How important is your location choice when hosting a sustainable wedding?
Statistically speaking, weddings take their toll on the environment in several ways. With up to 20 kg of waste and 14.5 tons of CO2 per average wedding, looking to make your celebration more sustainable is an honourable decision.
But how important is your location choice when it comes to hosting a sustainable wedding? From the specific location to the type of venue, each element of your wedding adds to its total carbon footprint – even down to which suppliers and florists you use. The overall setting for your big day naturally comes first though, so let’s explore how to choose the most eco-friendly location for your wedding.
The problem with destination weddings
As alluring as the white-washed beaches of remote, tropical islands are, the impact of flying in all of your friends and family to such a luxurious destination can be massive. Although your guests will likely still have to travel regardless of where you host your wedding, cars and trains produce significantly less CO2 emissions than planes.
If your heart is set on a destination wedding, there are a few ways to reduce its carbon footprint. Opting for a smaller guest list, doubling up your destination for both wedding and honeymoon, and choosing somewhere a little closer to home can all help to make your destination wedding more sustainable.
Choosing a sustainable venue
The ethical practices of your chosen venue make a huge difference to the overall eco-credentials of your day, as they will be responsible for managing food waste, recycling glass bottles and sorting the garbage from your suppliers. Shockingly, many wedding venues still have poor sustainability practices, with some not even recycling cardboard.
Be sure to ask the right questions when viewing your potential wedding venues, and look for proof of any eco-claims. Solar panels, vegetable gardens, and renewable energy are some green flags that you’re on the right track. Asking about their food waste policy and their stance on single-use plastic is a good way to measure their dedication to sustainability.
Keep your goals in mind
Whilst it can be tempting to choose little additions to your wedding that go against your ideals, especially when being encouraged by a shop assistant or friend, try to stay focused. By making sustainability an integrated part of your overall wedding theme, anything less will ultimately look out of place.
As you choose your dress, decorations, flowers and stationery, sticking to small businesses that prioritise sustainability and ethical practices will seriously reduce the impact of your day. By keeping your theme in mind, you’ll be able to seamlessly choose between items that will elevate your wedding and those that will pull away from your virtuous morals.
Finning a balance
There’s undoubtedly a balancing act to planning a wedding that is both sustainable and also everything you dreamed it would be. Try not to obsess over every tiny detail, as it will make it harder for you to enjoy the planning of your big day. Ultimately, it’s very difficult to have an entirely zero-waste wedding, and just making sustainability a big part of your focus is something to be proud of. Location does play a big part in the overall success of a sustainable wedding, but once you’ve got it right, everything else falls into place.
