It’s not something we like to think about, but the hard truth is that weddings are incredibly wasteful. Even a reasonably sized wedding of 100 to 120 guests generates 400 to 600 pounds of waste. You can spend tens of thousands of dollars and generate waste and carbon dioxide for just six hours of celebration.
If you’re like many brides who are increasingly concerned about this waste, you can do something about it. There are many ways to reduce your wedding’s footprint and generate much less, if not zero, waste.
Consider an Elopement
The absolute best way to reduce waste is to not hold a traditional wedding. Elopement has a long history and is a tradition all in its own right. An elopement cuts out the majority of the event. It’s a small, intimate ceremony that allows you to celebrate the occasion with only the couple of people who matter most. In many ways, an elopement is much more special than a big wedding.
Eloping requires much less planning, but you still want to ensure you do it right. You still need a game plan. To be environmentally friendly:
- Don’t travel.
- Plan the elopement locally.
- Plan a small ceremony with the details that matter most to you, such as the officiant, the vows, what you’ll wear, and witnesses. If you are traveling, make sure you know the law and get the right documents.
Keep Your Guest List Small
Eloping isn’t right for every bride. Maybe you have dreamed of this big day and being the center of attention for years. You don’t have to give it all up just to be sustainable. If you and your family really want a full event, trim your guest list. You don’t need 200 people to make it a special event. Consider it an exclusive wedding.
By inviting fewer people, you will cut a lot of waste. Each person attending a wedding represents a carbon footprint from traveling to the location, waste generated in decorations and invites, food that may or may not has traveled to get there, and the food waste at the end of the night.
Choose Paperless or Recycled Invitations
Wedding waste starts right from the beginning. Save-the-date cards plus the invitation for each person on the list adds up quickly. Many invitations include multiple layers and expensive papers that are not necessarily recyclable. Set the tone for your wedding immediately by reducing waste here.
The best way to go zero-waste is to be entirely paperless. Send out invites via email and use a website to collect RSVPs. At a minimum, you can use email for a save-the-date notice. And, if you still want to use traditional invitations, choose companies that use recycled and biodegradable papers and inks.
Make Sustainable Fashion Choices
Your fashion choices for the big day also generate waste. Every dress manufactured requires chemicals to make and process materials and travel time with carbon dioxide generation. Many wedding gowns only get worn once.
One way to be more sustainable is to choose used or vintage gowns and dresses. If you want to buy new, let your girls choose their own bridesmaid dresses. This increases the chances that they’ll get more use out of them. There are plenty of options for bridesmaids that are practical and versatile.
The dress is big, but arguably the biggest fashion choice for the day is the ring. Diamonds are notoriously bad for the environment and human rights, but other options exist. Talk to your partner about getting a vintage ring or a lab-grown diamond. Lab diamonds offer superior quality and don’t contribute to the environmental destruction of diamond mining.
Choose Local Venues and Vendors
Travel is one of the biggest waste generators of a wedding. The farther people have to go to get to your event, the more fossil fuels they burn and carbon dioxide they generate. Narrow your local options down to venues that can provide the most sustainable elements, for example:
- A venue that can do the ceremony and reception to eliminate driving between events.
- In-house catering that uses local ingredients as much as possible.
- A food program that donates leftovers.
- A setting that is naturally beautiful and doesn’t require a lot of additional decorations.
- A venue with lodging so any out-of-town guests can stay in one place.
Reduce Waste Wherever Possible
A completely zero-waste wedding isn’t possible for everyone. Whether you aren’t willing to settle on a small wedding or you have always dreamed of a destination wedding, you can still cut back on waste in practical ways. Use some or all of these tips to create a less wasteful, more environmentally conscious event for your big day.
