Wedding planning is such a fun time in a couple’s journey! But when wedding planning begins, it’s easy to get wrapped up in how wasteful weddings can be! Instead of letting that deter you from your dream wedding, there are many eco friendly wedding ideas available to us. I know we try to do our part in not being wasteful. And there are many small changes we can do to plan a sustainable wedding! We only get one earth and being sustainable makes sense. After all, it can improve our health, increase our overall safety, and even save us money.

So, what ideas can we implement to plan an eco friendly wedding?

Here are 5 of my favorite ways to be eco conscious on your wedding day.

Here Are Eco Friendly Wedding Ideas For You

Whenever Possible, Rent Instead of Buy.

Besides the fact that wedding spending adds up quickly, it can also be so wasteful to buy instead of renting for many of your wedding essentials! It’s all about doing your research. Some things usually get rented, such as tuxedos or linens. But some options get overlooked!

A big one to consider is your wedding dress because your wedding dress will most likely only be used once! Not only is this a budget friendly option but it’s an eco friendly option as well. This is a growing trend among luxury brides and budget brides as well because it allows you to have the dress of your dreams for the day and then not have to worry about where you should store the dress.

So, where can you rent your dress?

Here are some of my favorites locally: Athena Dress Rental specializes in dresses with long trains designed for beautiful photos. They look absolutely breathtaking! Another great dress rental option is The Fitzroy Rentals! I love how they have options on their website depending on the type of wedding you are having such as micro weddings or destination weddings.

Rent the Runway and Happily Ever Borrowed are also two great options!

A few other things that you might want to rent instead of buy are flowers, (check out Something Borrowed Blooms) stemware, dinnerware, linen napkins, tablecloths, and runners. Check with your venue as they may provide options directly or have a vendor list that they’ve worked with before that specialize in sustainability.

One of my favorite sustainability expert wedding vendors is Perrier Planning Inc, Holly is the owner and she is passionate about being sustainable while executing elegant events!

Eco Friendly Wedding Venue or Get Married in the Great Outdoors.

Fortunately, many beautiful venues are going green so you won't have to sacrifice style to be sustainable! Look for wedding ceremony and reception venues that take sustainability seriously. A great place to start your research is the Green Building Information Gateway. (They have over 200 countries listed!)

There is also the option of having an outdoor wedding.

This depends on the time of the year you plan on having your wedding but it’s still a great option to keep in mind!

There are definite benefits to having your wedding outdoors. It’s an amazing opportunity to be a part of nature on your wedding day! Just imagine the greenery in photos of a forest or rolling hills or maybe a beautiful vineyard! The fees when you book your wedding at a beach or a park go towards keeping the location clean and beautiful for the wildlife that lives there and so others can enjoy it as well. And you’ll cut down on energy waste as you’ll have the sunshine lighting everything for you!

Eco Friendly Food Options

Whenever possible try to work with local caterers who focus on seasonable and sustainable options that are locally sourced. You can ask them how they source their proteins and the farmers that they work with! The closer the farms are in location, the less carbon footprint from travel, plus the ingredients will be fresher and you’ll be able to taste the difference. Also, choose plated dinners over a buffet style option to reduce food waste. Or if you do opt for a buffet, speak to your caterer ahead of time about donating the leftovers or saving them.

Another great sustainable option is going with a vegetarian meal! This way you can have a lower impact on the earth without having to sacrifice the taste of the food.

Invites and Favors.

When it comes to your wedding invitations there are many eco friendly options such as recycled paper or seed paper! Look for vendors who create sustainable stationery online until you find one that speaks to you. Recycled paper invites can have a very elevated look while being kinder on our earth. Other recycled options are fabric, leather, and wood. Look for companies that give back to the environment with every sale, such as planting a tree or donating to a charity that helps the environment.

Seed paper is a personal favorite of mine!

Seed paper is made with a biodegradable material that will sprout into flowers when planted in a pot of soil or outdoors. How sweet is that?! It’s a great opportunity to incorporate a favorite flower or your wedding colors into the seed paper that you choose.

If this sounds like it’s right up your alley, check out Whole Weddings, they make stationery and invitations for weddings with herb paper! So all you have to do is plant the invitations and they will sprout delicious herbs!

There are many options for wedding favors.

If you chose to have wedding favors some great ideas are: food options in a glass jar, bird seeds or seed packets, potted plants, or some couples choose to make a charitable donation instead!

Eco Friendly Wedding Rings

Choosing a sustainable wedding ring is such a great way to lessen your carbon footprint! Especially with such a big purchase that you will wear on your body daily. A great way to do this and avoid blood diamonds is to look for jewelers and retailers that only offer conflict free diamonds. This way you can be positive that your purchase isn’t funding any abuse or illegal activity somewhere on earth.

Another way to make sustainable choices with your wedding rings is buying antique instead of new or checking out estate sales. This has been a trend in the last few years. Some jewelers specialize in taking the stones from antique rings or family heirlooms and creating timeless pieces from them that fit more into your dream wedding ring!

Not only does this support small businesses but it helps to keep beautiful pieces of jewelry in the family in a reimagined way while being better for the planet!

You can also choose to go with a lab-grown diamond. They are a wonderful alternative since then you don’t have to worry about where they came from while being just as sparkly as the real thing and they are usually not as expensive.

If you want to go a diamond but want to make sure it’s not a blood diamond you can track your stone online and see its origin! You can check on websites such as The Kimberly Process to track them. Or choose stones that take fewer resources when mining!

That’s it my friends!

Whenever possible, make sustainable choices and shop local to help support your wedding vendor community! That way we can keep helping other amazing couples’ wedding dreams come true as well!

By the way, here are 25 amazing ways to support charities on your wedding day: https://www.77diamonds.com/supporting-charities-on-your-wedding-day

If you have any questions feel free to contact me! Until then, happy sustainable wedding planning!