Indeed, being conscious about ecology and consumption has been on the minds of many people and the application of the “healthy” habits have been established in different areas of our lives. However, it will be fair to say that wedding celebrations overall are not very ecological and environmentally conscious undertakings! Travel, esp if guests are coming from abroad; lots of materials that maybe are not reusable, electricity/heating/water consumption for the celebration itself but also for installation, dismantling and cleaning/washing the dishes.
You would probably think I am shooting myself in the leg right now, BUT I would like to suggest some ways to actually make weddings less “consuming” and more eco-friendly!
Conclusion? All the roads lead to Switzerland!
You would probably think I am shooting myself in the leg right now, BUT I would like to suggest some ways to actually make weddings less “consuming” and more eco-friendly!
- Don’t buy the decoration - rent it out: it may seem like it’s not a lot, but when 10’000 couples are buying the same decoration produced in China whereas they could have rented it from decorators/florists - it could really make a difference.
- Use live flowers and plants in the pots for the decoration of the tables and different areas! Some of them you can also rent out from flower or garden shops, or some of them you can actually buy and give your guests as a present instead of buying them something else that they may just throw away right away.
- If you use real flowers and even if it’s a lot of them - talk over with your florists of how you can wisely reuse them during the celebration. For example, we have been doing that a lot: moving the flowers from the ceremony after everybody left to the zone where guests have not yet arrived. Of course it requires wise planning and fast work, but it saves your budget and flowers! Also, what we did a few times - after the arch was dismantled during the dinner we made some bouquets and gave them as presents to all lady guests of the wedding - nice gesture!
- In another blog article I had written I was really voting for having the menus printed personally for each guest, but again there is also a way to make them more conscious. First of all, you can be creative and make a big menu somewhere where everybody can see it, like on a chalkboard, performed by an artist, they do this a lot in the restaurants and bistros! Or, you can print it on recycled paper.
- Even a cooler thing I have seen, which became very popular - green invitations, where biodegradable paper also has some seeds incorporated into it and instead of throwing it away you can plant right here and now.
- Biodegradable confetti also falls in this trend, btw!
- And one more thing: when you come to celebrate to Switzerland, or France, or Italy and you choose those amazing venues either they are like that thanks to the nature around them (mountains, lakes, sea, gardens, forests) or because of their architectural and historical value and appearance (villas, castles, mansions, theaters) - you don’t need to over decorate them, when they are the decoration on their own.
Conclusion? All the roads lead to Switzerland!