Mrs. Radish, Chicago/Syracuse
Age and Occupation: 27, Executive Assistant/Journalism Student/Musician
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 28, Anthropologist/Musician
Engagement Date: December 20, 2005
Wedding Date: August 18, 2007
Blogging Since: June 26, 2007
Venue: The Wellington House in Fayetteville, NY
About Me: Mr. Radish and I are both from upstate New York, so we are planning a wedding in Syracuse from about 700 miles away. When I’m not obsessing about our wedding I play the cello in my band (which Mr. Radish is in too), read as much as I can, sleep even more, travel whenever possible, and try to find time to have fun with my friends. I’m also working on finishing up my journalism degree with a concentration in environmental reporting and I’m the VP of my campus Amnesty International chapter… so I’m a pretty busy bee.
Small Steps To A Greener Wedding
April 22nd, 2008 @ 5:24 pm by Mrs. Radish
Happy Earth Day!
(image from Treehugger.com)
There has been a lot of talk about green weddings lately and it can almost start to sound like just another passing wedding fad. But unlike powder blue tuxedos, this is a wedding trend worth keeping around!
Planning a green wedding can seem like a daunting task for already busy brides & grooms. When planning a wedding, there are already so many things to think about and so many details to coordinate that I can understand why some couples might not want to take on anything extra.
Some couples may think that having a green wedding is an “all or nothing” kind of thing, and if you aren’t going to go all the way then why bother? I mean, let’s be honest here, many brides may not be willing to go as far as getting a hemp wedding dress (though there are some beautiful ones out there nowadays) and many budget-conscious couples simply can’t afford the extra cost of organic flowers, food, or wine.
But remember - every little thing counts and even if you can only incorporate a few small green elements it can still make a big difference. There are many small and easy things that every couple can do to make their wedding more environmentally conscious without breaking the bank or causing any extra stress.
Some of the easiest ways to make your wedding more eco-friendly is to just not do things! That’s easy enough, right?
A few things to consider skipping out on:
Favors- don’t have the time/energy/money to make eco-friendly wedding favors? Then just skip favors altogether or give a charity favor like Mrs. Lovebug!
Table Cameras - Disposable table cameras were all the rage for awhile there, but with the ever growing popularity of digital photography there is really no need. I guarantee you that at least one guest at every table will have their own digital camera in tow, so follow Mrs. Lemon’s lead and ask them to upload them to a photo-sharing website instead.
Mrs. Lemon’s photo-sharing cards
Flowers - Okay, so surely you won’t want to skip flowers altogether, but think about ways to reduce them. For example, we didn’t bother with any floral arrangements or decorations in our church since it was already quite ornate and had a lot of color. Or maybe you can cut down on how many flowers you use at the reception by considering some alternative centerpiece ideas like candles. It will save you money too!
The Radishes wedding ceremony. See - we really didn’t need to add any extra decorations. (photo by Tim Forbes)
Printed Photo Proofs - Almost all wedding photographers shoot in digital format now (which is great for the planet!) but many photography packages still include printed proofs. If the your package includes this, ask if you can get the proofs in digital format on a disk instead. Photo paper is still quite pollutive and this will help reduce the impact of that.
Unnecessary Packaging & Plastics - Avoid them like the plague!
Personalization - Of course, there are some things you may really want to get personalized with your names or monogram, but just think twice about it and only do it if it’s something you really care about or want to save as a keepsake.
Some simple things that can make your wedding greener:
Flowers - Organic flowers are best, but they can be cost prohibitive. If you can’t fit an organic bouquet in your budget, consider using wild flowers or if you’re a green thumb grow your own. If you’re the crafty type, get creative like bride Thryn Albin and make an origami bouquet from recycled paper!
Thryn’s origami bouquets (photo from zzilch’s Flickr page)
Have Edible Favors - If you do want to give wedding favors (I did!) then think about having an edible favor. That’s always a crowd pleaser and will minimize waste. For ours, we used homemade organic cookies in a simple wax paper bag.
Mrs. Radish’s homemade cookie favors
Invitations - There are all kinds of beautiful, super green invitation options out there, such as printing them on seed paper or hemp paper… But if all that sounds a little more hippie than hip to you, go for something simpler and just print them on recycled card stock. You can do it yourself or any good stationer should be able to offer recycled card stock as an option.
Handmade paper invitations from Porridge Papers. (photo from Flickr)
Centerpieces - Use potted plants instead of traditional flower arrangements. They can be taken home with guests later or donated to a hospital or nursing home. We did this for our wedding and it also saved us a lot of money since we bought the plants directly from a local greenhouse and we didn’t have to hire a florist.
Some of our centerpieces. Photo by Tim Forbes
Flower girl/Ring bearer Gifts - Having trouble thinking of something to give the little ones in your wedding party as a thank you gift? How about adopting an endangered species in their name! Check out groups like the World Wildlife Fund, the Defenders of Wildlife, and the Smithsonian National Zoo.
Adoption package from the National Zoo
Use Organics Where You Can Afford it - We really wanted to serve an all-organic menu at our reception, but this proved to be WAY out of our price range. But we could afford to have a wedding cake made with organic ingredients.
Our wedding cake. Photo by Tim Forbes.
Green Dress Cleaning - After the wedding when it comes time to have your dress cleaned go with a “green” dry cleaner rather than a traditional one, if possible. Traditional dry cleaning uses a lot of toxic chemicals. You can learn more about it from the National Geographic Green Guide here.
