Sustainable Wedding Planning is Easy With These Tips

Think about the old motto, reduce, reuse, recycle. It’s a catchy saying, but there is so much more depth to it. When it comes to wedding planning and creating a dreamy day to say, “I do,” there are plenty of ways to focus on sustainability in the process. You can reduce your carbon footprint, reuse old things, and even have opportunities to recycle in your wedding planning and on your wedding day. Here are some sustainable wedding planning tips to help you create a memorable and perfect wedding day.

Don’t Turn Your Nose Up at Secondhand Items

While you may want to wear a brand-new dress, there are a lot of second-hand wedding dresses that could use a fresh start. With some customizations, you can get an old dress and make it new to you. Not only can this save you big money, but it can also reduce the waste that comes with wearing a dress only one time. There are dresses in thrift stores, online marketplaces, and in your family and friends’ closets that might look amazing on you as well. If men can rent their tuxedos, then ladies, you can wear a beautiful secondhand dress. Another sustainable option is to find a second-hand diamond ring or use lab-grown diamonds instead of ones found in diamond mines.

Leverage the Internet to Tour Wedding Venues

Internet searching is powerful. You can find almost anything online, including your wedding vendors, venue locations, and more. There is no need to drive all over just to narrow down your choices. Instead, use Zoom conferences and other online ways to communicate with vendors to at least get your list pared down. Once you think you know the location you want, then you can schedule an in-person meeting to tour and view the wedding venue.

Use Digital Products

Digital is the way of the future. The wedding industry jumped on board a long time ago with customizable wedding websites, wedding e-invites, and more. Digital products can also help you create mood boards, streamline the planning process and so much more. While you might have your dream wedding all up on Pinterest, there are other products out there that you can use in the wedding planning process.

These tools can help you determine anything from color schemes to flower choices and so much more. You can send simple, but beautiful invitations and have your guests RSVP online to help ensure they are all accounted for. This makes the process quick and easy, and also more sustainable than sending reply cards with envelopes.

Buy Local Flowers

Ordering flowers from the other side of the world might get you some incredible bouquets, but it won’t be sustainable. Find a local farm instead and get your flowers from them. You can find amazing varieties and, in many instances, when you dry the flowers, you’ll also get some seeds to plant later. This will help save on shipping, packaging, and other waste that goes into ordering a lot of flowers. Centerpieces can be potted plants instead of floral arrangements as well. Then guests can take home a plant to put in their garden instead of tossing flowers at the end of the night.

Have a Daytime Wedding and Reception

What does this do? It lowers your dependence on electricity for your wedding. A night wedding with lots of lights and loud music can be a lot of fun, but let’s face it, it’s not the most eco-friendly option. Planning a wedding and reception for the daytime means that you can take advantage of the daylight to illuminate your wedding day.

Forget the Favors

Party favors are fun to give out, but truthfully, they contribute to a lot of waste when it comes to weddings. When you’re already providing a meal for your guests, favors are just an added bonus. Think about some greener and more sustainable favors. Offer items that are recyclable, that are usable, or that can be planted if you do make them, and keep the packaging as sustainable as possible as well.

Plan a Small WeddingLarge weddings and huge parties are a lot of fun, but not only is it a lot of work to plan, but it’s also not eco-friendly or sustainable. Planning a small wedding ensures that the people closest to you can come and celebrate and that you can do those little things that make your wedding as sustainable as possible. Have fun planning so you can enjoy your sustainable wedding day.