It might feel like we’re still in the depths of winter, but with the first day spring less than a month away Wedding season is just around the corner, and we’re stoked!

Recently we attended the wedding show in Winnipeg, which was an awesome opportunity to meet many local vendors, as well as brides and grooms to be. One of the most common things we overheard was how so many couples are trying to achieve a lower-impact wedding. Couples are becoming more informed and want less waste, less impact and a more earth-friendly event overall.  Hosting a completely eco-friendly wedding can be a lot to take on, so we’re a believer in “every little bit counts”, hence we’ve compiled some ideas to help get you started in the right direction. Adding a few of these ideas to your wedding means that your big day will result in a smaller ecological footprint, so cheers to that!

 

Start with eco-friendly wedding invitations

Getting ready to announce your wedding and mail out your invitations is exciting! Thankfully these days, the only difficult things about choosing an eco-friendly wedding invitation is having to narrow down all the endless options available! We are thrilled to see more stationery companies offering only recycled paper for their invitations, envelopes and peripheral paper accessories.

PaperCultureis an excellent source for eco-friendly wedding invitations, and the example above is one of their many beautiful designs. Of course, the design you choose is entirely based on your wedding theme and aesthetic preferences, but you can rest assured the paper you’re using is 100% post-consumer recycled fibers. Better yet; for every order placed PaperCulture plants a tree where reforestation is most needed.  We love this!

Choose In-Season Flowers

While that extremely beautiful bundle of orchids might be top of your list for wedding bouquets and centerpieces, they come at a cost! Not only to you, but also the environment. Many of the most popular flowers used for weddings are in fact - not even grown in North America. Often, these flowers are shipped from overseas, have an extremely limited lifespan,and will cost a premium to you.

An easy and beautiful way to have a more eco-friendly wedding is to choose your wedding flowers based on what’s in season in North America. You will recieve better quality flowers at a lower price, and given they’re grown a lot closer to home means they’ll last longer. If you aren't sure what is in season around in the month you are getting married, check out thishelpful list. Another growing trend we love are hand grown and picked wild flowers. Not only will these save your budget but they add a whimsical and effortless charm to your wedding day.

 

Say yes to an eco friendly wedding dresses

Picking your wedding dress is possibly one of the most overwhelming decisions you will make. There are millions of styles, materials, and varying price points. One way to quickly narrow it down is to look for dresses from companies and independent designers that focus on sustainable, ecological-conscious business practices.  For a curated list of companies,check out this post!  

We also love the idea of second-hand wedding dresses. With thousands of preloved wedding dresses to choose from,Still White is a huge worldwide marketplace for second-hand wedding dresses.  The site offers a variety of filters including size, price, condition and style, Still White allows you to shop by price or by design, making the search for that perfect dress a little bit easier.

 

Go with farm-to-table catering

Farm-to-table is not a new concept by any means, but it has become increasingly popular for wedding catering in the past few years. When starting the search for your wedding caterer, consider working with a company that specializes in building menus off of locally sourced ingredients that are in season. Farm-to-table catering is a delicious way to create a more sustainable day for you and your guests, and you will love how fresh everything tastes!

 

Choose eco-friendly tableware

Well we couldn’t write this blog post without giving ourselves a little shoutout for Naturally Chic Dinnerware! After all, our palm leaf dinnerware is the perfect choice for weddings because it is elegant, durable, fits with many decor styles, and best of all - it’s totally eco-friendly!  More couples are choosing to use our tableware for their wedding because dish rentals can be really expensive, plus your rental or catering company will typically charge you a cleaning fee too. Palm leaf dinnerware is disposable, which means no cleaning, and no waste because it is 100% biodegradable. What’s not to love about that. And trust us when we say, your guests will love the plates - they are a real conversation starter.

 

Purchase eco-friendly wedding favors

One final little idea to make your wedding day a little more earth friendly is to choose a wedding favor that is low impact on the environment. Try to consider favors that people will actually use (and not toss). If not properly planned, favors can be expensive, and sadly, damaging to the environment, too, adding to unnecessary waste.  There are a bounty of options and ideas out there, from birdseed, to handmade organic soaps, and potted plants and saplings. Here’sa great post on the topic to provide inspiration.

Of course, there is no rule that you must provide wedding favors!A popular trend among couples is to just skip wedding favors altogether, and instead donate an amount in your guest’s name to a charitable organization that is close to your heart.

From all of us Naturally Chic, we wish you happy wedding planning!