Weddings can be incredibly wasteful events. There are many occasions when the trash piles up, the extra food gets thrown away, and the flowers end up in the garbage. Many couples are trying to find ways to make their wedding more eco-friendly now but don’t really know where to start. Here are some easy ways to try and make the best of your wedding and make sure it is as eco-friendly as possible:

Electronic Invitations

Having your wedding Save the Dates and Invites sent over email rather than in the mail will help save a ton of paper from eventually being thrown away and also save you a bunch of money. If you can’t imagine not having a physical copy, you can always print a few for your close family and friends and send the rest over email.

Limit Food Waste

Ask about what happens with leftover food and see if there is a way to save leftovers so it isn’t thrown away. Even offering it to the catering staff or your vendors to take home may save a lot of food from being thrown away! It’s more difficult to avoid leftovers with a buffet style event because you can’t predict the portion sizes. Ask your caterer for ways to make sure that food isn’t wasted.

Reusing Decor from your Home

There are many items that you can incorporate from your home that would mean you have less to purchase and potentially get rid of later. You can use mirrors with vinyl lettering for your signage such as a seating chart or a welcome sign that would cost a lot less than buying an entirely new mirror. You also can use household items for other elements of your wedding like your centerpieces so that there wouldn’t be any additional manufacturing toward your wedding.

Unwrapped Gifts

Request that your guests display your wedding shower and wedding gifts without the wrapping paper since most wrapping papers are not recyclable. Most of the time, these are gifts that you already knew about anyway since they are on your registry! Also if people are giving you gifts in bags, you can potentially reuse them for other wedding events you go to in the future.

Dinnerware Decisions

There is a debate on whether it is better to have recyclable items versus just using regular plates, silverware, and cups. More often than not, many of the recyclable options can’t actually be recycled because they were not properly clean from having food on them or would need to be dried of liquid. Even though it requires lots of water to clean all of your dishes, it seems to be the better option as far as sustainability. Many caterers additionally don’t have options for recyclable options anyway.

Avoid One-Time Use Items

There are many items that you may only use once and then throw away. One of these would be renting cloth napkins instead of having paper napkins. Try and make sure that the items at your wedding can be recycled or given away/sold so that they don’t just end up in the trash.

Reusing your Florals

See if there is a way to have your flowers sent to assisted living homes or hospitals after the wedding is over. Ask your florist what they do with the leftover florals. Try doing flower rentals through Bloomerent for real flowers or Something Borrowed Blooms for faux flowers where they can reuse your florals for multiple weddings in a weekend, or buy already-used fake flowers and keep/resell them/give them to another couple so they aren’t tossed in the garbage.

Forgo Favors

Most of these items are wrapped and that wrapping becomes garbage. Sometimes you may even be left with 100 extras that the venue may dispose of if you don’t have anyone to collect them. It’s much more sustainable to just forgo having wedding favors completely than trying to figure out the logistics. If you feel so inclined, you can also donate the money you would have spent on those favors to a charity or nonprofit organization that promote eco-friendly research and lifestyles.

Carpooling with your Wedding Party

It’s generally better to have 1 bus than 12 cars all going to the same place, and this also makes the logistics much easier to handle. Usually guests may opt to carpool with family or friends as well, but this is typically not something worth your effort to try and make sure of.

Rent your Attire and Jewelry

Many companies are available to rent your dresses and suits. Companies like Happily Ever Borrowed or Rent the Runway may help you find wedding dresses. There are also ways that you can rent or use jewelry from family/friends so that you don’t have to get them manufactured. This can help limit the amount of cloth and other items used to make the products that would be tossed and it saves you a pretty penny.

Ask your Vendors

If there are other options that aren’t listed, it doesn’t hurt to ask your vendors what they can to do make sure your wedding is eco-friendly. Typically, your venue, caterer, and florist may be able to come up with ways that can make your wedding as sustainable as possible.

If you would like more help to plan your wedding, you can reach out to me at hello@firmlyrootedevents.com. I will get you started on my email list for monthly tips and my checklist so that you can stay on track while planning your wedding.