If you are a climate-conscious bride or groom-to-be, this is just what you need. Now, you can host a carbon-neutral wedding with a few easy-to-follow tips. Weddings, as we know, are mostly extravagant as people tend to invest oodles of money – and rightfully so in celebrating the happiest day of their lives. This also expands their carbon footprint (the amount of carbon-di-oxide we release into the atmosphere), which in turn, creates detrimental effects on the already overburdened environment.
But the good news is that there’s a way to offset our actions and to showcase how much we love our planet. So, whether your wedding is a big or an intimate one, integrating these eco-friendly elements is a great way to keep your impact low.
1 Aim for a limited guest list & request RSVPs
Often people go overboard when it comes to preparing the guestlist for their wedding. A lengthy guest list will not only tire you as a host – it will increase your responsibilities as well. Save yourself from the hassle (and, the endless leg work) by preparing a tight guest list. Once you are done with it, request RSVPs from your guests so that you have a fair idea of who’s able to make it to your wedding, and who’s not. (Related Reads: This Indian couple got married in metaverse)
2 Minimize food wastage
Based on the RSVP estimate, you can easily work with your caterer to plan the number of dishes you intend to keep for your wedding functions. Make it point to discuss the shelf life of the dishes/food items with your vendor as certain items become stale quickly. For example, sliced apples. You can also coordinate with the local NGOs for donating the excess food.
3 Opt for an au-naturel décor
Covid has made us all so much more aware of the interconnectedness of our planet. A sustainable décor or a decoration that is done using natural materials will only make you closer to the planet. As the sustainable wedding décor is already gaining momentum in India (Remember, Dia Mirza’s eco-conscious wedding?), here are what some of India’s leading decorators have to say on it:
The Wedding Company: Conscious weddings are a big, big trend. Wanting to reduce carbon footprint is something we as a company and even couples today are propagating.
Devika Narain & Co: The simplest ways to make weddings more thoughtful and sustainable are to source local and work with small businesses and artisans. For a wedding in Jaipur, a couple of years back, we sourced everything from within 75kms of the venue and grew all the flowers. No plastic was used and all prints were on seed paper which grew into a beautiful marigold hedge.
Aash Studios: We love working with handicrafts, using sustainable materials such as jute and succulents. Reusing the elements from the things we have, but make sure to still create the magic. FYI, Aash Studio’s were behind the décor of Karishma Tanna’s wedding celebrations.
4 Opt for a sustainable makeup
Choose beauty brands that are either sustainable or committed to sustainability efforts. It’s important as consumers to evaluate what brands have adopted a greener approach to their formulations and packaging. A little hack here: Using powder foundation over separate foundation and powder or substituting your daytime eyeliner with an eyebrow pencil is an easy but impactful swap. (Related Reads: What is blue beauty? The beauty movement that has got everyone talking)
5 Go for heirlooms
Opting for heirloom pieces is the easiest way to go sustainable. The most prominent example is the gold sharara that has been passed on through generations in the Pataudi family. And thanks to Ritu Kumar, it looks just as elegant and timeless each time it’s worn. (Related Reads: Including vintage pieces in your wedding wardrobe)
6 Aim to neutralize your carbon footprint
Here’s how you can offset the carbon footprint of your wedding in a few simple steps:
- Visit https://www.theweddingbrigade.com/ & choose the ‘sustainability’ tab.
- Enter the details of your wedding and the Climes calculator will track its total carbon footprint!
- To neutralize this impact, you can then opt-in to pay it forward with Climes! For each rupee you invest, Climes will neutralize 1 kg of carbon emissions! If you want to go a step ahead, you can also look for eco-friendly alternatives for your wedding arrangements on @theweddingbrigade
Check out these posts below for more details:
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7 Re-wear or repurpose your wedding trousseau
Re-wearing or repurposing your wedding trousseau is absolutely one-hundred percent cool. Even a lot of celebrities have been wearing repurposed wedding pieces on many non-wedding occasions. Sameera Reddy, recently wore her wedding saree after eight years for a wedding event. That’s not all. Never Have I Ever breakout star Maitreyi Ramakrishna wore a technicolor gown made from a wedding saree for one of her recent red-carpet appearances. (Related Reads: Here’s how you can repurpose the jewelry for wedding celebrations)
8 Adopt a plastic-free policy!
Single use plastics are one of the biggest menaces to the environment. Why not refrain from using them completely in your wedding celebrations? Be a green ally by adopting a plastic free policy in your memorable celebrations.
9 Say yes to paperless invites
Along with saving paper, going digital will also save you major bucks. Digital invitations are extremely versatile and convenient as graphic designers can make them in any format (Gif invitations anyone?). If that’s not all to change your mind, consider the fact that you can include last-minute changes to them – something that’s not even a remote possibility with a paper invite. And that’s it! This wedding season, as you take vows of love & togetherness, take one to protect the planet too! Here’s to a climate-conscious start to your new life.
Vinay Agrawal
