also included in certain rituals and poojas. Nonetheless, a more judicious approach can be used while bringing them into your celebrations.
Couples who can’t imagine a wedding without blooms can look at using local and seasonal varieties, which would not only cut down their carbon footprint but also make for more cost-effective options. Including fabric flowers and even potted plants as part of the decor is a good way to go.
Photo Courtesy: Pooja Joseph Photography (left)
The Tissue Issue
Love trees? Save them by lowering the consumption of paper at your wedding and simply swapping tissue with cloth napkins. If you want to go a step further, ensure that you use linen napkins instead of a cotton one since the production of the latter is more environmentally friendly. It also looks very classy!
Photo Courtesy: Fotografia9
Photo Courtesy: Fotografia9
Getting Wasted
Although it does require you to set up a system in place beforehand, managing waste is a very effective step when going green. Work with your venue or planner to set up a disposal system that segregates wet and dry waste that is sent for composting/biogas plant and for recycling respectively.
Set Crackers Aside
In India, we need the smallest excuse to bring out our stash of sutli bombs, laddis, anaars and the like. However, land, air and sound pollution are the most obvious harms that firecrackers cause. A closer look at the industry reveals just how hazardous it is even at the manufacturing stage for workers who make these toxic bombs. So it compels one to question if, even symbolically, they hold any sense of celebration and joy.
Hurrays under sunrays
Try to minimize nighttime functions and opt for day celebrations. This simple trick will not only make your wedding more energy efficient but also ensures that your wedding photos are striking since pictures clicked in natural light appear to be more pleasing.
Photo Courtesy: Ivy Weddings
Photo Courtesy: The Wedding Salad
Creativity is Key
The areas to focus on are plenty when hosting an eco-friendly wedding. Let go of the rain dance party that will end up wasting gallons and gallons of water in the matter of minutes, pay attention to managing food waste (There are NGOs such as Robin Hood Army, Feeding India, No Food Waste, Roti Bank by Dabbawalas and many others that will pick up unserved food as soon as your event is over and take it those who need it) and while designing menus make sure only those dishes that can be prepared using local produce are included in order to reduce your carbon footprint. We’ve become so accustomed to not paying attention to the needs of the environment, that hosting an eco-friendly celebration is essentially an opportunity to think outside the box.
Starting your new journey with blessings from Mother Earth seems well worth any little effort to have a natural, beautiful wedding.
