Eco friendly Wedding

Nowadays we are all very sensitive on the issue of pollution and global warming: the consequences of the increase in carbon dioxide and the various forms of pollution that we bring to our beloved planet Earth are daily before our eyes.
We often say to ourselves: "If I could do something I would do it!" but, just as often, we feel we don't have the power to change the state of affairs. However, if you are planning your wedding and you have excellent intentions, you can seriously think of an eco friendly wedding (otherwise called sustainable wedding): the whole "wedding machine" is made up of many gears and there is really a lot you can work on to minimize the environmental impact of your party.

Given my very wide experience on marriage, not only in the photo-videographic field (those who follow us know that we really have a wide experience because in the family we have a Wedding Designer), I decided to write a series of tips divided into comfortable sections, to allow you to analyze every detail of the wedding from the point of view of eco-sustainability.

Are you ready? Let's start!

A wedding in the woods can only be organized in total harmony with nature

Eco friendly wedding dress and wedding suit

I know you are already thinking "how can a wedding dress be eco-friendly?". Yet you will see that it is possible. In fact, I'll tell you more: there is more than one solution to have an eco friendly wedding dress!

A first solution may be to reuse, in whole or in part, the dress or suit of your parents or even your grandparents! Often, in fact, couples plan retro and vintage-themed weddings: what better occasion to dress clothes that are not imitation, but really original from those eras? Not to mention the emotional bond that will bind you to them!
You will probably need the intervention of a good tailor to sew those clothes on you so that they fit perfectly, as it should be, but for sure your clothes will have minimal impact on the environment!
If you do not have available this type of clothes, you can always think of buying second-hand vintage clothes and then retouching them: always keep in mind that the idea of ​​recycling and reuse is the basis of the eco friendly Wedding.

Another solution would be to rent clothes. Do not link today's rental to the ancient idea of ​​clothes that are not good or lack you: there are very serious companies that allow you to obtain excellent results by taking care of the final product as in any atelier. The only difference is that in the end you will have to return the clothes. In this way you will kill the proverbial two pigeons with one stone: you will spend much less than the purchase and the natural environment will be happier!

We still have one last option for those who just can't or can't adapt to one of the two proposed solutions: buy wedding dress and suit from companies that produce them in a sustainable way. In fact, you are not alone in worrying about environmental conditions and many companies have already moved in your same direction:

• they buy eco-friendly fabrics;
• the fabrics are produced in a fair-trade way, guaranteeing workers a fair wage and respect for the territories in which they live;
• the details of the clothes, such as the buttons, are made of biodegradable materials without the use of plastics;
• they produce clean energy, so they reduce emissions of pollutants.

Accessories

With regard to the bride's jewels, the discussion becomes very delicate, knowing the poor conditions in which workers who procure metals and precious stones live or the procedures used for the creation of real pearls.

First of all, the first suggestion of the previous point always applies: borrow them from your loved ones. My wife, for our wedding, used a necklace with a pendant and earrings that belonged to her grandmother: and it really fit on her eco friendly wedding dress.
The same goes for the groom's watch: a watch worn by your grandfather or dad is far more valuable than a brand new Rolex. Even a bow tie, a tie, braces, could be reused.

Alternatively, the solution is always to look for companies active in the fair trade and eco-sustainable field, but for jewels it is much more difficult than in the previous case, unless you opt for solutions with less precious materials but equally refined in the presentation.

On the other hand the shoes, in my opinion, are really difficult to reuse: I therefore recommend that you contact those companies that are attentive to the natural environment situation.

Eco friendly wedding bands

Unfortunately, as it concerns precious metals, is worth what I have already written about in the previous point. But even in this case, I have more than one option for you!

The first piece of advice is to think with an open mind: a wedding ring is an important symbol and must have two fundamental characteristics. The first is that it must be aesthetically beautiful; the second is that it must last over time. Today there are very resistant metal alloys and some of them are produced according to fair-trade and environmentally friendly processes: therefore do not stop at the classic gold, white, yellow or red that it is!

Another option, the most romantic for your eco friendly wedding, is to have a goldsmith create your eco friendly wedding bands from the material you have: not just old gold jewelry that you have in the family, but also other materials. In fact a competent goldsmith will be able to guide and advise you in combining the metals you have available and obtain a pair of truly unique eco friendly wedding bands that have nothing to do with the classic boring ones!

Two wedding bands made from metals of family jewelry

A co friendly bouquet made by fabric

Eco friendly Wedding Stationery

The Wedding Stationery is the set of all the paper elements that you will use for your wedding and that will contribute to characterize it: invitations, booklets for the ceremony, special invitations for the bridesmaids, menus, table markers and placeholder, tableau plan or plan de table, tag and anything else you need.

Since we are talking about paper and printing, the need immediately arises to understand how to make them the best for your sustainable wedding.

The first tip I can give you is to use recycled papers, if their available colors fit your wedding style.
If there is no chance from this point of view, you can use other kind of eco friendly papers: there are many paper mills (in Italy or abroad) that produce the "classic" paper made of cellulose fiber from raw materials from sustainably managed forestry. In this regard, there is an international authority that certifies these sources, the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), of which you will certainly know the brand.
However, there are many types of paper not produced with cellulose: the notorious Amalfi paper is made from rags of white linen, cotton and hemp. But it is not the only one: there are many paper mills that make paper by recycling fabrics or even clothing labels, with amazing and out of the ordinary results!

