The Eco Wedding Formula: 6 Insider Hacks for a Greener I DO!

This Earthical Events guide reveals six insider tricks for planning an eco-friendly wedding.

Celebrate your love sustainably! We did the math and found the 6 biggest carbon and waste sources in weddings. These must-know eco-wedding hacks will help you plan a zero-waste, sustainable wedding. Let's plan a wedding that reflects your values, from wedding ideas and decor to your wedding dress and food choices.

TL;DR: The Eco Wedding Formula

We’ve cracked the code for a low-waste, eco-friendly wedding that won’t drain your wallet or energy.

Introducing... The Eco Wedding Formula!

Flights + Food + Flowers = 3Fs
Decor + Dress + Disposables = 3Ds
3Fs + 3Ds = Happily Eco After

Nail these six key elements and you’ve got the best bang (or bloom?) for your buck without compromising the planet or the party.

1. Flights

Your wedding day is all about celebrating your love. Whether it’s a dreamy destination wedding or an intimate mountain elopement with close friends and family. But here’s the secret: location, location, location. It really matters when it comes to cutting down your carbon footprint from flights.

Choose a spot that minimizes travel to reduce emissions. And if a tropical destination wedding is your heart’s desire, no worries! You can balance it out by gifting tree-planting favors to your guests. At Earthical Events, we offer seed paper cards that symbolize one tree planted per guest, helping you create a wedding forest and leave a lasting positive impact.

Pro tip: Combine wedding favors and offsets

2. Food (farm-to-table fresh!)

If 50% of your meals are plant-based and you pick a caterer that does farm-to-table (a.k.a local and seasonal), you are already ahead of the curve! Your wedding is leaving the planet better than it was before.

Also, did you know that food that travels a lot loses nutrients? Sometimes up to 70% before it gets to your plate? Not to mention it loses its taste, and it’s harder to know what chemicals or farming practices were used.

Pro tip: Skip beef, and you have already cut your emissions by 30% to 40%

3. Flowers

Say it with me, "local and seasonal." It's simple: flowers that grow locally at your wedding location support the local economy. They will most likely be grown using organic practices, and they play a huge role in helping the pollinator population.

Fun Fact: One out of every 3 bites of food you eat is the work of a pollinator.

Also, make sure your florist composts the flowers. This starves landfills (yay!) and also makes sure your wedding flowers go back to the local soil system for farming. Once again, making the world a better place just by choosing the right florist.

Big No: Don't DIY with grocery store flowers. They are usually doused in pesticides and other chemicals.

Pro tip: Get a florist that exclusively uses local & seasonal flowers. We have a lot of them available at Earthical Events - Florists

4. Decor

Everything from easels for signage, table cloths, napkins, and guest seating charts, as well as big items, like farm tables and chairs, is usually available at a sustainably focused venue. This is a key area where you can save a lot of money and help the planet just by choosing the right venues and planners.

You can avoid hundreds of pounds of waste just by making the right venue and planner choice.

Pro Tip: Planners and Venues that offer decor cut waste and help your budget

5. Dress

The most exciting part is that it happens before the wedding! It's also a great statement piece that can reflect your values. Simple mantra: if you get a pre-loved dress, you have avoided about 10,000 liters of water. Want to fact-check that? WRAP UK’s research breaks it down.

Pro Tip: Think about how much water usage you can reduce by getting your gown from Astraea Bridal or bridesmaid dresses from Rent the Runway

6. Disposables

Disposable cups, plates, forks, and spoons are the biggest source of landfill. Even if you use bamboo ware or compostables, very few composting facilities can handle them. Did you know that you can rent glassware and plates at 50 cents a piece? Yup! It's quite cheap and adds sophistication to your wedding.

If you are all about doing it yourself (DIY), you can also thrift for these items. However, be mindful that the hours could easily add up, and finding the perfect theme/match could be exhausting. We recommend Facebook Marketplace instead.

But seriously, just look at Earthical Events rental and decor vendors! We have quite a few options here that won't break the bank.

Pro Tip: Venues, caterers, and planners know easy rental solutions. Just ask!