Eco-friendly wedding supplier guest blog
I am super excited to have the wonderful Hannah from Green Soul Weddings (also based in Cambridge!) on my blog today talking about a really important topic; eco-friendly tips for your wedding day. Over the past year or so I have been thinking really carefully about how my business impacts the planet and what I can do to help. I am currently increasing the number of local Cambridgeshire and Home County weddings I photograph. I am also planting trees each month to combat any co2 emissions from destination weddings and UK weddings that are further afield. I’m currently at 313 trees in my forest, which I’m really proud of. If you’d like to know more about how my business is eco-friendly and sustainable – do get in touch, I’d be more than happy to talk to you about it.
Here is what Hannah has to say:
Eco-friendly wedding tips:
Caring for our planet is a hot topic at the moment, and rightly so as we become more and more
aware of the negative impacts we as humans are having. It’s not all doom and gloom though, there
are ways we can make a difference and start to turn things around by being more eco-friendly and
taking the time to think about our impact.
I have a great quote on the pinboard by my desk as a daily reminder to me … “Nobody made a
greater mistake than he who did nothing because he could only do a little” – E Burke. Indeed, in the
battle to help our planet small actions are better than none and every single little action adds up to
something greater.
So, if you’re considering or already making little steps towards a more eco-conscious daily lifestyle,
they why not incorporate some easy eco-friendly steps in your wedding day too! I know eco-friendly
and convenient don’t tend to always go hand in hand, so here are 5 easy ways your wedding day or
other celebration can have less of an environmental impact but still have maximum wow factor!
1 – Talk about it!
Being eco-friendly is something that is gradually increasing on people’s radar, and that goes for your
suppliers too. However, not everybody chooses to actively talk about their eco credentials, indeed
not everybody has given it much thought at all, so by initiating a conversation about your desire to
be more eco-friendly with your suppliers you will be helping to encourage them to think and talk
about it. It might sound silly, but one of the easiest ways to have a more eco-friendly day for
yourselves, and increase the likelihood of it becoming the norm, is to just talk about it… awareness is
key!
If you’re yet to select some of your suppliers, don’t be afraid to ask the questions early on and find
out how they can help you to be more eco-friendly on your day. This allows you to weigh this up as
part of your decision-making process when choosing who is the right fit for you, your values and
your day.
If you have already chosen your suppliers why not broach the topic on your next consultation or
video call just to find out what they might already be doing to help and to see what else you could
be doing together to make a difference. Sometimes suppliers will go the extra mile to be more eco-
friendly for your celebration if they know it matters to you, and you never know, you might help to
set a new precedent for how they operate going forwards!
2 – Opt for local wherever possible
One of the best ways to reduce the carbon footprint of your day is to opt for local as much as you
can. If you’re early in your planning journey, the best way to do this is to keep your venue search
local to you or to the majority of your guests. Then, as you continue your supplier search, local directories and location specific Instagram hashtags can be a great way of finding a dream team that
are just on your doorstep.
For a more impactful eco-friendly step, or if you already have an existing team on board, talk to your
suppliers about where they source their items from and, similarly to above, start an open
conversation about carbon footprints and ways in which you could source everything more locally.
For example, could/does your stationer use a local printing service; does your caterer source their
ingredients from local independent growers and producers; does the bar stock the best local ales or
gins; and could your florist use locally grown flowers for all, or the majority, of your order?
3 – Choose natural and biodegradable confetti
It may only seem small, but as we’ve said every little step adds up, and ensuring your confetti is
biodegradable is such an easy thing that I believe every couple should do. Many venues insist on this
now and with so many great options out there why wouldn’t you opt for biodegradable, after all if it
isn’t going to degrade then you’re essentially actively asking everyone to litter and contribute to the
problem rather than reducing it!
Ask your florist or local flower farm whether they have any real petal confetti for sale as some
ensure they use up leftover or slightly damaged blooms by drying them to make confetti.
Alternatively, there are companies that specialise in natural confetti and can provide you with the
perfect mix of sizes and colours to suit your wedding. If natural petals aren’t for you, how about
leaves, bubbles, bird seed, or dried lavender, or maybe you can come up with a biodegradable idea
of your own? If getting the perfect confetti shot is important to you then chat to your photographer
to get their recommendations too – Here are Lucie’s top Confetti Throw tips.
4. Choose secondhand or to hire
A great eco-friendly wedding tip is to choose second hand. Some people have a real aversion to using secondhand and I do understand the appeal of new and unique items, especially on your wedding day or other very special celebrations. However, there are lots of different ways of approaching secondhand for your wedding and it doesn’t have to mean old, tired looking or dirty.
Indeed it’s common practice for grooms and grooms party’s to hire suits, the hiring of props and
decor items makes up a whole sector of the wedding industry, and gorgeous boutiques selling
preloved or ex-sample wedding dresses are on the rise too. So, before you opt to buy something
brand new for your wedding, why not shop around? Often you’ll find newlywed couples selling items
from their wedding day, or even better why not try to hire so you don’t have the hassle of trying to
sell it on afterwards and instead you’ll be contributing to an infinite loop of reusing. Ultimately, each
and every item you incorporate that is second hand or hired is a powerful way of helping our planet,
because one less item needed from the production line is one less item that can end up in waste.
5. Reuse throughout your day
Reusing is not only eco-friendly, but it helps to be more wallet-friendly too which makes it a win-win
in my books! Wedding days or celebrations are typically made up of many component areas that you
move between, sometimes spanning more than one venue and often incorporating different spaces
within the same venue too. To save aspects from only being seen and appreciated once, let them
follow you through the celebrations (which will also help with creating a consistent aesthetic too!).
For example, are you having a personalised banner, an LED neon sign, or a floral arch as your
ceremony backdrop? Make this beautiful feature piece and financial investment work harder for you
by reusing it later in your celebrations. Maybe it would look great behind your top table during your
wedding breakfast, framing the cake for the perfect photos, or as a selfie backdrop for your guests to
use. Make sure you discuss your ideas for reusing elements and the logistics of this with your
supplier team and wedding planner to be able to factor this in … as a wedding planner myself I’ve
helped to move various elements around during a wedding day and I love to see items getting the
full visibility and attention they deserve.
So, there you have it, 5 easy ways to make your wedding more eco-friendly. I wonder how many you
were already planning to incorporate and how many have sparked new ideas for you? I hope these eco-friendly wedding tips help and have illustrated that eco-friendly changes don’t have to be big and inconvenient.
Remember, every little step adds up to something greater.
Want to know more about planning an eco-friendly wedding? Head over to Hannah’s website.
If you’d like to talk to Lucie about Wedding Photography, you can get in touch here.
