Green weddings are an up and coming trend with many couples. The idea behind green weddings is to decrease the environmental impact that the event will have on the planet. Couples can make decisions in their wedding planning process that will make their wedding green without sacrificing elegance or fun! www.GreenBrideGuide.com* has many tips to help couples make earth-conscious decisions while planning their big day!
Read below some facts from Green Bride Guide’s website* regarding green weddings:
Transportation
“The EPA estimates that cars, trucks, and buses are the leading producers of air pollution, yet about 75% of couples travel to and from their wedding in a limousine. Holding your ceremony and reception at the same venue, or close by one another is one way to limit travel for your guests. If possible, make this a centralized location so that most of your friends and family will not have to travel far. Carpooling, renting an alternative energy bus or trolley, or taking public transit if available will not only make things easier for your guests, but it will also get them to and from your celebration while minimizing emissions."
Favors
Favors for all your guests can cost you a small fortune. Often wedding favors are small trinkets destined for the trash can. Instead, make a small donation for each guest to a cause that is important to you. This is a thoughtful alternative to a tangible, potentially wasteful favor. If you are set on giving a small gift, there are tons of non-wasteful favor ideas. For example, edibles, small potted plants, seedlings or soy candles will echo the values behind your wedding.
Warm cookies with a small reusable bottle of cold milk is a delicious grab and go favor idea. This will also serve as a sweet treat for your guests who have been sipping bubbly all night long!
Invitations
Paper is frequently used throughout the traditional wedding planning cycle. Couples design custom save-the-date postcards, invitations, RSVP cards, seating programs, menu cards, escort cards, thank you cards, and more. Traditional paper-making is an energy-intensive process that creates a large amount of waste and uses harsh chemicals such as bleach. Recycled and post-consumer waste paper, tree-free paper, soy inks, and digital correspondence offer beautiful and elegant ways to reduce resource consumption. Many modern couples are finding ways to simply cut down the use of paper in their invitation suites.
Instead of including separate papers for reception cards and maps and directions to the wedding, house all pertinent information on a wedding website such as WeddingWire or The Knot.
A number of chic invitation companies are now creating all in one wedding invitations. This invitation style contains four flaps that fold into one sealed card ready for mailing. The send and seal wedding invitations include a detachable RSVP postcard for your guests to send back. Once sealed the invitation can be mailed without envelopes for the price of a hand-stamp. You can even find invitations that are exquisitely crafted with 100% recycled papers, made with carbon neutral energy. Quite possibly the greenest wedding invitations on Earth!
Green weddings are important to today's millennials
“We found that whether it’s rewarding a company’s fair-trade labor practices or their zero-waste policies, millennials are the most serious about ethically sourced grab-and-go foods,” Olson says.
Ethical grab-and-go foods may seem like a bit of niche. However, this desire is just a fact when it comes to those great expectations of millennials. The study, which surveyed 1,500 US consumers, found that 82 percent wish establishments would use more environmentally friendly business practices. “Foodservice operators need to start considering how to introduce and communicate ethically sourced ingredients, menu concepts and business practices,” the report concludes.
For some green wedding menu ideas, check out Eggwhites Catering's Plant-based menu main courses. Plant-based, vegetarian and vegan menus are also available for hors d'oeuvres, first course and dessert.
*Green Bride Guide was acquired by mywedding.com in 2014
