Grace & Tucker | Sunrise Engagement Session on Shenandoah National Park | Skyline Drive
How to Have an Eco-Friendly Wedding
Save the Dates :
If you can avoid it, do not send Save the Dates unless they are absolutely necessary. If you need to send Save the Dates because of your wedding’s location, use 100% post-consumer recycled paper (not just 100% recycled - they are not the same thing), or send them digitally. Do not use magnets, as tempting as they may be!
Invitations :
Use as little paper as possible. Try just sending one postcard with your website where guests can RSVP instead of a whole set of invitations. Support a small-business owner, like a local invitation maker (I can send you recommendations!) or use Plantable Paper from places like Botanical Paperworks or Bloomin - you could even make your own if you’re feeling extra crafty.
Decorations :
Use center pieces and table cloths that you will use in your own home after the wedding, or that you can gift to friends and family who will also use them in their own home - better yet, use things you already own or that your friends and family already own such as :
Vases
Candles Sticks
Table Cloths
Cloth Napkins
Statues
Boxes
Picture Frames
Planters
Books
Pitchers
Herb plants that guests can add straight to their food or take home
Donate Your Decor After :
You can bring your flower arrangements to Senior Centers, Homeless Centers, or Hospitals. You can even find people who will come and pick up the flowers to bring them, so if you’re off on your Honeymoon immediately, it can be taken care of for you.
Food :
If your wedding is small enough, or if your wedding is casual and intimate enough, make your own food or ask others to bring food. I know having a pot-luck wedding sounds ridiculous, but it works for a lot of people (and a lot of budgets).
If you are using a caterer, ask if your guests can stock up on leftovers to bring home with them so the extra food isn’t thrown out.
Plates, Silverware, and Cups :
Real :
Rent real dish ware
Look at thrift stores for cheap dishes that you can then gift after the wedding to friends or families that love vintage and thrifted!
Cases of mason jars are also cheap, people can take them home with leftover food, or you can use them to can food after the wedding. You can even give your gifts canning recipes to take home with them to go along with the jars.
Use paper cups, paper plates, paper straws, and bamboo utensils instead of plastic.
Dresses & Suits :
Find sustainable wedding dresses and suits. Sustainable clothes are a lot of money, so if you can’t get yourself to spend that much, look into buying second-hand or vintage dresses!
I have had a hard time finding sustainable clothes for grooms! If you know of any, please feel free to let me know so I can update this.
For your bridesmaids and groomsmen, ask them to find sustainable clothes that they will wear over and over again - gone are the days of everyone matching.
The Reformation : Sustainable Wedding, Bridesmaid, and Guest Dresses
Christy Dawn : Sustainable Wedding, Bridesmaid, and Guest Dresses
H&M’s Conscious & Sustainable : Men - they even have tuxedo jackets
Gifts :
Gifts for your bridesmaids, groomsmen, and guests are tough - but instead of buying them things they will only use the day-of your wedding, spend time thinking of meaningful gifts they can always use - such as plants, photos taken with them, natural skincare or soaps, homemade candles, or simply handwritten thank-you notes.
Flowers :
If you are using a florist for your wedding, find one who uses locally sourced flowers. After your wedding, dry your flowers and use them as decoration in your home, and give to family & friends! Herb plants in terra cotta pots, like basil or cilantro, that guests can add straight to their food. Tell your guests to bring centerpieces home with drying instructions so they can do the same.
Still have more leftover? Bring your floral arrangements to nursing homes or hospitals to brighten someone else’s day.
Eco-Friendly Grand Exit Ideas :
local flower petals
dried lavender
paper airplanes
ribbon wands made of paper
bubbles (use large bubble machines that you can then give to children, rather than individual bubble bottles for the guests)
little paper flags
Your Own Back Yard :
It doesn't get more eco-friendly than having a wedding in your own back yard. Plus, you'll have the added sentimentality of getting married in the place where you grew up, whether it be on the beach, near a lake, in a prairie, in the country or in the mountains. Read my Backyard Blog Post Here!
Things to think about during your entire planning process :
Can we do this and help a local small business?
Will this be thrown out after the wedding? (by us or by guests)
Who are these made by? Is it ethical?
How can we reuse this?
Do we already have this?
Can we rent this?
Janet & Omar | Game of Thrones Winter Elopement | Shenandoah National Park
Janet & Omar had been planning their elopement for months - I helped plan a location on Shenandoah National Park, and together we came up with a game plan for locations to visit along Skyline Drive leading up to their ceremony.. and then Skyline Drive closed because of snow and ice. So late the night before we changed up our plans, while including Shenandoah as much as possible. We met up before sunrise and hiked in to the Park, then drove back to the farmhouse where their family members were (who flew in from California!) and they had their ceremony on the top of a hill overlooking fields and hills and mountains, surrounded by their families sitting on chairs and benches they carried from the farm house. It was a perfectly adventurous day, and I am so honored to have been a part of it. Also, there was a Game of Thrones theme and it was amazing.
Their small, intimate, adventurous wedding was already sounding like a dream before Janet emailed and said “oh, by the way, we are kind of doing a Game of Thrones theme.” and then death came to me. LOOK.
Janet wore husky/wolf earrings, Omar switched over to a Game of Thrones / Jon Snow outfit, they had a sword, and their cake looked like dragon scales. Flags were flown, furs were worn, it was epic.
Incredible hair & makeup by Perry Warren
