For Conscious Couples
Not every couple has sustainability at the forefront of their wedding plans, but here at the Sustainable Wedding Alliance, we believe your special day can be a beautiful reflection of your values, including your care for the environment. We offer a curated directory of sustainable venues and suppliers, alongside insightful articles and inspiration on our Conscious Couples planning blog.
Whether you’re already a champion for the planet or just starting your journey, join us in exploring how to make your wedding a celebration of love and responsibility.
What is the Sustainable Wedding Alliance?
Each year, there are approx. 278,599 weddings in UK, however this year. We know that the average wedding emits 14,500 kgCO2eq (or 14.5 tons CO2e), at least half of which could be reduced by making sensible, considered choices.
Imagine, if we could reduce all wedding emissions by half… that’s a potential saving of over 2 million tons of CO2e that’s the equivalent to taking 2,666,460 medium sized cars off the road for a year! Remaining emissions could then be offset, which, based on the average wedding, and the type of offset chosen, would be in the region of £500-£700. Have you thought about how you could make your wedding more environmentally friendly?
How important is sustainability to you and your wedding?
Planning your big day is no doubt buzzing with decisions, and sustainability might be one buzzing around your minds. Is a sustainable wedding something you’re dreaming of, or are you unsure where to start?
We’re here to listen! In just 3 quick minutes, this anonymous survey will help us understand how couples like you think about sustainability when planning their weddings. We’ll unveil the results here, on our website, in May.
Whether you’re a full-on eco-warrior or just dipping your toes into the green scene, your voice matters. By sharing your thoughts, you’ll help us: Uncover what sustainable wedding elements are most important to couples, craft resources and tips to make those eco-dreams a reality and help the wedding industry become more mindful of the planet.
Looking for sustainable suppliers?
Planning Blog for Conscious Couples
But First, Love the Planet: Why Sustainable Weddings Are the New “Something Borrowed”
Ditch the waste and embrace eco-chic! This article explores why sustainable weddings are the new "something borrowed" and offers tips for a stylish, planet-friendly celebration.
Ditch the Disposable, Embrace the Delicious: Your Sustainable Wedding Starts with the Venue!
Ditch generic venues & embrace sustainability for your wedding! Discover how seasonality & ethical choices can make your big day epic and environmentally friendly!
Why Saying “I Do” to Sustainability Makes Your 2024 Wedding Sparkle Even Brighter
With a little creativity and planning, you can create a sustainable wedding that's not just magical for you and your partner, but leaves a positive footprint on the world you'll share for years to come.
Featured Member: The Orchard at Munsley
The Orchard at Munsley is an exclusive hire tipi wedding venue set in a cider apple orchard in the heart of rural Herefordshire.
Sustainable Wedding Alliance: Your Partner for a Greener Wedding
At Sustainable Wedding Alliance, we believe that your wedding day should be a celebration of love and commitment, without harming the planet. That's why we've created a community of eco-conscious wedding businesses that are dedicated ...
Sustainable Wedding Alliance: Your One-Stop Shop for Planning a Sustainable Wedding
Sustainable Wedding Alliance is the only directory of its kind. We are committed to helping couples plan sustainable weddings.
Featured Member: Bespoke Live
Bespoke Live is a SWA Accredited Music & Entertainment Agency that provides amazing musicians and bands for celebrations, parties and weddings across the UK and beyond.
Featured Member: SpinKreative
SpinKreative is a SWA Accredited Wedding Photographer based in Hertfordshire in the East of England whose style is a mix of relaxed, candid and reportage.
Featured Member: The Green Aisle
The Green Aisle is a family run business offering pre-loved and ex sample wedding, bridesmaid and prom dresses and bridal accessories located in Yorkshire and the North East.
How to Have an Eco Wedding Without Sacrificing Style
Sustainable weddings are becoming increasingly popular as couples look for ways to reduce their environmental impact. In this article we explore the ways to plan a sustainable wedding without sacrificing style.
What are the challenges when planning a sustainable wedding
Planning a sustainable wedding in 2023 is not without its challenges, but by following the advice outlined in this article, you can minimise your wedding's impact on the environment.
Featured Member: Greenfox Bakery
Claudia at Greenfox Bakery is a wedding cake designer based in South London that specialises in buttercream wedding cakes. Claudia is also the first cake maker in the whole of the UK to gain the Sustainable Wedding Alliance Accreditation.
Couples’ Choice: Why the SWA Accreditation Matters for Today’s Wedding Planning
The Sustainable Wedding Alliance accreditation promotes sustainability in weddings, offering couples eco-friendly wedding businesses for a meaningful and conscious wedding experience.
5 sustainable wedding gifts for conscious couples
If you want to give a wedding gift that will mean more than just ticking something off of a list, then these 5 sustainable wedding gifts for conscious couples will give you some great inspiration.
Featured Member: Ashmolean Museum
Set amongst Oxford’s dreaming spires, the Ashmolean Museum is a magnificent venue for a wedding, civil partnership or celebration. The neo-classical architecture, iconic entrance, grand sweeping staircases and opulent galleries offer stunning and romantic backdrops.
Featured Member: Jacqui O
Jacqui O is an awarding winning luxury wedding and event floral brand, with beautiful flowers at its heart, pleasuring the senses with the sweetest fragrances, tantalising textures and mesmerising arrangements.
