If you do your best to live an environmentally friendly lifestyle in your “regular life,” then why not look at having an eco-friendly wedding?

Now, you’ll want your wedding to be a big party, but it’s also important to remember that the world doesn’t stop spinning just because we’re getting married.

The problems that the world has, and the duties we have to alleviate those problems, remain intact.

An eco-friendly wedding is easier than it sounds, and you won’t lose any of the fun.

And, of course, you’ll be doing your bit to help practices that help the world develop that little bit more, too.

1. An Eco-Friendly Wedding Proposal

Everyone wants their engagement to be special, but here’s the thing – virtually any engagement where the person has put in an ounce of effort and care will be special.

While it would be nice to get engaged, say, overlooking the mountains of Patagonia, if you take a trip there you’ll have used up your “annual allowance” of earth’s resources just on the flight!

You don’t need to go to great lengths to have an out of the world engagement: save the magic for the wedding, and keep the engagement local.

2. Commission An Eco-Friendly Wedding / Engagement Ring

That wedding and engagement rings often have a huge – and negative – impact on the natural world isn’t something that’s terribly well known, but it’s true.

The average wedding ring that you buy you from a high street shop will have a high carbon footprint, and questionable ethics trailing behind it.

To have an eco-friendly wedding, therefore, you’ll need to think about what’s going on the fingers.

There are ethical diamond ring options available – like the jewellery at www.larkandberry.com, for example, which use lab grown diamonds!

Lab Grown Diamonds?!

Yes!

The way diamonds grow under ground is mimicked in a lab in two ways.

Lab grown (aka, cultured) diamonds are made by applying immense heat and pressure to carbon.

They can also be created by applying heat and gases to a diamond slice.

Both processes create 100% diamonds; and watching both of these processes in real life is like magic, but real!

Lark & Berry

Cultured diamonds are graded the same way as natural diamonds, and to the naked eye, the difference is undetectable.

Diamonds grown in a lab are typically 30-50% cheaper than mined diamonds (win!), and are an ethical way to get your sparkling ring finger (double win!)

3. Are Your Wedding Clothes Sustainable?

The manufacture of new clothes has a huge impact on the natural world.

After all, what do you think all those clothes are made from?

Some people are pretty good at making the most use from their clothes or buying smartly.

But then they buy a new dress or suit – which are expensive – that’ll only be worn on one day.

Wouldn’t it be better to save the planet, and tons of money, by buying something that’s more sustainable?

Second-hand – yet virtually pristine – eco-friendly wedding clothes can be beautiful and affordable.

You can also take a look at ‘upcycling’ an old dress.

Do you have the skills that’ll allow you to do it properly?

It’s not as difficult as it looks, and can save you and the environment a ton!

4. Sending Out Eco-Friendly Wedding Invites

Oh, those poor trees.

So many are cut down, and they’re not being used to publish the works of the next Shakespeare…

They’re just informing people to keep a date far in the future free.

They’re not going to be pinned on the wall or have any details that really need to be scrutinised.

They may just be read and thrown away – argh!

If you aim to have a eco-friendly wedding, then this will be a bad start.

If you’re going to send paper invites, then do so on recycled paper.

Even better would be to send a digital invite, which will have no carbon footprint at all.

5. Consider Celebrating Closer To Home

There’s been a big rise in overseas weddings in recent years, and you can see why.

They’re generally cheaper than UK weddings, and you can be guaranteed agreeable weather.

It is, however, a disaster for the environment, since you’ll have so many people flying over to wherever you choose.

So think about this before you start looking longingly at a map of the world and selecting an exotic destination.

It’s also worth remembering that while it might seem “cheaper,” in actual fact you’re just passing the cost on to your guests.

They will be the ones who have to pay for their flights, hotels, etc.

There are many beautiful wedding venues in the UK, including the amazing venues in Hampshire, Surrey and Berkshire.

6. Make The Journey To Your Wedding Ceremony Eco-Friendly

Even if you are getting married in the UK, there’s still going to be a lot of travelling involved for your guests.

Unless you happen to live in an Emmerdale-style village, where everyone who would be going to your wedding already lives locally…

Instead of having dozens of cars making the journey, maybe just have one vehicle transporting everyone?

Provide a bus to the venue from a central spot, and you’ll be environmentally responsible for one journey, rather than dozens.

If that’s not a practical option, you can look at cutting down on the number of vehicles travelling to your space by connecting guests who live close to one another so they can carpool for the trip.

7. Sustainable Wedding Decoration Options

You’re most likely going to have flowers at your wedding, but you’ll want to check where they’re coming from because some producers use dangerous chemicals to make their flowers bloom.

Once the wedding day is over, suggest to guests that they take them home, so they’re not single use.

You could also look into drying or pressing your wedding flowers after your big day to use as beautiful keepsake items.

8. It’s Easy To Serve A Sustainable Wedding Dinner

What’s on your wedding menu?

Wedding meals are one of the highlights of the day for everyone, but who says that the meal has to involve meat?

While some of your guests might roll their eyes at the idea of a meal without meat, it’s worth keeping in mind that meat is one of the worst things for the environment.

The water needed to make one hamburger is the same as a month’s worth of showers.

One hamburger!

Now imagine if you’re serving steak to all your guests.

Take a look at vegan or vegetarian meals.

There are a lot of delicious options that’ll ensure none of your guests has any complaints with the food.

9. Making Your Honeymoon More Eco-Friendly

After you’ve celebrated your marriage, you’ll be thinking about your honeymoon.

Having kept things as earth-friendly as possible, you won’t want to undo the good work by taking an energy-intensive trip to the other side of the world.

Keep things located within the UK, if possible.

There are many beautiful spots that you may not have visited before!

If you do want to go overseas, work with an eco-friendly travel company to keep things as earth-boosting as possible.

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