You’ve added the word “sustainable” to your website. Maybe “conscious” or “eco-friendly” too. You mean it, you genuinely care about how your business operates, and you’ve made real changes to reflect that.
But here’s the uncomfortable truth: in 2026, those words on their own are not enough. In fact, depending on how you’re using them, they may now be a legal risk.
This isn’t a reason to panic. It’s a reason to understand what’s changed, and to get ahead of it.
The regulatory landscape has shifted, and it affects your wedding business
In April 2025, the UK’s Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act came into force, giving the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) significant new powers to take direct action against businesses making misleading environmental claims. For the first time, the CMA can investigate, issue notices and impose fines of up to 10% of global turnover, without needing to go to court first.
The CMA’s existing Green Claims Code, in place since 2021, already set out six clear principles for making environmental claims: they must be truthful, unambiguous, not hide important information, make fair comparisons, consider the full life cycle of a product or service, and be supported by credible evidence. What changed in 2025 is the teeth behind those principles.
And in January 2026, the CMA went further still, publishing updated guidance making clear that responsibility for green claims extends across supply chains. If you repeat or rely on a sustainability claim made by one of your suppliers, and that claim turns out to be misleading, you may share liability for it.
The CMA’s own research found that 40% of green claims made online could be misleading. That’s not a fringe problem. That’s nearly half the market.
What does this mean for wedding businesses specifically?
The wedding industry has enthusiastically adopted the language of sustainability over the past few years. Couples are increasingly looking for suppliers who share their values, and the market has responded accordingly. Almost every corner of the industry now carries some form of green claim: “locally sourced”, “zero waste”, “carbon neutral”, “sustainable floristry”, “ethical suppliers”.
Some of those claims are genuine and well-evidenced. Unfortunately, many are not.
The problem is that couples cannot easily tell the difference. And now, neither can businesses who are using vague language without the evidence to back it up. A 2025 survey by Blue Yonder found that in the UK only 17% of consumers believe brands accurately represent their sustainability efforts in their marketing. That level of scepticism is a direct consequence of years of unsubstantiated claims flooding the market.
For wedding businesses doing genuine work, this is deeply frustrating. You’re competing in a market where anyone can call themselves sustainable, but where couples have become understandably cautious about trusting those claims at face value.
The specific problem with vague language
Terms like “eco-friendly”, “green”, “sustainable” and “conscious” are what regulators call broad claims. They imply a benefit across the whole of a business or product, which means they need to be justified across the whole of a business or product.
In practice, that’s almost impossible to do without independent evidence.
Consider a common scenario: a florist describes themselves as a “sustainable florist” on their website. They do genuinely prioritise British-grown seasonal flowers, they compost their waste, and they avoid foam floral. Those are real, meaningful practices. But their delivery van still runs on diesel, some of their foliage is imported, and they’ve never measured their carbon footprint.
Are they sustainable? In some ways, yes. Across the board? Not verified. And “sustainable florist” as a headline claim implies the latter.
This isn’t about that florist being dishonest. It’s about the gap between intention and substantiation, and the fact that the regulatory environment now takes that gap seriously.
The solution is not to say less, it’s to have something real to stand on
The instinct many businesses have had is to go quiet. To remove the word “sustainable” from their website and avoid the topic altogether to avoid any risk of scrutiny. As we explored in our earlier article on greenhushing, this approach is understandable but counterproductive.
The couples who want to make better choices are still out there, still looking. Staying quiet doesn’t make you more credible, it just makes you invisible to the people most likely to want to work with you.
The real solution is to build credibility that is grounded in something independent and verifiable. Specific claims, backed by evidence, are far stronger than broad claims backed only by good intentions.
“I only use certified British-grown flowers” is a specific, verifiable claim. “I’m a sustainable florist” is not, at least not without evidence.
Independent accreditation takes this further still. It means a recognised body has assessed your business against a framework, reviewed your practices, identified what you’re doing well and where you need to improve, and verified your progress. When you display an accreditation badge, you’re not making a claim. You’re pointing couples to the evidence.
Why wedding-specific accreditation matters
Generic sustainability frameworks exist (B Corp, ISO 14001, Fair Trade) and others, and they all have value. But they’re designed for businesses across every sector, and the wedding industry has particular characteristics that a general framework simply cannot account for.
The seasonality of the business. The supply chains specific to flowers, catering, venues and decor. The way couples engage with suppliers and how trust is built in that relationship. The difference between what a sole trader florist can realistically do versus what a large venue operation can manage.
The Sustainable Wedding Alliance accreditation is the world’s only independently verified sustainability accreditation designed specifically for wedding businesses. Rather than applying a one-size-fits-all standard, the assessment looks at how your specific business operates – what’s realistic for your type and size of business, what you’re already doing well, and what a meaningful next step looks like for you.
The process starts with membership, which includes a sustainability assessment of your business and a personalised report identifying your strengths and areas to work on. From there, you work through the accreditation framework at your own pace, with the SWA community and team alongside you.
Accreditation is awarded when you’ve done the work. Independently verified, not self-reported.
Named in the UK Green Growth 100 and recognised as Trailblazer of the Year finalist at the Global Good Awards 2025, SWA has been building this framework since 2020, specifically to give wedding businesses something credible to stand on.
What to do right now
Whether or not you’re ready to pursue accreditation, there are steps you can take immediately to make sure your sustainability claims are on solid ground.
- Audit your language. Go through your website and marketing materials and highlight every sustainability claim you’re making. For each one, ask: can I back this up with specific evidence? If the answer is no, either remove the claim or replace it with something more precise.
- Get specific. “I work with UK-based suppliers wherever possible” is more defensible than “I use ethical suppliers”. “We’ve reduced single-use plastic in our studio by 80%” is more defensible than “we’re working towards zero waste”. Specificity is not just legally safer, it’s more persuasive.
- Know your supply chain. The new CMA guidance makes clear that you can share liability for claims made by your suppliers if you repeat those claims. If you describe a venue as “sustainable” in your marketing, you need to have some basis for that claim.
- Get independent verification. If you’re serious about sustainability, get it recognised independently. The SWA accreditation process gives you the framework, support and verification to be able to talk about your practices with confidence, and point couples to the evidence.
The opportunity in the regulation
It might feel like more regulation is the last thing a small business needs. But for wedding businesses genuinely committed to sustainability, this is actually good news.
The new rules create a level playing field. The businesses using vague language without substance behind it will increasingly face scrutiny. The businesses with genuine, verified credentials will stand out clearly. The couples looking for trustworthy suppliers will have a more reliable way to find them.
The question is which side of that line your business will be on.
Find out more about SWA membership and start building credibility that holds up →
Sources:
CMA Survey: 40% of green claims made online could be misleading
Blue Yonder: 17% of consumers believe brands accurately represent their sustainability efforts in their marketing
