Going green has become one of the increasingly popular wedding theme trends in recent years. More than being trendy, an eco-friendly wedding also helps Mother Nature. For brides out there, you can certainly do your part by planning for a green wedding. Check out our useful tips for going green without sacrificing beauty and elegance. The Venue
The venue is the place where everything is put together, from the decorations to the flow of the program. However, traditional venues like hotel ballrooms tend to consume loads of power, water and other natural resources in order to make a glamorous event happen. For an environment friendly venue option, have your wedding ceremony and reception outdoors in a meadow or at the countryside, and skip excessive use of energy and water. Take advantage of Singapore’s beautiful botanical gardens, remote beaches, and hilltops that provide modern facilities, like toilets and sinks, so you won’t have to sacrifice convenience and comfort. You’re still helping Mother Earth since you’re letting the sun provide the lighting. If you want to secure your wedding from extreme weather conditions, you have several choices as well. First, you can have your wedding ceremony and reception in one venue so your guests won’t have to drive to different places, and therefore cut back on their fuel emission. Your second option is to choose a venue that gets plenty of natural light and schedule your wedding in the morning. Another way to go green indoors is to look for venues that use biodegradable products and energy-efficient appliances. The Flowers
If you think using flowers is eco-friendly, think again. Most commercial flowers are actually sprayed with chemicals that can kill organic matter in the soil. These chemicals may even cause diseases to the workers. As much as possible, cut down on your floral décor and walk down the aisle with a do-it-yourself button bouquet. You can also leave your reception tables bare or decorate them with items you already have at home, like potted plants, photo frames, and colorful bottles in different heights and sizes. Skip unseasonal flowers since they have to shipped, and look for seasonal blooms instead. Or you could also make more do-it-yourself bouquets and boutonnieres from papers and other recycled materials. Further minimize the ecological effect by looking for papers made from recycled products. The Favors
Regardless of how practical your wedding favors are, many of your guests would still throw them away. Plastics, fabrics, and metals used in packaging favors are tough to the environment and hard to get rid of since they’re not biodegradable. Forget giving away keepsakes and donate your favor budget to your favorite charity instead, and let everybody know about this through word of mouth rather than printing them out on cards. But if you really want to have something to offer, there are several ways to make sure that they don’t end up in trash bins. One option is to offer edible treats. Jams in jars and organic chocolate bars are both delicious treats that your guests would surely want to try. For a more lasting favor, offer gifts that can grow, such as seeds in organza packets or potted bamboo shoots. If you want to lessen more the ecological effect of your wedding, let your favors double as decorations. Potted bamboo shoots can serve as table centerpieces, as well as edible treats when piled together in plates or stands. Unique Eco-Friendly Centerpieces Table centerpieces offer you an opportunity to get creative with your wedding. The idea of making a centerpiece is to create an interesting look that reflects your wedding theme. There’s no particular rule when it comes to making table centerpieces. Table centerpieces can actually be anything you can think of – flowers, balloons, potted plants, or even your wedding favors. For green weddings, make use of pieces made of recycled, natural, or living materials. Some ideas for environment-friendly centerpieces are the following: - Recycled Glasses Recycled glasses are either repurposed glasses or melted and re-blown glasses. In either case, the glass used is recycled. Melted and re-blown glasses possess a rougher appearance and look more complicated, catching light in strange ways. Repurposed glasses are easily recognized. Most of them are jam jars and wine bottles, redecorated and reused. Both of these types can be used as vases, candle holders, or containers of colorful trinkets for your table centerpiece. - Ecospheres Ecospheres are small living ecosystems, contained in glass globes. As table centerpieces, ecospheres provide striking visual impact for their aesthetic value and transparency. Unlike tall vases and lush potted plants, glass globes allow guests seated across from each other to see one another, making them feel more connected and involved with other guests they’re sharing tables with. Keep in mind that ecospheres are not like any other decorative pieces, they’re living ecosystems. Give them to your family members or bridesmaids as special and lasting wedding favors to display at home. - Root Bowls Roots provide water and nutrients to nourish the tree and serve as an anchor to allow the tree to stand tall and strong. Including root-made pieces, like root bowls, to your wedding décor, it’s a gesture of looking forward for a prosperous and strong marriage. For a green wedding, untreated root balls are eco-friendly decorative add-ons. Use them as table centerpieces piled up with candies, fruits, or favors. Going green with your wedding doesn’t mean you have to sacrifice convenience, comfort and style. By simply putting together the right pieces and taking into heart this environmentally friendly guideline, you’ll be surprised how achievable it can be to have the glamorous wedding you’ve always dreamed of without taking a toll on Mother Nature.
