How to Plan a Sustainable Wedding: Tips from a Colorado Wedding Photographer
One thing you may or may not have guessed about me is that I am a HUGE fan of sustainability!! Calling myself a fan is a bit misleading though as I’m actually a bit of a professional when it comes to sustainability. You see, I went to school for environmental science and sustainability. That combined with the fact that I am a wedding photographer based in the gorgeous state of Colorado means you can trust that I’m giving you some solid advice here! Colorado and our world as a whole is a beautiful place and our home, it’s up to us to keep it that way.
Sustainability in the Wedding Industry
So what exactly is sustainability? To someone hearing about it for the first time they might think that it’s just hippy and granola stuff, but that is far from the truth! Sustainability in a nutshell is making sure that we are living in a way that preserves the resources of our earth for future generations to enjoy. Doing your part to make sure that the world we all currently live in and love will be around for years to come for our great great grandkids to enjoy just as much as we do!
One point I do want to get across is this: this post is NOT meant to make you feel guilty! I love pretty décor and pretty invitation suites as much as the next photographer. As a Colorado wedding photographer, my goal here is to show you how you can make some informed choices to lessen your impact on the environment when you say I-DO. Remember though that sustainability is a constant thing to work towards, so it’s almost impossible to have a perfectly sustainable wedding day. Remember no one is perfect, I’ve been caught at Starbucks without my reusable mug on occasion, being conscious about your actions and making an effort is huge though and does really make a difference!! Now that we have that covered, let's look into ways to make your wedding day more sustainable!
Where to Start When Planning a Sustainable Wedding
Like any steps towards living life more sustainably, you’re going to want to start planning a little earlier than many couples do. Many sustainable options are also slower and more thoughtful options, so you’ll want to make sure you have plenty of time to do research and think through all of the details of your wedding day. As a Colorado wedding photographer who has been in the industry for YEARS now, I know there are so many different resources you can use to pull inspiration on making your wedding day more sustainable.
Find Ways to Cut Down on Wedding Waste
One of THE biggest challenges of the wedding industry, and honestly sustainability as a whole, is cutting down on the amount of waste produced. According to The Green Wedding Guide, the average wedding will produce between 400 to 600 pounds of waste. That’s A LOT! The good news about this though is that it’s one of the easiest areas to improve upon. As a wedding photographer in Colorado here are four different ways that you can cut down on your waste to drastically improve the sustainability of your wedding day!
Reusable Wedding Items
For starters ditch the disposables for reusable options! This includes china, silverware, glassware, etc. It really adds up when your wedding guests are using multiple plates of food or hitting up that open bar if these are all single-use materials.
Compostable
If reusable items really aren’t an option, find compostable options! You can get certified compostable paper products, all the way down to compostable straws. That said, make sure you can actually get them composted after the big day. Ask your venue if they compost and recycle!
Virtual
This might be an unpopular option, but send out virtual invites and save the dates! I know, I know. Invite suites are so fun to pick out, and believe me, I love photographing them. But if you have a lot of guests, most of those are going to end up in the trash! If you still want to do physical invites there are still eco-friendly and awesome alternatives to work with. Look into options that are made out of recycled paper or something like these invites made out of seed paper your guests can plant!
Sustainable Wedding Favors
Party favors are the traditional way to thank your guests for coming, but a lot of them end up left behind or tossed in the trash. Try to avoid things that are made out of plastic, and are likely to get thrown away. I gotta be real here: Does anybody actually want a can koozie with your initials on it? Think about things that are practical, thrifted (we’ll get into this more later!), or things that can be eaten or experienced! My friend Delaney made adorable popcorn bags to thank everyone for coming. Cute, and sustainable, and everyone had a snack for the drive home!
A few other ideas to consider are experiences for your guests throughout the wedding! Rather than a physical item, add a late-night snack bar, hire a tarot card reader, or a caricature artist, or splurge on a live band! All of these are experiences your guests will RAVE about for years, so much so that I’m sure they will not miss the shot glass with your initials on it.
Thrift it Up!
Any of my friends can tell you: that I am the thrifting QUEEN! 95% of my wardrobe is from the thrift store, and I know the best thrift stores to go to depending on what I’m looking for. Thrifting is awesome, because you get some screaming deals, and you get to give items a second life. But Katie, can I really thrift things for my wedding day and have them look good? Abso-freakin-lutely!! Here are 3 areas of a wedding day that as a Colorado wedding photographer I’ve seen pulled off perfectly with thrifted materials!
