How Green Is Your Wedding?

While planning your wedding, have you consciously made any decisions (or sacrifices) in the name of make your big day a little greener and more eco-friendly? Maybe you’re thinking of a green wedding registry (check out Wedding Republic‘s registry system if you’re looking for one) or maybe you’re going with a caterer that uses sustainably grown, organic, local produce.

While most brides and grooms want to be as green as possible, sometimes it’s difficult to balance what you want (and what your family wants) with the ideal “green” wedding.

We came across this article in the New York Times and while it was written in 2007, you might be able to gain a little insight into planning your wedding with a conscious nod to some eco-friendly options. Here’s an exert with some of the wedding details:

Kate Harrison’s idea of a fairy tale wedding goes something like this:

Gather more than 150 friends and relatives at an organic farm for a prewedding day of hikes and environmental tours.

Calculate the mileage guests will travel and offset their carbon dioxide emissions by donating to programs that plant trees or preserve rain forests.

Use hydrangeas, berries and other local and seasonal flowers for her bouquet and the decorations, instead of burning up fuel transporting flowers from faraway farms. Design an organic autumnal menu (same reason). Find a vintage dress to avoid the waste of a wedding gown that will never be worn again.

Read the full article…

Hydrangeas and berries not your cup of tea? We’re not saying you have to compromise on everything, but there are a lot of small things you incorporate to make the event more environmentally friendly. Talk to the venue, and other suppliers or vendors you’re using. You can also look for a wedding planner that specializes in eco-friendly weddings to minimize the impact your event will have on the environment.  And needless to say with the plethora of tools online there are a lot of ways to cut down on paper (e-vites, rsvp online, online wedding registries etc)

Here are a few more green ideas but the first step is to make it a priority when you’re first starting to your wedding planning. Do you have any green wedding tips? We’d love to here them! Leave a comment or tweet us!