Environmentally Conscious Wedding Ideas

While loving the environment we live in, we can all make conscious efforts to preserve it.  With more and more brides and grooms adopting the “green” wedding philosophy, it’s become much easier to implement eco-friendly details into your celebration.  By choosing ethically-sourced and sustainable products and using in-season flowers and food, you can make a big impact even with the smallest detail.  From the wedding invitations down to the favors, we’ve compiled a few ways you can add sustainable and eco-friendly details to your wedding while minimizing waste (plus we’ve found the vendors who can help)!

Paper

From save-the-dates, invitations, and thank you cards there are a few ways to effectively minimize waste with your wedding stationery.  Choosing “eco”  or recycled paper can really make an environmental impact by saving trees!  Plantable paper is also another great alternative, and “Botanical PaperWorks provides eco-friendly solutions for couples that want to plan their wedding in style, but also in a sustainable way.”

You can even cut down on excessive paper inserts when mailing your suite by sharing some information digitally!  Paperless Post is perfect for creating beautiful designs and emailing announcements.  & if you decide to create a wedding website with a company like Minted you can include more details about your event that you don’t really need to mail.  So save some paper, and a few bucks by minimizing your use of paper goods!

Jewelry

You’ve already got “the ring” (or you may have your eyes set on one), but you’ll need the wedding bands and day-of accessories to follow.  So, consider buying ethically sourced pieces instead of conflict diamonds and non-recycled metals.

Bario Neal is one of the leading companies to transform the jewelry industry, these local jewelers use progressive manufacturing to bring couples (with a belief that love is for everyone) timeless environmentally conscious designs.  “At Bario Neal, we design ethical, sustainable jewelry for every couple. We pride ourselves in using only 100% reclaimed or fairmined precious metals, recycled and ethically sourced gemstones and diamonds, and supporting small-scale mining globally while manufacturing exclusively inside the US. Everything we make is designed and finished by hand at our flagship location in Philadelphia. We offer an expansive collection at many price points, as well as accessible custom design and heirloom resetting. Couples must set up an appointment to shop for wedding bands and engagement rings – and to see our jewelers working away behind our cases.” – Anna Bario and Page Neal

Your wedding ring symbolizes your union with your partner, but it can also be a symbol of your environmental responsibility to preserve the precious resources on our earth!

Flowers

The beautiful arrangements that you choose to set the mood can be an example of how you can continue to let love grow!  If you shop local and in-season flowers you cut the cost of travel expenses, ultimately helping the environment.  Local farm and florist Love N’ Fresh Flowers is a leading example of the environmental impact you can have by choosing ethically sourced florals for your wedding day.

“Our wedding flowers are decidedly unique and sustainable because we grow all of the flowers we used in our design work at our own organic flower farm right here in Philadelphia. Our guiding motto is “from seed to centerpiece” and we mean it! There is absolutely no waste in our flowering process… we pick the flowers straight from our fields and immediately design your wedding bouquets so there is no fuel used for shipping, no plastic and cardboard used for packaging, and no chemicals used for keeping the blooms happy in transit (all typical components of the traditional florist supply chain). Any leaves and stem clippings from the design process go right into our compost pile on the farm. We design without the use of floral foam, an element of traditional floral design that is incredibly unsustainable. And to top it all off, at the end of your celebration, we can return to pick up your flowers and donate them to a local hospice and assisted living community that we have partnered with to give the flowers a longer time to make people happy. Anything that doesn’t get donated returns to the compost pile on our farm. And that compost goes back into our fields to nourish the next generation of blooms!”

While most couples spend thousands of dollars on wedding flowers, this is one essential detail that should be consciously made to minimize waste.  We always notice flowers but do we consciously notice the wasteful ways we admire them?  You can reduce your carbon footprint by purposefully choosing the blooms for your bouquet and centerpieces and knowing where they were sourced.

Food

When it comes to choosing the food and drinks you’ll serve remember to go local (less travel), choose in-season foods, and consider reusable or biodegradable serveware!  Local businesses like 12th Street Catering make an amazing contribution to our environment with their sustainable initiatives and here’s how:

“At 12th Street Catering, we take great pride in the fact that “going green” is part of our everyday philosophy, and we know that this is an important consideration for many soon-to-be-married couples. We are deeply rooted in providing and incorporating fresh, seasonal, and local ingredients into all of our dishes year-round, and we can create a wedding menu around your favorites which your guests will be talking about for years to come.

On your special day, expect us to use reusable china or biodegradable plates and utensils that are comprised of fallen palm leaves and cornstarch. You can also count on us to recycle whatever we can and use compostable trash bags when cleaning up. If there are any leftover ingredients, we will make sure they are composted in our onsite composting facility right here in Philadelphia. With locally-sourced ingredients and eco-friendly practices, 12th Street Catering has the resources and values necessary to bring your vision of a green wedding to life.”

Food is one of the many things that bring people together.  By sharing ethically chosen foods to serve your guests you’re also showing them the environmentally conscious ways to eliminate food waste while enjoying an amazing feast!

Favors

Your wedding favors will leave a lasting impression on your guests.  So skip the traditional trinket, and explore the sustainable ways you can give the greatest gift!  Consider making a charitable donation in your guest’s honor.  It’s the ultimate way to give back and encourage your family and friends to do the same!  There are several foundations to choose from, and one, in particular, is the Wish Upon A Wedding where you can make a donation to give a couple in need the wedding of their dreams! What better way to spend your money than on an important cause?

You can also use decor as double-duty items!  Incorporate your wedding theme by using place cards as favors,  like potted succulents that your guests can take home.  Or edible treats that they can instantly enjoy like Philly soft pretzels and LOVE cookies!  The possibilities are endless, but don’t get too caught up in the details, and remember to do what you love and love your environment!