The Green Bride Guide: 5 Easy Steps to an Eco-Friendly Wedding
As the most important day of your life, making sure your wedding fits with your beliefs and tastes is hugely important.
If you’re environmentally conscious in your day to day life then you’ll want to make sure your wedding is also good for the environment. And this can be more of a challenge than you might expect.
The average UK wedding produces 14.5 tonnes of carbon dioxide, which is the same as running three cars for a whole year.
Luckily, Daffodil Hotel & Spa have given us the low down on how couples can plan a luxurious wedding without producing as much CO2. Here we look at their guide which outlines the five easy steps to an eco-friendly wedding.
vintage wedding dress
1. Consider buying a vintage dress.
Many high street and designer wedding gowns produce a huge amount of waste. From the way the materials are sourced to the long distances, the dress will travel as most are made overseas.
To lessen your CO2 emissions, consider choosing a vintage wedding dress. Hunting for your perfect bridal look in a vintage store will offer an exciting alternative to traditional wedding dress shopping. Plus, you’ll be guaranteed to find something unique that no other bride will be wearing.
If you’re having a themed wedding then a Hollywood style vintage dress or 1920s flapper gown will complete your wedding day perfectly, all while helping the environment.
locally sourced wedding food
2. Keep food local and vegetarian.
Meat is one of the biggest contributors to CO2 emissions across the globe. This means that cutting meat form your wedding menu is an easy way to reduce the carbon footprint of your big day. Look into plant based alternatives and talk to your wedding venue to create a menu that is delicious as well as environmentally friendly.
Not sure you want to give up meat? Make sure your produce is locally sourced to reduce the impact of getting food to the venue.
Wedding decorations
3. Avoid single-use plastic and decorations.
The impact of single-use plastic is well documented and with a plastic straw ban potentially coming to the UK soon, reducing the amount of single use plastic at your wedding will massively help the environment.
It’s not just straws either. Make sure your decorations aren’t single use, renting them from the venue or your wedding planner instead.
Local wedding
4. Keep your wedding local.
73% of CO2 produced at weddings is created by transport. This is often because venues are far away and having your wedding abroad will only increase the amount of CO2 produced.
There are some simple ways to reduce the carbon dioxide produced by transport on your big day.
Consider a venue close to home so that your guests don’t have to travel far. You could also have your ceremony and reception at the same venue so that guests don’t have to travel between the two.
5. Consider a British staycation for your honeymoon.
A long-distance flight produces thousands of tonnes of CO2. To truly make sure your wedding is environmentally friendly, don’t undo all that hard work by going on a long-distance honeymoon.
Consider a nearby location for your honeymoon or even have your honeymoon at the same location as the wedding itself to completely reduce the impact of your journey.
Making even just a few of these changes to the plans for your wedding will help to cut down on the waste your wedding produces, and all without compromising on the creativity. Discover more about the five easy steps towards a more ethical wedding.