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Environmental tips: It's a nice day for a green wedding . . .
Getting married, while it may be the happiest day of your life, can be bad news for the environment.
Getting married, while it may be the happiest day of your life, can be bad news for the environment.With guests travelling miles, flowers flown in from across the world, dresses usually shipped from America and endless reams of paper involved in sending out invitations, there are many environmental pitfalls.
Some sources estimate that a traditional wedding produces about 15 tons of carbon dioxide.
But the good news is that trying to have a green wedding doesn't have to mean that you have to be barefoot on a field in a hemp wedding dress.
A few small changes can make all the difference to the impact your wedding has on the environment.
Netherton resident Clare Watters (30) was very interested in doing her bit on her big day, and tried to be as green as possible, but in a realistic way.
"I would have to say I could have done a lot more, but I did what I could and what was easier, rather than going the whole hog," she said.
Clare married Vincent (32) in Sussex, in February 2008.
Invitations for the couple's big day were sent out on paper made from sheep poo, and any other paper used in the wedding was recycled.
The venue for their reception used local foods, and most of the flowers were local and seasonal, at Clare's request.
Clare and Vincent encouraged guests to lift share and put them in touch with each other to help this.
For her outfit, Clare tried to choose clothing and shoes that could be worn again.
Finally, the couple's favours were small snowflakes made by the Woodland Trust.
"We brought favours for all the guests, and the idea was that we'd go some way to off-setting the carbon emissions of people coming to the wedding, and any other emissions it created," Clare said.
"It was important to me personally so I did want it to be quite sustainable. Especially with guests travelling, there is a big impact associated with the big day and if people can do their part to tread more lightly, it's better for everybody really."
Enviro-wedding tips
If you are making your own invitations, opt for recycled card and paper. If you are getting them printed, use a local printer (less carbon emissions through transport).
Think about setting up a wedding website, rather than sending out lots of sheets of paper with maps and information about accommodation. Try www.weddingpath.co.uk, which allows you to have a free wedding website, where you can put all the information you need to share. Elderly relatives or those who are not computer literate may still need a print-out, but a website will drastically reduce the amount of paper you send out (and the cost of sending it all!)
Save jam and sauce jars and use them to hold table decorations or candles.
Think about trying to source local, seasonal flowers rather than ones which have been imported from Holland or beyond. Ask your florist if they can do this.
Use the occasion to give something back to the wider world. Instead of gifts for yourself, ask for donations to charity. Many now have websites set up specifically for this purpose.
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