Another choice is to print your eco friendly Wedding Stationery on plantable paper. It is a special paper containing seeds inside: planting it, the seeds will sprout and allow you and your guests to have seedlings in memory of your wedding!

Those who prefer drastic solutions, at least limited to the investments, can think of realizing the invitation exclusively in electronic format. Of course, you'll lose the pleasure of handing them in and looking at the expression of your guests, but for some it may be a fair price to pay to limit the environmental impact as much as possible.

Eco friendly invitation printed on plantable and recycled paper by La Sposa degli Alberi

Eco friendly wedding venue

In order to reduce the environmental impact of letting your guests reach the venue of your sustainable wedding, it would be a good idea to find it near the place where the ceremony will be celebrated or, better still, to be able to celebrate the ceremony inside it, celebrating an outdoor wedding in harmony with nature.

However, this is only a macroscopic aspect: "the devil is in the details", says the famous adage. An eco friendly wedding venue is recognizable from many aspects related to it and not to its position:

• the presence of solar panels will allow you and your guests to use green energy
• the use of energy efficient technologies (such as the latest generation of LED bulbs) will reduce energy consumption to a minimum
• in the case of winter weddings, the insulation of the walls will reduce energy consumption for heating
• eco friendly toilets that limit the waste of water and the use of cloth or paper towels in favor of the electric ones (which, with solar panels, will work at zero environmental cost)
• an appreciable gesture like planting a new tree for every wedding celebrated
• the possibility of separate waste collection
• the use of eco friendly paper for documentation

A single venue in which to prepare, celebrate the ceremony and have the banquet and the party is ideal!

Transportations

When possible, it would be ideal to use a shuttle bus service to transport guests from a collection point to the different destinations of the day: in this way you can drastically reduce the level of pollutant emissions caused by the many cars of the guests.
If, on the other hand, guests are expected to spend the night in a location, you might consider looking for a location that is easily accessible by public transport. Obviously in this case it will be your care to inform the guests when you'll hand them the invitations, so that they can plan how to reach the wedding venue.

Sustainable wedding flowers and sustainable wedding decor

As you read in the bouquet section, one way to make your sustainable wedding is to use local and seasonal flowers. You can also ask your flower designer to use eco friendly sponges or to create a project that does not include them at all.
An alternative is to let not use flowers, but real plants planted in vases: not only you will not use cut flowers, but you can give those plants to your guests as favors! This is a very good eco friendly wedding idea, don't underestimate it!

In addition to the flowers, however, you might think of having original set up that do not include flowers or that integrate them with different materials. In this case, the professional you are looking for is a Wedding Designer, capable of plan the entire event from the scenographic point of view according to your indications, but with her precious advice. Obviously a Wedding Designer is also able to work with flowers, but we are sure that, if you offer her a challenge, she will be more than ready to accept it!

A sustainable wedding decor by La Sposa degli Alberi with natural local materials and FSC papers for a wedding themed "Words into the woods"

An eco friendly wedding banquet

As for flowers, the use of local and seasonal products are ideal for your eco friendly wedding. But you can also go further by requesting products with organic certification, whose production has a significantly lower environmental impact than other types of processing.

Another important element is related to the plastic used in serving dishes or drinks: there are completely biodegradable alternative solutions, so find out what is used during your wedding banquet. Often, especially during aperitifs (where finger food is frequent), appetizers and dances, they tend to use plastic materials that are difficult or even impossible to recycle.
So, during aperitifs and appetizers I suggest to have more elegant solutions in ceramic, glass or other washable and reusable materials, while during the party I recommend instead biodegradable materials: in case of accidental drops of glasses on the dance floor you will not have to worry about dangerous shards!

Eco friendly wedding favors

In recent times, wedding favors have changed a lot compared to what they used to be: nowadays, in fact, there is a tendency give useful gifts, here in Italy often even a culinary one. In the latter case, local and seasonal products are obviously preferred, better with organic certification.
In other cases I have seen giving potted plants, always appreciated by guests. Bonsai, cactus, olive trees or aromatic herbs, obviously they have to be purchased at local nurseries always with the aim of reducing the impact of any transport.

Alternatively, if you want the connotation of sustainable wedding to be even more evident, you can think of supporting environmental associations with ecological gadgets, which can sometimes be customized.

A last eco friendly wedding idea may be to make donations to associations of any kind, not just environmentalists: in some cases, in front of the donation, you receive a tag or a parchment that you can attach, for example, to a bag with sugared almonds — also in this case produced in a sustainable way — or you can think of gadgets whose purchase supports these associations: in this way you will not only make a gift certainly appreciated by your guests, but you will support a cause in which you believe.

Self-produced extra virgin olive oil: what could be more ecological as a eco friendly wedding favor?

Photobook and prints

We come finally to a topic more tied to my work as an italian wedding photographer. Even in the field of photographic products such as photo books and prints there are substantial differences between the manufacturers. I, who have always been sensitive to ecological issues, in choosing the producers of albums, photobooks and prints to present to my customers, I looked first of all at quality and then also investigated the level of their eco-sustainability.
I am therefore proud to be partner of two excellent Italian companies, Art Photo Evaluna and Graphistudio (mentioned in alphabetical order and not for importance): they are careful and committed in the field of eco-sustainability. In fact, all the materials used to coat photo books, albums and boxes, as well as the papers used for printing, are natural environment sustainable. Finally, the use of the latest generation printers allows to have a very negligible waste of the inks used for printing, thus reducing the environmental impact of highly polluting substances.

The completely eco-sustainable materials with which to make covers and boxes of your albums and photo books!