Green Eco-Friendly Weddings are trending and are continuing to gain in popularity. This means more and more vendors associated with the wedding industry are offering services with a sustainable purpose. To create green eco-friendly weddings – it starts with the engagement.
The green mindset is no longer only the mindset of the hippies of the 70’s. The shift in culture over the decades has seen sustainability become part of all our everyday lives. It’s therefore only in-keeping that this mindset has seen the growth in eco-friendly weddings or as some call them, green weddings.
No matter the name, the beliefs are the same…For the planet, we reduce our weddings carbon footprint.
Ideas are plentiful and in this series, we will discuss some of our ideas for eco-friendly wedding decorations, catering, venues, invitations and more.
Green eco-friendly weddings, it starts with the engagement
THE ENGAGEMENT – THE RING
Rather than going to the local main street jewellery store, there are couple of sustainable options.
An option growing in popularity is to go ‘Estate’.
A vintage option, a piece which can come to the wedding party through a family heirloom or by visiting the antique estate jewellery dealers for a stunning one-of-a-kind retro ring. If you struggle to find quite what you want this way, consider the estate jewellery a resource rather than a finished product store. With this in mind you can use a piece you find at the estate jewellers to create your own piece by melting down the gold, resetting stones etc. Concerned you don’t have the creativity, your jeweller will be a great source of design knowledge, only your imagination and willingness to go down this road will limit the outcome.
Did you know there are sustainable Diamonds? Something to be mindful of when purchasing un-set diamonds to create your own ring. Check that your jeweller is like-minded. Beware of ‘Blood Diamonds’, these are diamonds which have been smuggled to fund civil wars. You can check the heritage of diamonds via The Kimberly Process Certification Scheme, your jeweller will help with this.
Alternatively, have you considered Lab-created stones which are less impactful upon the environment. Lab grown gems are less harmful to the earth as they are not mined and of course are not a product of civil conflict. There are jewellers who specialise in these stones.
THE ANNOUNCEMENT AND CELEBRATION
A general announcement can be made through social media pages. or even by email or messenger platforms. However for invitations to your celebration, there are many options for sustainable stationers available.
It’s at this time, the choices you make, that you’ll be setting a precedent for the wedding celebrations. Use the planning for your engagement celebrations as research and pre-planning for the wedding. Start making your short lists of available green and sustainable choices.
In a world where we seek to consume less, it is often the choice of the bride and groom to ask for donations rather than gifts. If this is your choice, you may opt to select your personal eco-sustainable-green based charity to benefit from your celebrations.
Coming up, we will take you further along the journey of the Green Eco-Friendly Wedding, with planning suggestions that include; venue and location ideas. Dresses, hair and makeup, flowers, decor, catering and consumables, even the honeymoon.
We invite you to tell us about your own experiences. You may have tips for appropriate businesses you may have used. Or you may be the owner of a like minded business in the wedding industry, tell us about your business.
By Nicola Hazzell
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