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Tips for Planning a Greener Wedding

By Ophellia McKnight, WPIC, DWC

Destination Wedding Specialist

Shorten your guest list – the more guests that you invite to your wedding, the greater your carbon footprint will be for the event. The more people that are on your list the more food that will be consumed, the more miles that will be travelled and the bigger your venue will have to be to accommodate your wedding.

Ceremony & Reception Venue - Consider an outdoor wedding in the park or at a beautiful natural spot so you can take advantage of nature’s décor and reduce the amount of added decorations. Have the reception at the same location, or at least nearby to shorten guest travel and reduce car pollution.

Wedding Dress and Tuxedo - Consider one of the following: buying a vintage dress and tuxedo from a resale clothing store; buying an organic silk/hemp wedding dress; wearing a simple dress or suit that you can wear again.

Invitations et al – Consider printing your invites, thank you notes, programs and all other related items for your wedding on handmade seed paper so that your guests can plant the invitations and enjoy the flowers that grow from them. You can also encourage your guests to recycle the paper and make that your keepsake from the wedding. Also think of using less paper by using a postcard for the replies and forgoing the envelope and creating a wedding website with all the necessary information so that you do not have to do too much printing.

Flowers – Consider using a florist that uses flowers from local and/or organic farms or use a wildflower grower at your local farm market to create bouquets & table arrangements. Try to find potted plants instead of cut flowers for centerpieces and guests can take them home to plant and watch your love bloom!

Food – Consider donating the food left over from your reception to a local soup kitchen instead of throwing it out. This will assist them to feed so many persons that rely on them for a daily meal and it will reduce the waste produced from your celebration.

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Bridal tip
On your wedding day, while getting your make-up and hair done, wear a button down shirt instead of a t-shirt. This will ensure that you can remove the shirt to get dressed without smudging your make-up or ruining your hairdo trying to get anything over your head. "Borrow" something from "hubby's" clothes hamper so that you have him close at hand while you are getting ready!