Sustainable Wedding Dress Options
Believe it or not, your wedding dress! This doesn’t mean you have to find a poofy 80s dress at Goodwill. (But hey, if you want that, you do you boo!) There are a LOT of options for second hand dresses, like Still White and Pre-Owned Wedding Dresses. If you live in the Denver area, check out the Green Bride for your dress needs! They are an awesome shop in Old Town Littleton. They have overstock dresses and consigned dresses that you can check out, and you can also sell your own dress!
Thrift Your Wedding Favors
Like I mentioned earlier, one way to cut down on the waste of your wedding AND get your thrifty on is through your party favors! A really cool idea I’ve seen is couples thrifting a bunch of fun and goofy mugs for their guests to use and take home. This is extra sustainable as well! Not only will your guests get a gift that they’re likely to keep and use, but it cuts down on the waste of your actual wedding. As long as your venue gives you the ok your guests can use their mugs throughout the evening to drink out of which eliminates the need for any plastic cups!
Sustainable Wedding Décor
Look for décor options at the thrift store, antique stores, estate sales, or flea markets. There are always TONS of mason jars, vases, random glassware, and all sorts of awesome things for DIY projects. Some people actually donate all of their décor after their wedding day, so keep an eye out for pre-made décor items to save you even more time and money while maximizing your sustainability!
Or even better, find a gorgeous venue that needs little to no decorations. There are so many Colorado wedding venues that are STUNNING without any extra decorations, so when choosing a venue, think about your vision and how much that venue fits your vision already!
Rent Don’t Buy
Don’t want to DIY? No problem! Not all of us can be Martha Stewart, so why not rent your décor? As a Colorado wedding photographer I’ve found a ton of awesome places you can rent from, like Denver Wedding Rental Company. Renting means that you don’t have to worry about making anything yourself, and you can rest easy knowing that your items have been used and will be used again, all while being gorgeous for your wedding day!
A few other Colorado wedding decor rental companies I love include, The Perfect Touch and Allwell Rents Denver.
Ask Your Wedding Venue Questions
I mentioned this briefly up above, but you should try and talk to your wedding venue about all things sustainability. Do they recycle? Do they compost? Are there any rentals they offer for things like dishware, glassware, décor options, etc? If your venue is providing the catering, can they offer some suggestions for a sustainable menu? (If not, I have you covered in the next section!)
You should also talk to your venue about little details, such as what will be in your getting ready suite on the day of the wedding. Let them know that you would prefer not to have bottled water or drinks, and ask if they could provide pitchers and glasses instead. It may seem small, but trust me these little things add up and that is what sustainability is all about! People coming together to keep the world as beautiful as it is, something I have fully embraced as a Colorado wedding photographer.
Create a Sustainable Wedding Menu
Yes, even your menu can be made more sustainable! As a Colorado wedding photographer I recommend you talk to your venue, your caterer, and your bakery to see if they have any options for sustainable menus. Some places already specialize in this, and have awesome options! If they don’t have recommendations, that’s ok. Here are some things for you to consider.
Seasonal and Local
Try and focus on foods that are both local and seasonal. Foods that don’t have to travel across continents to get to your plate help reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and you also support your local economy. That sounds like a big win-win!
Vegetarian and Vegan
Vegetarian and vegan options are generally better for the environment, because meat and dairy take more resources to produce than plant based options. Check out these stats about the footprint of some common items to see what I mean. I am saying this with the full transparency that I myself am not vegetarian or vegan! However, it isn’t a bad idea to reduce some of those options. If you do decide you’d like some meat on the menu, try to source some local, sustainable options from ranches and farms near you. Even if you don’t go full vegetarian, offering some options is a great way to get started!
Have a Smaller Scale Wedding Day
Pretty straight forward here, but smaller scale weddings, micro weddings, and elopements can cut down on the waste a wedding day creates drastically! I have a blog post about eloping that goes into greater detail about why this is better for the environment. If you haven’t read that yet, I’ll give you the gist. Elopements and smaller weddings mean generating a lot less waste and reducing the amount traveling that you do. They also happen to save you a lot of money!! If an elopement isn’t for you, having a small wedding still reduces the amount of waste created while also still saving you money!
Wedding Party Gift Ideas
There are a lot of opportunities to engage in sustainability with your wedding party, starting with the gifts you give them! I’m not saying to forgo the gift giving entirely, because I love to give gifts myself! Rather, focus on some practical gifts your wedding party will actually use once the day is over. When doing this, try and avoid things that are overly “wedding” themed. I love giving practical gifts: a high-quality travel mug with their name on it, a reusable water bottle, or even cozy socks with their favorite things on them (be honest: as an adult, you love getting socks!). You can also give gifts that give back!
Another option is to give an experience based gift. Rather than physical gifts for your wedding party, take your bridesmaids to get their nails done before the wedding, or book a cabin for your whole wedding party to stay in your wedding weekend! Not only is this a great thank you gift for your wedding party members, but it also eliminates physical items all together.