Do you think it helps to go green even in small ways? Does anyone want to have a greener wedding but feel overwhelmed by the cost of things like organic flowers, etc.?
Do you plan to incorporate some “green” elements into your wedding, or if you are already married did you?
… and be honest - are any of you turned off by the idea of having an eco-conscious wedding because of all the recent media hype around all things green?
14 Responses to “Small Steps To A Greener Wedding”
I’m so glad to hear you talking about the “reduce” part of “reduce, reuse, and recycle.” I think the reduce part of the triad gets you the most bang for the buck, and as you say it’s the easiest and cheapest thing to do, but people often forget about it. So thanks! Happy Earth Day!
Great post! We are not planning on doing any decorating for our ceremony site since there’s no point in even trying to compete with the gorgeous trees. The restaurant that we are using is pretty much decorated already. We’ll be using some in season, locally grown flowers for the tables, but that’s about it. Both the environment and our wallets will be happy 
We are arranging carpools for all of our guests. We figure we can reduce the number of cars by half at least…
We’re trying our best to do things here and there to have a more eco-friendly wedding:
1. having ceremony and reception at same location to save time and gas
2. using only “local” flowers that are “in season” during sept./oct for our october wedding. Nothing will be imported
3. our wedding/reception is at a rose garden, so we will be giving seed packets to guests as favors. (I wanted tree saplings, but most places, like the arbor foundation, don’t have trees that will grow well in texas)
4. we’re using china, flatware and cloth napkins. It will be more expensive, but it will count down on an extraordinary amount of waste!
It’s somewhat frustrating that the term “green” is being way overused, and in turn is turning people off to it; but I still know it’s important to do our part to help live in a cleaner Earth. I like to say eco-friendly instead of “green”.
Thanks for the earth-friendly tips Mrs Radish! We are planning on doing potted plants for our centerpieces for all the reasons that you did. We’re also trying to buy local products because transportation can be a huge source of pollution.
What great tips! Thank you! I’d love to know what you think of the earth friendly wedding inspiration boards that I’m posting this week. Also, where did you get your adorable cake topper?
these ideas are great! i have a h.s. friend who gave out thank you cards at her reception as favors and the paper had embedded seeds so you could plant them in the ground afterwards and grow flowers! =D
not everything “organic” is ORGANIC…i had a friend who worked in a shipping station and told me how they just separated fruits and meats from the same bin into organic and processed….the BIG difference….A FANCY STICKER! O.o
Just make sure whatever you buy is not harmful to the environment..whether organic or not…it’ll save you money too.
@Kathryn: Thanks. I’ll have to go over and check out your inspiration boards. The cake tapper is made by Wilton and I got it at A.C. Moore’s craft store.
@VL: Yes, there are very specific standards for something to be USDA certified organic and that includes the handling of produce and meats in addition to the way they are grown.
If you suspect that a vendor is not meeting the standards but is using the USDA organic sticker, you can file a complaint with the NOP inspectors.
Is organic food really green? That’s my question. Does it take less energy to produce? Or is it just not using chemicals?
I am going with digital STDs. Will probably go with digital RSVPs for our invitations.
I am also not doing favors but doing charity donation instead.
I will try to waste as little as possible in terms of flowers etc. I may use tall little flower potted plants as ceremony and reception decor as well.
@sphbride: Yes, organics are better for the environment.
This is mainly because certified organics are grown without the use of conventional pesticides, without the use of artificial fertilizers and without sewage sludge (otherwise known as bio-solids).
All of those things are bad for the environment and for your health, though please note that the USDA does not make the claim that organic food is better for human health… but much evidence suggests that it is.
Traditional pesticides are man-made chemicals that are often bioaccumulative… meaning that they are persistent and build up in the food chain. They also run off into streams, rivers, etc and contaminate our water and fish. Also, the whole point of pesticides is to kill or adversely affect certain species, which almost always ends up affecting more than just the organism that it was intended to. Pesticides have terrible consequences for birds, and have been linked to serious declines the honey bee population.
Artificial fertilizers may not sound all that bad, but they can have very detrimental impacts. There is a huge dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico every year because of fertilizers run-off from farms in the Midwest that drain into the Mississippi.
And sewage sludge… that’s used as fertilizer, if you can believe that. Essentially, it’s just what it sounds like. They take the solid waste, usually from municipal waste treatment facilities, and turn it into fertilizer pellets. The problem with that is there can be extremely high levels of bacteria along with all kinds of nasty chemicals and heavy metals that get dumped into city sewers. Some people swear that “bio-solids,” as the industry calls them, are harmless and are good for the environment because it is “recycling” waste…but many scientists disagree. You can read more about it here if you are interested (http://cwmi.css.cornell.edu/sewagesludge.htm#health_safety)
There have been some studies that suggest that organic farming may also be more energy efficient (such as this one in the journal Nature http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v410/n6831/full/410926a0.html;jsessionid=759E4DB2BCD1F461F23712BEB27DB75F)
But that’s not the main benefit of organics.
As far as overall environmental impacts go, the ideal is to get in-season, locally grown organics.
WHOA, sorry this is SO long. Anyway, hope that answers your question.
Thanks for the great tips on greening up a wedding. It’s an important topic and I’m glad that you’re bringing practical tips to the forefront. Best regards, Heidi
Dear Mrs. Radish -
I would love to feature your wedding at http://www.thegreenbrideguide.com - it looks like you did some beutiful eco-friendly things. Email me if you are interested (that goes for readers too - anyone who had or is planning green elements in their event!)
Kate@thegreenbrideguide.com
