Sustainable Wedding Ideas

I unfortunately got into sustainability after my wedding ugh so I wish I did some of that for mine BUT some of the stuff I can see happening are the use of biodegradable cups and napkins and plates if applicable. Anything that needs to be printed could be on recycled paper or seed paper. If your caterer can compost food scraps then that would be great!

I love that more people are thinking in sustainable ways!
I started with decor and other items we wanted to have like a cake knife and server, and focused on buying used when possible rather than new. For invites we simplified to the invite card itself, a small insert card directing everyone to our website to rsvp since that wouldn’t fit on the invite we chose, and one envelope rather than a whole suite with all the extras that get tossed. We’re also avoiding all single use items like plates, cups, etc, including mini hand sanitizer bottles that guests will likely trash when they are empty and paper masks. We will have several large bottles of hand sanitizer throughout the venue, and will provide some handmade reusable masks for guests to take if they need/want one.
I’ve been debating ceremony decor for a while, but after asking opinions earlier I think we are just going to let the view speak for itself since we’re having an outdoor ceremony. For “confetti” I found this amazing idea to use shaped hole punches on freshly fallen leaves, and since the aspens will hopefully be changing that gives us some color too.Flowers I’m still on the fence about, because I used to work in a flower shop and I’ve always imagined a big bouquet of fresh flowers, but I know how much of as negative impact they can have being transported from other countries. If we end up doing bouquets, we will use them as reception decor as well. It’s small steps, but we’re also slowly making our household more green too.

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I love all of those ideas! I found some beautiful bridal boutiques that focus on sustainable fashion. I'm hoping I can find a dress I love through one of these options. Also, I found a few print companies that create sustainable invitations - one focuses on recycled paper products and the other you can plant the invitation and flowers will grow! My wedding planner told me she has a lot of decor that she reuses. Also, the venue itself (being a nature center) speaks for itself so decor will be very minimal for the ceremony. I'm considering using biodegradable cups, plates, and napkins if we use a more one-time-use option verses used china.

We haven't made our household green yet, but I am so interested in this idea I am sure I will find useful household changes and tricks a long the way.

I'm usually a person pretty into sustainability, but I barely applied it to wedding planning... or so I thought, until I zoomed out.

We had fake flowers. (Reusable.)

Most of our guests took the subway/rideshares to the wedding. (Less carbon.)

No favors. (Less waste.)

We kept decor to a minimum, let the view from the venue speak for itself - the Hudson River and the NJ towns across from NYC.... and even the Statue of Liberty way down in the harbor. (Though, admittedly, we ended up using foam for the centerpieces. Win some, lose some.)

Bought my dress at a sample sale. (Not only saved money, but it's a form of thrifting!)

Stuff like that. When you already think sustainably, you kind of end up applying it to big events, too.

Some ideas you can think about are wooden flower bouquets (compostable), also dried flower bouquets and decorations with grasses and buds (biodegradable and super on trend).

View Quoted Comment I didn’t even know there were boutiques that focus on sustainable fashion, I’m really curious what that looks like! I bought my dress during a sample sale last year.
I love the idea of plantable invitations too, I’ve seen those but didn’t even think about it when I ordered.
There are so many great ideas and I’m sure you’ll find many more as you go.

View Quoted Comment I was looking into wooden and dried bouquets last night! The dried bouquets have the bohemian feel I love! I’m trying to find one in darker, moody tones.