Featured Member: Oxford Fine Dining
Oxford Fine Dining are extremely proud of the trusted reputation they have gained over the past decade and are very privileged to have been given the opportunity to cater at some of Oxford’s most esteemed and prestigious venues and have an extensive and impressive portfolio of weddings.
Featured Member: Libby Clark Photography
Libby Clark has been a Wiltshire Family & Wedding Photographer since 2010 and runs her business from her home in a little village near Salisbury, Wiltshire. Very aware of the environmental impact her business creates, Libby takes steps to be as sustainable as possible.
Why choose a sustainable wedding venue?
When starting your wedding planning one of your first tasks is likely to be drawing up a shortlist of wedding venues to view. If you'd like to have a sustainable wedding, it's also the first opportunity you have to make a positive impact.
Worried about the impact on the planet with your wedding flowers? Here are some sustainable alternatives…
Are you worried about the impact on the planet your wedding flowers may have? Want to understand what you can do to have a positive impact or what alternatives are available?
Nature tours launch for sustainability focused wedding venue, Kinkell Byre
The Nature Conservation Tours, which will run every September to March, will be led by owner Rory Fyfe, who currently lives on the farm and launched the ‘Rewilding Kinkell’. The tour will explain the reasons why rewilding is so important and how it will benefit the land.
Kinkell Byre expands wedding offering after almost 20 years of success
Sustainability is an important focus for the business, which offers a “weddings for the wild” package, including caterers who use locally sourced food and florists who grow their own native flowers locally. The venue suggests several ways to reduce waste and offers means of offsetting the carbon footprint of weddings.
Featured Member: Lilac & Lace Floral Design
Rebecca creates natural, effortless wedding flowers across Kent and the South East.
Edible, eco-friendly wedding favours your guests won’t leave behind
Favours aren’t a must have at a wedding, but are a great way to say a little thank you to your guests for joining you on your big day. Making them edible means they’re practical and can eco-friendly too. We know from experience, edible goodies rarely get left behind! Whether it’s s quick treat for now or to take home, they tend to go down a storm.
How to create your on the day wedding timeline
When planning a sustainable wedding, the timeline is one of the first things you should think about. Although it seems like some time in the distance, an on the day timeline will likely influence many other aspects of your day. Ensuring that you are making the most of your season, is key to having a sustainable wedding.
How can you plan a planet friendly wedding?
Sustainable wedding planning has, in the past, was seen as quite niche, but the world is changing! Our 2022 survey told us that 90% couples consider sustainability when planning their wedding. And that number is only going to increase as couples, like you, become more aware of their impact on our planet. So where do you start if you want to have a sustainable, environmentally friendly wedding?
What is the best season to get married in?
Without doubt the most sustainable way to plan a wedding - Think about your favourite foods, when local produce is in abundance, flowers are looking their best, how much day light there is...
Featured Member: 4YaParty Weddings & Events
Mercedes, a qualified venue stylist and founder of 4YaParty prides herself on having great customer service and high attention to detail. Based in Bexley on the South London and Kent border, 4YaParty is a venue styling and prop hire company with sustainability at the core of everything they do.
Eco anxiety – what is it and how you can stop it?
Planning a wedding can leave you feeling overwhelmed, particularly if you are environmentally conscious and but you’re not alone. In this article we look at what eco-anxiety is and what you can do if you have it.
Eco Friendly Confetti – Buy It or Grow It?
For many years natural, biodegradable confetti has been the only type of confetti allowed at many wedding venues. As with much of the wedding planning process we know that it's probably something you've never typed into a search directory before... and probably wont again.
Featured Member: Amethyst Weddings
This month's featured member is Sian from Amethyst Weddings is a vegan, sustainable wedding expert based in Hampshire who has won the PETA Vegan Wedding Award for the ‘Best Wedding Planning Service’.
How important is sustainability to couples planning their wedding?
We recently ran a survey on couples that are planning their wedding, or recently married to find out how important sustainability was to them. And the results speak for themselves...
Weddings for the Wild
SCOTLAND: The Big Picture is a charity that works to drive the recovery of nature across Scotland through rewilding. 'Weddings for the Wild' brings you and your guests closer to rewilding, allowing the big day to contribute to the transformational recovery of nature.
Featured Member: Sheepdrove Wedding Venue
Less than 2 hours from London and set in beautiful West Berkshire countryside with stunning views and spectacular scenery, Sheepdrove is a venue like no other and exclusive to anyone that has a wedding there.
Sustainable Wedding Planning: Getting rid of the unnecessaries
When we say unnecessaries, we're talking about all those little things, all the elements that are nice to have, but when you look at the waste and cost (both financially and to the planet) aren't truly necessary.
Congratulations to Hayne House our 1st Accredited Venue
Congratulations to Hayne House Wedding Venue, our first accredited member. Hayne House have been working hard to make the venue more sustainable. Reviewing their waste, removing single use plastic and joining the Race to Zero campaign.
Event Cycle: Saving leftover event items from landfill and creating a positive impact in the process
Event Cycle was created to tackle the problem of single-use items at events and weddings across the UK, preventing things being sent to landfill, ensuring they have a life after your wedding.
What is a sustainable wedding dress? What makes it sustainable?
Sustainable fashion is about slowing down the process, looking at all the elements that go into making a garment, and considering the environmental and social impact of the end product. But where do you start when looking for a sustainable wedding dress?
Is it just a dress?
Kate Atkinson, Founder of Bridal Reloved and Sustainable Wedding Alliance Ambassador tell us how buying a wedding dress can be sustainable.