Ask most wedding business owners whether they care about climate change and the answer is yes. Ask them whether they feel confident talking about it with couples, explaining their business’s carbon footprint, or making informed decisions about their supply chain, and the answer is often very different.
There is a gap between caring about the climate and knowing what to actually do about it. Carbon Literacy Training is designed to close that gap.
What is Carbon Literacy Training?
Carbon Literacy Training is an accredited programme developed by the Carbon Literacy Project, a UN-recognised organisation that has now certified over 150,000 people worldwide across business, education, government and the public sector.
The training gives participants a genuine, practical understanding of climate science: what carbon is, why it matters, how human activity is driving climate change, and what individuals and organisations can realistically do to reduce their impact. Crucially, it is not a theoretical exercise. It is built around action, and every participant leaves with a personal commitment to specific changes they will make.
Completing the training earns a Carbon Literacy certificate, an externally recognised credential that demonstrates genuine climate knowledge, not just good intentions.
SWA’s Carbon Literacy Training: built for the wedding industry
The Sustainable Wedding Alliance has developed its own Carbon Literacy Training materials, accredited by the Carbon Literacy Project and designed specifically for wedding professionals.
This is an important distinction. Generic Carbon Literacy Training is valuable, but it covers carbon and climate in broad terms. SWA’s programme contextualises everything within the realities of the wedding industry: how a florist’s supply chain contributes to carbon emissions, what a venue can realistically do about energy use, how a photographer’s travel decisions add up, what couples are asking for and why, and how the industry as a whole can be part of the solution.
The result is training that is immediately relevant and immediately actionable for anyone working in weddings.
How the training works
SWA Carbon Literacy Training is available in two formats:
Online: Delivered across two half-day sessions of four hours each, so a full eight hours of training without needing to take a full day out of your business. Sessions are scheduled throughout the year and listed on the SWA website.
In person: Delivered as a single eight-hour day. In-person sessions are hosted at wedding venues, which means the training itself takes place in a relevant, industry context. We regularly deliver sessions at venues for their own teams, their supply chain, and their wider supplier networks, creating a shared learning experience for everyone involved in making a wedding happen.
Both formats are open to SWA members and non-members.
Who is it for?
Carbon Literacy Training is relevant to any wedding business, regardless of size, specialism or where you are on your sustainability journey. You do not need prior knowledge of climate science or sustainability to take part. The training is designed to meet people where they are.
In practice, participants include:
- Venue teams who want to be able to talk confidently with couples about their sustainability practices
- Photographers, florists and stylists who want to understand their own footprint and make better decisions
- Wedding planners who want to give couples informed, credible guidance on sustainable choices
- Business owners who want their whole team to share a common understanding of why sustainability matters and what it means in practice
- Suppliers new to sustainability who want a solid, evidenced foundation before they start making changes
One of the most valuable outcomes of doing the training as a team, rather than just as an individual, is that it creates a shared language and a shared sense of purpose. Everyone comes out of it understanding the same things, having made their own commitments, and ready to work towards the same goals.
Why venues are particularly well placed to host it
SWA regularly delivers in-person Carbon Literacy Training at wedding venues, and this model has proven particularly effective for several reasons.
A venue sits at the centre of its own ecosystem of suppliers and partners: caterers, florists, photographers, entertainment, styling, stationery and more. When a venue hosts Carbon Literacy Training and invites its supplier network to attend, it creates something much more powerful than individual businesses doing the training separately. It builds a shared commitment across an entire supply chain.
For venues, hosting a session is also a genuine demonstration of leadership within the industry. It is not just about getting your own team trained. It is about raising the standard across the network of businesses you work with, and showing couples and clients that your sustainability commitment extends beyond your own four walls.
If you are a venue interested in hosting a Carbon Literacy Training session for your team and supplier network, get in touch. We will work with you to plan and deliver a session that works for your context and your people.
Pricing
For SWA members: Carbon Literacy Training for up to five team members is included within membership. Additional team members beyond five receive a 50% discount on the standard rate.
For non-members: Sessions are available at £95 per person.
Given that Carbon Literacy Training externally typically costs between £100 and £200 per person, and that SWA’s programme is specifically designed for the wedding industry, the member pricing represents exceptional value, particularly for teams.
All upcoming sessions, both online and in person, are listed on the SWA website.
What you will be able to do after the training
Participants consistently tell us that the most significant shift after completing Carbon Literacy Training is confidence. Not just knowledge, though that matters too, but the confidence to:
- Talk about climate and carbon with couples without feeling out of their depth
- Answer sustainability questions honestly and specifically, rather than giving vague reassurances
- Make informed decisions about suppliers, materials and practices, rather than guessing
- Spot greenwashing when they see it, in their own communications and in others’
- Explain why sustainability matters to their business without feeling like they are lecturing anyone
For wedding businesses working towards SWA accreditation, completing Carbon Literacy Training is also a meaningful step in that journey. It builds the foundational knowledge that makes the rest of the accreditation process more coherent and more manageable.
The bigger picture
The Carbon Literacy Project has certified over 150,000 people worldwide because the premise is sound: informed people make better decisions. When enough people in an industry, a supply chain, or a community share a common understanding of the climate challenge and their role in addressing it, the cumulative impact of those individual commitments adds up to something significant.
The wedding industry has an opportunity to be part of that. Not by being perfect, but by being informed, honest and genuinely committed to doing better.
Carbon Literacy Training is one of the most direct, practical and effective ways to start.
View upcoming Carbon Literacy Training sessions and book your place →
Find out more about SWA membership and get training included →
