Why not make yours an Ethical or Green Wedding?

Make your wedding a special day - for you and the planet. To help, we have put together a list of suggestions and pointers towards your ethical big day, from the ceremony and catering, to an eco-friendly honeymoon.

• A venue operated on environmentally friendly principles or supporting a charity or community project
• A caterer using organic and local produce
• A dressmaker or designer using organic, hemp or recycled fabrics
• A florist working with organic or fairtrade flowers
• An environmentally friendly means of transport such as horse and cart
• Stationery designed on recycled or hand crafted paper
• Wedding rings that use recycled gold or fairtrade silver or by buying diamonds that are conflict free
• Not accepting traditional household wedding gifts such as toasters but accepting donations to charity on your behalf
• Using biodegradable confetti

Im now going to expand on a few of the points above:

Wedding Lists

The first casualty is the traditional wedding list, a monument to conspicuous consumption featuring dinner services and crystal to be replaced at fashionable weddings by charity lists, with tree plantations and donated cows for communities in the developing world. If you are green fingered, how about plants, trees or garden vouchers.

Wedding Stationery

Use recycled paper for wedding stationery, or try Recycled Paper. To save paper, you could design a website, and send a postcard to guests referring them to it. Wedding photos can be easier to share if you go digital too.

Another option is to hire the gown and other wedding outfits instead of buying it and then putting in the warbrobe just to pull it out for the occasional look!

Buy organic or fairtrade wine for your guests and enjoy the revelry while nature and communities benefit. Order wine, spirits, champagne, beer and soft drinks from an independent online organic retailer while avoiding the supermarkets that make millions in profits.

Support local, seasonal and organic food production - and ask your caterer to do the same.  Avoid disposable plates and make sure empties end up in the recycling bin.

Ask your cake-maker or local baker to use local and organic ingredients where possible.

Find a venue as close to home as possible to cut down on transport. Horse drawn carriages are not only good at seaside resorts but also on your wedding day. If you dont have the ceremony and reception at the same venue, encourage guests to share rides to the reception or provide a coach or bus.

Think about romantic destinations you can visit that are as close to home as possible to reduce the number of road and air miles. If you decide to go longhaul, then find an eco friendly or ethical hotel to stay in.