10 Ways we are Planning to Make our Wedding Sustainable
Photo from Sage and Solace Farm
My goal for our wedding is to make it as sustainable as possible, knowing it won’t be perfectly zero-waste and there are limitations, I am going to try by best.
10 ways we are planning making our wedding sustainable:
1. Find a local venue. While we will have some family and friends traveling in for the wedding, we are keeping it local to reduce our travel impact and that of the majority of those we are inviting.
2. Use a caterer that sources local ingredients. There are a couple options in the Fraser Valley with catering that supports the local farms. Ideally, we will be able to book one of them for both the best tasting food but also supporting local farmers.
3. Rent as much as we can. The plan is to rent all the dinnerware and décor, from plates, cutlery, glasses, napkins, table clothes, to lawn games and signage. I don’t want to keep any of these things after the wedding and there is no point in buying them for one occasion.
4. Use in season flowers. My goal is to find a local florist that can use in season flowers. While we are planning for September this might be a bit of a challenge, but we will see what we can do.
5. Buy from local vendors. Where possible, we are going to try to support local vendors. I have found a local rental company, Italian bakery, and local cake shop for all the details.
6. Find an ethically made wedding dress. Ideally, I would love to find a used dress, but this might be a bit of a challenge, so realistically I am expecting to have to buy one new. At the end of the day, I will have to go with what fits, what I love, and what is in my budget. I think this might be the most challenging thing to find but it won’t stop me from trying!
7. No matching bridesmaids dresses. Instead of forcing my bridesmaids to buy a dress that they will never wear again, we are going for a coordinated look. Hopefully using something already in their closets or that can be bought second hand. At the least something that will suit their body type and can be worn again.
8. Consumable wedding favours. I will be sending our guests off with something tasty to be enjoyed after the wedding that won’t end up in the landfill.
9. E-invites. While I will send physical thank-you cards with personalized notes, we are going to cut down on the paper by sending e-invitations.
10. No physical gifts. In the Italian culture, it is customary to give cash as a gift. The principle being that you cover the cost of having you are the wedding, and then double that if you can. This is meant to be used by the couple to go towards their first house together, instead of gifting lots of “things”.
Planning a wedding has already proven be to a very stressful process but I am hoping that we are still able to make this a special day that stays true to our values by finding ways to support local and keep in sustainable wherever we can. Next year I will share what worked well and where we found challenges.