Another way to help your wedding party be more sustainable is to let them pick what they wear. Of course you’ll want them to coordinate so things aren’t clashing, but if your wedding party picks something they like, they’ll probably wear it again after your wedding day is over. This can be as easy as you picking the color, and the bridesmaids picking the dress style. As a Colorado wedding photographer one of my favorite examples of this is what Allee did with her girls seen below. They looked GREAT and each of the girls loved their dress!
Support Local Businesses!!
Social sustainability is something that often gets overlooked on lists of sustainable ideas! Taking care of your community by shopping small and keeping things local is incredible for sustainability. In the age of Amazon and similar mega corporations, keeping money in the local economy keeps the small businesses (like mine!) alive and of course grateful for the support!! If you're curious to read more, this article really does a good job of explaining why this is so important.
Think About the Destination of Your Destination Wedding
Listen, as a Colorado wedding photographer I would love to fly out to your destination wedding in Iceland or Italy or wherever (seriously, I really would love it!) This isn’t meant to make you feel guilty if you want a destination wedding. It’s important to acknowledge though, especially if you’re having a big wedding, the traveling can definitely add up. If all 200 of your guests are going to have to fly somewhere for your wedding they’re then going to have to rent a car when they arrive. That is A LOT of greenhouse gas emissions that could have been avoided! Think strategically about where you’d like to host your wedding, and about how many people will likely have to travel.
Keeping travel to a minimum really affects the sustainability of your wedding day. One option to consider if you REALLY want to travel for your wedding day is to elope while traveling and then celebrate with your friends and family when you return. It keeps things simpler for your guests as they then only have to worry about your reception, and reduces the overall carbon emissions of everyone involved. Plus you two get a bit of a private get away to celebrate your love!
The Great Flower Debate: Real of Fake?
Much like the debate over real or fake Christmas trees, many couples often have the dilemma of fake vs. real wedding flowers. This is a hot topic for sure, and I want to give you some perspectives on each option to help you make your decision.
Fake
If you are opting for fake flowers, keep in mind that these are not recyclable and ultimately, will end up in a landfill. Are you really going to want to keep all of your fake flowers? Are any of your guests going to want to keep them? If so then they could be a good option for you, but I find most couples only want to save their bouquet of fake flowers from their wedding, if any. That said, fake flowers are generally a big cost saver which can help you budget money elsewhere for more sustainable options with your menu, rentals, or any other topics we’ve already covered.
Real
Real flowers can of course be composted or even preserved in some really cool ways! That said, cut flowers can have a huge footprint associated with them if you aren’t careful. Similar to food, try to find flowers that are local and seasonal if you opt for real flowers. Talk to your florist! They can offer some suggestions on what is in season, and what is locally grown.
The choice is up to you. In my opinion, I would always opt for real flowers over fake ones simply because they aren’t adding more plastic to the world. But, you can always opt for a combination of the two to have the best of both worlds!
Just Flowers For You
Rather than providing flowers for your wedding party, and family, AND as decorations, just get flowers for you and your partner on your wedding day. Not only will this cut down on your carbon footprint and costs, but it will also allow you to focus your funds on experiences for your guests.
Repurpose Your Flowers
Along with just using flowers for you, think about ways you can repurpose flowers on your wedding day! Use your ceremony flowers as a decoration in front of your head table, reuse decorations from cocktail hour in your ceremony space, or even use bridesmaids’ bouquets as centerpieces on your guests’ tables.
The All-Important Rule of Leave No Trace
As a Colorado wedding photographer, there are a TON of gorgeous places that people want to include in their engagement photos and their wedding photos. I love traveling around our beautiful state, capturing even more beautiful love stories! That said, I want to protect the resources we have here so that we and future generations always have them to enjoy. I recommend a refresh on Leave No Trace.
To put it as simply as possible, love and respect Mother Earth! We’re not going to be trampling through sensitive wildflowers for your wedding portraits. We most definitely will not be littering while hiking on our trails! I’m all for popping champagne (as long as we clean up the cork), but we’re not bringing confetti poppers out into the beauty of Mother Nature. A huge belief of mine is to leave places better than I found them and that’s what Leave No Trace is all about! I really hope that these tips were helpful and insightful!
There are so many other ways to be sustainable on your wedding day, one resource I love is Mindfully Wed. Their slogan is less stuff, more meaning and I am so for it! They even have a wedding footprint calculator tool to figure out the rough carbon footprint of your wedding day. If you’d like to book me for your wedding I’d love to hear from you. Reach out to me here and if you’re looking to make your day more sustainable I’m eager to help, and of course permanently capture your wedding day!!
