Your Guide to Planning a Sustainable + Stylish Wedding
Wedding planning is the most beautiful, most stressful, most emotional time, all at once + 24/7. I know because I did it. I planned my wedding for 300 people MYSELF. Think I’m crazy? Well, you’re right lol. But I knew what I wanted + I knew it’d turn out to be that luxe yet organic, royal yet causal setting I had visualized + fell in love with a long time ago.
I also learned a LOT throughout the process. Lessons I’ve taken with me + shared with my girlfriends. And lessons I’m so happy to share with YOU.
One of my biggest takeaways was the fact that you CAN make your wedding sustainable + NOT lose an inch of aesthetic, nor budget. In fact, many of the ways I greened up my wedding SAVED us money.
So here goes: 6 Tips for Greening up Your Big Day
Wedding Dress.
Nowadays, there are tons of sustainable wedding gown options!! And they won’t break the bank.
One of my fave affordable eco designers, Reformation, has an entire bridal line. It even includes bridesmaids. And if chic + romantic is your vibe, then this is the label for you.
You can also RENT your wedding gown on Rent The Runway. Even though I bought my wedding gown, I still rented every single single dress I wore leading up to the Big Day. Engagement dinners, Bachlorettes, Bridal Showers, etc. RTR has tons of really pretty white options. (Here’s $30 off your first order!)
If none of this is striking your fancy, then just go here: preownedweddingdresses.com On this site, you’ll find every designer gown from Galia Lahav to Monique Lhuillier. All the dresses are preowned, but in excellent condition + for a fraction of the cost! Remember, if you find a dress that needs to be tailored to your height, this is even better because the hem will be shortened, which means it’ll look brand new.
I should also mention though, if you’re okay with spending more on your dress, check out Stella McCartney. Her designs are insane (hello Meghan Markle.)
Wedding Suite.
The wedding suite includes your invitations + everything that goes with them. The best way to keep things on the eco side here, is to limit how many items are in that suite. If you create a website, you forego all those added items to your invitations like RSVP cards, meal selections + travel itineraries. (it’s awesome!!) All of this info + much MUCH more, can be laid out on your website in the most beautiful, organized way. And you know what less paper, ink + foil means? Less MONEY.
I used Appy Couple + absolutely loved it. Not only are the designs tres chic, but the platform is super easy. Our guests could access everything from hotel recommendations to travel details to wardrobe suggestions all in one little place. They also downloaded an app to their phone to have everything at their fingertips, when they needed it, where they needed it. And everything was paper free!
Side Note: If you’re planning a big wedding, DEFINITELY use Appy because when it comes to the menu, it. is. hectic. Appy kept all my guest’s food preferences + allergies organized. (You’d be surprised by how many food allergies people have nowadays! —I even remember one of our guests having a butter allergy.) I just downloaded the list + emailed it to my venue. So simple!
Now, I totally get that a lot of us will want an actual invitation. I did too. It sets the WHOLE tone for your entire wedding. So, I highly recommend Minted. They offer recycled paper options + their designs are seriously gorg. With Minted, I was able to find something close to my parents wedding invitation, too, as a little ode to them. ♡
We should also talk about the newest invitation trend: plantable ones! This entails printing your invitations on biodegradable paper that contains wildflower seeds! Your guests can plant your invitation post-wedding + watch those flowers grow, thinking of you + your special day. Speaking of suite… SO sweet right?
Wedding Menu.
The best way to green up your wedding menu? Source locally! This means local dishes AND local suppliers. Not only does this add a super cool element to your dinner tables, but it also gives a nice nod to the city your’e getting married in. Plus it cuts down on cost, as there’s less of a carbon footprint on shipping products into your venue.
This also means beer + wine (+ depending on your wedding location, spirits!) IE if you’re getting married in California, pour a nice Chardonnay. If you’re getting married in Mexico, use a local tequila!
Another great way to keep your menu more sustainable is by offering vegetarian dishes. Veggies are WAY less environmentally destructive than meat. (Think seared gnocchi, petite zucchini cakes + sweet pea risotto.)
Wedding Decor.
There’s 2 tips here. The first is to figure out how to use your flowers +/or decor multiple times throughout the day. This saves you SO much money! If you’ve already started planning, then you know that your florist is expensive AF. So make sure your florist is also willing to work with you on your ‘flip’.
What are some ideas on how to flip? For starters, if you’re shuttling guests to multiple locations, this makes a flip easier. For example, we had a huge, beautiful flowered arch constructed for the entrance of our church door. And it was SO beautiful, that I was like I’ll be damned if we don’t use that again. So during cocktail hour, our florist transferred the arch from the church to the dance floor at our reception. We used it for our photo op location. Had a handprinted sign with our hashtag. And boom. The prettiest backdrop for IG.
We also reused all of our flowers from the church. We had a big runner of greenery + flowers at the alter of our church. So during cocktail hour, our florist ALSO transferred that runner to our reception + placed it on dinner tables. She did the same thing with all the flowers in French pots along the aisle of our church. Those were placed throughout the reception area, as well.
The more items you can flip like this, the more money you’ll save.
OK for the second tip, upcycle your flower arrangements to a local nursing home or hospital post-wedding day. It will bring so much joy to those patients + at that point, you might as well have your beautiful yet hefty priced investment keep spreading joy to those who will really appreciate it. All you have to do is google ‘flower donation ____________’ + add your city or state to the blank.
Wedding Favors.
There’s 2 ways you can make your favors more sustainable. First, go local. My wedding was a destination for most guests. So I delivered curated welcome boxes to each guests’ hotel room. The boxes contained rosé from a local winery, locally made taffy + local sea salt from a company that benefited + employed people with special needs. Going local decreases your carbon footprint + supports the city that’s so dear to you! Plus it adds that cool, local vibe to your aesthetic.
Secondly, you can forego guest favors altogether! I love a company called inLieu for this very reason. They make it super easy to donate to your fave charities, in lieu of spending the same amount of money on party favors! If you think about it, most favors at most weddings go to landfill anyway. I really don’t need one more random wine glass, succulent, etc. You know what I mean?
So back to inLieu. I wanted to go this route with my wedding, but when I found out about that salt company, I just fell in love. But if I ever get the opportunity to make a donation with some sort of event again, I’ll definitely look to inLieu. I’d notify my guests of this donation somewhere on the menu, invitation, etc so that we could ALL feel good about making the world a better place. InLieu is a 501-c, meaning your donation is tax deductible + all the charities are vetted. There’s 1.6 million charities from which to choose. They basically take care of the entire donation, for just $1 administration fee. You’ll receive your receipt + everything. Cute, right?
OK that’s it, babes! I should note that I originally wrote this piece for Erika of FashionLush. She’s the ultimate babe + bride-to-be 🖤 And OMG!!!!! Since you’re reading this, I’m assuming you’re a bride-to-be so… CONGRATULATIONS!!!! I hope these tips help rid some of that wedding planning stress + if you have any questions or need more inspo, please let me know. Just remember: things will go wrong. But more things will go right.
I’m here for you. X
