How to have a sustainable wedding
As you probably know by now, Indie Bride London is all about sustainable and ethically made wedding dresses. We are some of the very first brands to offered sustainable wedding dresses in the UK having been creating our beautiful sustainable wedding dresses for more than 10 years.
Sustainability is at the core of everything we do, and we encourage brides to incorporate some sustainable aspects into their wedding. Supporting the incredible small British wedding suppliers is always the best way to go about it. Here are a few ideas on how to make your wedding more sustainable and mindful, in addition to choosing to wear an Indie Bride London dress, of course.
Confetti
Flower petal confetti is such a romantic touch to celebrate the very first moment of being married to each other with your loved ones. This magical moment is short but such an important one, so why not make it sustainable and mindful? It’s all about those small details! The Real Flower Petal Confetti Company has been growing confetti for 25 years! You can do your own mix and choose the flowers that have had importance in your life, or you can choose one of the pre-mixes. They have a comprehensive guide to confetti throwing with some tips on their website that I would advise you to check out. Confetti throwing is not the only way you can use flower petal confetti. It can be used to decorate the tables or the aisle as well!
Flowers
Did you know that not all wedding flowers are sustainably produced and handled? It can take a lot of energy to grow, store, and transport flowers, so again, choosing local and seasonal is the best option. Founded by cousins Bek and Jen, Blooming Green is a good example of a florist with mindful business practices. For example, for packaging they don’t use a scrap of plastic, unless it’s compostable and plant based. They use peat-free compost, reuse their plastic propagation trays, and instead of weed killer, they use weed-suppressant fabric. These small contributions to sustainability make their rustic, wild and informal florals even more beautiful.
“We grow a wide range of beautiful seasonal flowers, which we have carefully selected for their colour, shape and interest. They are hand-grown, hand-tended and hand-picked as well as organic, seasonal and unique.”
Cake
When it comes to food and cakes, local, seasonal and plant-based tend to be the best sustainable options. Tiny Sarah’s Cake’s creates stunning, creative vegan cakes. The designs are a unique burst of colour and cuteness. “The thing that drives me and that I love about weddings and wedding cakes is that every couple is different - and every wedding cake should be different too.” Tiny Sarah delivers her cakes anywhere in the UK (she has even delivered a cake to France and Luxembourg!) in plastic-free packaging, and the paper and cardboard she uses are recycled.
Stationery and signage
Frankie from Bewilderly is passionate about eco-friendly wedding stationery and signage. She puts style and sustainability at the forefront of her business when creating her minimal and modern work with typography and soft calligraphy. She works with Birch plywood and Ash wood that’s locally sourced from 100% sustainable forests and uses eco-friendly and recycled materials like recycled acrylic.
“I work closely with my couples to capture their visions & vibe, nailing all of those important details of their wedding day. I offer a huge range of different styles within my work, incorporating calligraphy alongside more stripped back modern text & designs.”
Rings
You’ll wear your ring for the rest of your life. Why not choose one with a beautiful story? Shakti Ellenwood is the first artisanal goldsmith in the UK to achieve B Corp status which means that when you get your rings from her you can be sure that they are made up to high environmental and societal standards. She uses ethical gold and responsibly sourced diamonds in the stunning, delicately rustic pieces she handcrafts in her studio in Devon and donates over 2% of sales to social and environmental causes through her “Giving Back Project” .
“Her earthy, organic designs fuse an ancient feel with a contemporary aesthetic, incorporating diverse influences including the sacred symbolism of amulets and talismans, the sentimentality of the Victorian era, folklore and ancient civilisations, as well as her own travels across the globe. Inspired by rituals from Egypt, India and the Amazon, Shakti crafts every design using sung mantras and icaros to imbue blessing and protection for its wearer – a prayer captured in gold.”
Photography
Photographers can choose more sustainable business practices as well, like Emma from Freckle Photography has done by offsetting her carbon emissions and printing only on recycled paper. Emma is a visual storyteller whose favourite compliment is when the wedding guests ask, “So how do you know the couple?” as this means that she comes across like an old friend of theirs. She takes time to get to know every couple and captures their wedding day as they experienced and felt it. “I love nothing more than when my couples say, ‘The photos are so us’. That’s my main aim – to tell the real story of your wedding day, but more than that, to show what makes you ‘you’ and your wedding day just yours.”
Weddings have a bad reputation for being wasteful and disposable. In the past, this was usually the case, but it doesn’t have to be anymore. Planning a sustainable wedding means that you have put more thought into the little and not-so-little details of the biggest celebration of your life. Not only being more sustainable, I can guarantee your wedding day will feel more special when you can tell people exactly who made your wedding dress or your rings and who grew your flowers.
Miina
xx