A sustainable wedding, also known as a green wedding or an eco-friendly one, is a celebration where the couple tries to minimize the event’s extravagant effect on the environment. Nowadays, sustainable wedding ideas are plentiful, with more eco-friendly wedding decorations in the market and greener options for catering, invitations, and more.

Every bride and her family pictures the big day and wants the wedding to be grand in their own capacity. It is one of the most memorable days of life but also the most wasteful event for our environment. There are an estimated 10 million weddings happening in India every year. Because of the pressure to have a picture-perfect day, many of us don’t contemplate the effect that our wedding purchases and excess food have on the environment. Food wastage ranges from 40% to 60% depending on the size of the events.

A fix to prevent this without sacrificing your grand-themed wedding dreams is to host it in a greener way. Luckily, the trend of sustainable weddings is catching up. Organizing an eco-friendly wedding doesn’t necessarily have to be more difficult than organizing a less environmentally-friendly nuptial. So here are some tips and tricks to include the sustainability quotient in your wedding and get the blessings of Divine Mother Earth:

Greener Venues

Celebrities have created this desire among us to have a destination wedding but it is inconvenient for most of the guests and also multiplies the carbon footprint. One can choose a sustainable venue that requires less energy. Even the season and time of your D-day matters! Tying the knot in winter would save a lot of energy as hardly anyone will require an air-conditioner. The marriage events in the daytime will save money on lighting. Locations like lushful garden spaces, beautiful lawns, and seashores can save you money on decors!

Eco-friendly or Paperless Invites

An invitation card is one of the most basic things in a wedding and also generates waste. Chemical-free natural dyed and recycled or seed paper invites help all the visiting guests in becoming a part of the community that hails sustainability. Rather than wasting time on selecting a beautiful wedding invitation design and then traveling to distribute the cards or posting them to invite the guests, a whole of money can be saved by opting for digital invites. Digital invites save a big chunk of time and fuel too.

Reusable Cutlery

In a wedding house, with a lot of people incoming and outgoing, it will be difficult to serve them food on steel or aluminium or bone-China plates. So, one can offer to take the help of local vendors and opt for leaf plates which is a bio-degradable option too. Serving hot piping food on banana leaves is a part of our culture. Instead of depending on plastic cutlery, metal cutlery, and bone-China plates can be used to provide an elevated experience in your banquet hall.

Artificial flowers

The trend of artificial flowers has witnessed a sudden rise for a number of reasons as they save carbon footprint. Many flowers are imported from many countries. So, a simple way to implement sustainable decor in your wedding is to use artificial flowers instead of real floral bouquets. Also, the couple can be showered with fabric petals instead of fresh flowers. You can step up your eco-friendly wedding game by swapping faux flower varmalas for real flowers. Artificial flowers are reusable as they are non-perishable and they will look vibrant in your photographs as well! If one opts for real flowers, one can help companies like Nirmalya and Phool that use used flowers for incense sticks by donating them.

Vocal for Local

Using locally sourced materials for the wedding decor radiates the essence of the locality as well as contributes to sustainability. Opting for local vendors, and local decors, not only helps the local economy but also reduces waste and the overall carbon footprint of a wedding. For instance, a wedding can be decorated using reusable or recyclable decor made by community artisans.

Vegetarian/Vegan Menu

Planning a menu for guests is another important task and one can help the environment by going for a vegetarian or vegan menu. There are plenty of vegetarian options. Left-over foods can be given to the NGOs which can distribute the food to needy people. People often have bigger eyes and smaller bellies. The servers can remind them to take as much food as they can eat.

Wedding Dress

Ask any bride about how much time has she worn her wedding lehenga in her lifetime and she will answer once or twice or thrice to be maximum. As these wedding garments are expensive, huge, embellished, and weigh a lot, they can be worn on a few occasions only. So, an ideal option would be renting wedding garments or curating your own! Even the jewellery can be rented out.

Your grand day can be a memorable and special day in a sustainable way without being an expensive affair. Just proper research, planning, and support are required!