As more and more of us try to incorporate greener living, it is important to be aware that it is a lifestyle change. We need to change everything from the way that we eat to the way that we wash our clothes to help to save the planet, and this also includes special occasions like weddings.

An eco-friendly wedding, however, doesn’t have to mean an expensive wedding or a day that’s any less special. In fact, an eco-friendly wedding will not only give you a sense of joy that marriage gives you, but it will also have you feeling great, safe in the knowledge that you have been doing your bit for the environment.

According to wedding experts at Manor By The Lake, “A trend that has been developing over the past couple years involves adding your own unique stamp to the day.” This means that if being eco-friendly is important to you, you should go ahead and go all out on it.

If you are planning on having a truly eco-friendly wedding, you will need to consider the environmental impact of everything that you do. Here are a few things that you should think about:

Your Venue

You have a number of options for venues if you are looking to have a green wedding. You can find a venue that has similar priorities to you, maybe in putting sustainability at the forefront of what they do, cutting down on single-use plastics, offering vegan food or a menu made from locally-sourced ingredients or re-using decorations.

You could also think about having an outdoor, summer wedding which would reduce the need for energy for heating and light and opt for candles or a bonfire in the evening.

Another thing to consider is the use of the same venue for the ceremony and the reception to avoid the need for guests to drive around the country from location to location. You could think about having your venue close to public transport links to encourage your guests to use that and if your ceremony and reception are in different places, consider other transport ideas like hiring a bus to take your guests from one to another.

Wedding Favours

You don’t need to buy expensive and planet-destroying wedding favours to give to your guests. In fact, the less that you can buy, the better for the environment. If you do want to give your guests something, why not make them yourself? You could bake them a biscuit with their name on to double up as a place card, give them eco-friendly soap, home-made jam or how about giving each person some flowers from your decorations?

Second Hand and Rented

It is a sad fact that many things that are bought for a wedding are only used once, then put away or thrown away.  This can be a huge waste of resources on the planet, and there is no reason that you can’t use items which are second hand or rented on your big day.

Some things which you could rent or use second hand, include:

• Wedding outfits – this could make your day even more special if you are able to wear an outfit which means something to you. You could always get someone to change aspects of the outfit if you are not renting it and you should also think about what you are going to do with any outfits after the big day if you’re not renting them.
• Flowers – when you are thinking about what flowers you want at your wedding, think about what you are going to do with them afterwards – could you give them to guests? Or maybe a local hospice. Or consider using pot plants instead of cut flowers, meaning that they keep on living.
• Decorations – you can easily hire decorations or use those provided by the venue which can then be re-used. If you need to buy them, try to keep them so that they can be used again on a different occasion.

Technology

You can also use technology to help you to cut down on unnecessary waste. Instead of printing lots of expensive wedding stationery, you could send out e-invitations and save the date cards. They don’t have to be any less special. Just less harmful to the environment.

You could also think about having a digital guest book, digital photos or project a table plan onto the wall, for example.

There are also many other aspects of your wedding which you can make more eco-friendly. Serving organic, locally-sourced, vegan food, for example. Considering whether you need a gift list and ensuring that the gifts that you get are ethical and eco-friendly, enjoying the romance that candles give you, having organic, local flowers or avoiding disposable dinnerware, for example.

An eco-friendly lifestyle is becoming more and more important to more and more people and this can extend into everything that we do in life – including weddings. An eco-friendly wedding doesn’t have to be extortionately expensive – in fact, cutting down on the number of things that we are buying can play a major part in being eco-friendly, and by following these tips you can ensure that you have a wedding that is both special for you and great for the planet too.