If you want to introduce sustainability to your couples as a wedding supplier, then these five quick ways to make weddings more sustainable without sacrificing your couples experience are a great place to start. Let’s jump in:
1. Switch the venue to one that cares
Your couples choice of wedding venue will have a massive impact on the carbon footprint of the celebration. A simple switch that can be made is choosing a venue for its sustainability credentials rather than just the cost or service provided. A wedding venue with a proactive sustainability policy will work with your couple to make decisions which will reduce the burden of the celebration on the planet while maximising the experience.
The Sustainable Wedding Alliance helps suppliers just like you to find support, guidance – and the accreditation you can use to demonstrate to your couples that you put the planet at the heart of your decision making alongside their experience.
2. Hire the décor rather than buying it
Single use wedding décor is a huge contributor to the overall carbon impression that a wedding leaves. By switching to a hire service that re-uses, recycles and repurposes your couples will be able to retain all the style of their event and being more sustainable.
Examples of décor switches:
- Table décor. From centrepieces to table numbers, having reusable solutions reduces your carbon impact
- Ceremony décor. Re-useable candles, repurposed fabrics and hiring chairs can reduce cost and decrease the burden on the environment!
- Hen/Stag party décor. This is typically a huge area of waste. Look to ditch the throwaway props and plastic debris and you’ll also be saving the planet (and maybe also your instagram street cred?)
3. Switch up the wedding menu and go plant based
By choosing to go plant based, even for just one course of a wedding breakfast, it can make a real difference. Encourage your couples to take to their caterer about the options and arrange a tasting. Plant based desserts are particularly popular and tasty!
- Reducing carbon emissions. Plant based ingredient have a substantially lower carbon footprint, so by making the switch for even just one course can make a big difference.
- Reducing waste. Many plant based alternatives can be used in a variety of ways, and in many cases the whole plant can use used rather than just one part of it. This helps to reduce waste, but also cost.
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4. Switch the wedding favours
Wedding favours are one of the easiest ways to make a more sustainable choice for your couples. Here are five wedding favours which will cause less damage to the planet:
- Home grown succulent plants
- Flower seeds in plantable pouches
- Charity donation in lieu of a favour
- Bird seed decorations
- Fair trade tea/coffee pouches
There are so many creative ways to rethink wedding favours whilst making an eco-conscious choice that will delight your couples and their guests!
5. Set up group transport
This is a switch that can be fun for the guests as well as planet saving! Setting up group transport for to and from your couples wedding can have benefits for the wallet with people travelling together, and reducing carbon emissions at the same time. Some ideas to consider:
- Car sharing – by connecting guests ahead of time they can arrange to travel to the wedding together
- Public transport – great for well connected venues
- Coach transportation – for venues that need to be driven to, think about providing a coach or bus for guests
- Virtual attendance – for guests living further afield, consider the option of them being part of the day virtually
Get the social element of your couples’ wedding going by encouraging sharing on social media (subject to the couples’ approval obviously) and you can create an incredible atmosphere for the day whilst reducing the carbon emissions of the celebration.
These five quick ways to make weddings more sustainable without sacrificing your couples experience will hopefully inspire you talk to your couples in a way that will help them to make more unconscious decisions. If you want to find out more about how the SWA would help you and your wedding business becoming more planet conscious, get in touch with us today.
