Green Wedding Guide; The Greenest Possible Wedding Reception – Part 2

This entry is part 5.2 of The Green Wedding Guide Series
Adapted from “How To Get Married In Green” by Suzan St Maur

One of the key elements of your wedding and especially the reception is floral decorations, and as you know these can be derived from very un-green sources with blooms having been grown in less than “fair-trade” circumstances and flown in from thousands of miles away. Try if you can to use flowers and other plants grown locally, and in season, and choose a florist who feels the same way you do about environmentally-friendly decorations. In my book, I go into some detail about floral decorations and share some useful alternative ideas, so you may want to check that out.

Another area in which you can make some very useful green contributions is that of wedding favors – or gifts for your guests. All it takes is a little imagination, and the wedding favors you choose not only can make a useful contribution to eco-friendliness, but also can be charming, unusual gifts your guests really will treasure.

Here are just a few eco-friendly ideas to get you started…

• Bunches of fresh, locally-grown cut herbs tied with organic ribbon
• Small herb or other edible plants in tiny pots (little red chilli plants look lovely!)
• Small flowering plants in pots (as part of decorations, then guests take home afterwards)
• Tree seedlings in small pots
• Packs of wildflower or other seeds
• Pretty seashells, perhaps with organic sweets inside
• Small pieces of locally-made pottery
• Small ornaments made from recycled glass
• Soya / beeswax candles
• Locally-made organic biscuits or sweets
• Fairtrade chocolate pralines
• Energy-efficient lightbulbs (made glamorous with some foliage decoration!)

Don’t forget, however, that there is no unwritten or written rule that says you have to give wedding favors. A greener option is to tell guests (or place a notice in the reception area and on your wedding website) that instead of wedding favors, you’re making a donation on behalf of each guest to the charity of your choice.

Entertainment is another area where you can make some green choices. All singing, all dancing live rock bands or DJs / discos with flashing lights and other paraphernalia consume a lot of energy. Much depends on your musical tastes, of course, but if you happen to like classical, jazz, country, folk or any other genre of predominantly acoustic or semi-acoustic music, using this as your source of entertainment will reduce the power consumption considerably

If you like country pursuits and your wedding is not in the middle of winter, you could consider holding a barn dance or ceilidh. Although the musical elements of these do usually require some electrical amplification – depending on the size of the venue and number of guests – they certainly don’t use as much power as a 7 piece rock band or even, I suspect a fully-laden DJ set up. And they’re great fun! To find organizers in your area, Google “barn dances.”

A gentler alternative to barn dances is line dancing. The music can either be live, again with some amplification needed for large groups, or it can be recorded and played back through a simple sound system. One serious advantage of line dancing is that it’s ideal for all age groups, from children right up to elderly folks provided they are reasonably sprightly, so entire family groups can have fun together. Google “line dancing.”

Don’t forget Scottish dancing, too – a great energy saver as all you really need is perhaps an accordionist or two and a piper with extremely powerful lungs! A piper will also add gravitas if you use him (I have yet to meet a lady piper, although I’m sure there are some) as punctuation during the earlier part of your reception, such as to announce the meal or herald the cutting of the cake. To find one in your area Google “Scottish pipers.”

DIY receptions: cleaning up tips. If you hold your reception at a specialist venue – i.e. somewhere that does wedding receptions on a package basis – you will have checked out beforehand what their policies are on waste management and recycling, and will be happy with them. If you are organizing your reception yourselves, though, you need to be mindful of a number of things…

1. What are you going to do with leftover food? Unless you have a group of hungry friends and family who will take it home and eat it within 24 hours or so, can some be frozen for use later? If not, can you donate it to a local charity like a shelter for the homeless?

2. If you are throwing food, flowers, foliage and other scraps away, have you got appropriate compost heaps and wormeries standing by to take it? Don’t forget that meat, oil or dairy products are not suitable for composting or wormeries. However most councils in the UK now operate food recycling collections which will take meat, fish and even small bones as well as other food scraps and peelings; this is then reprocessed to make animal feed (I think!) Alternatively leftover meat and vegetables might be appreciated by a local cat and dog rescue center, provided the food isn’t smothered in rich sauces. Leftover floral or foliage arrangements could go to local seniors’ homes.

3. Ensure that all recyclable materials are recycled and don’t find their way into the rubbish by mistake. That includes all metal cans and containers, glass bottles, paper, cardboard and plastics.

And after that, off you go on your eco-friendly honeymoon!

By Suzan St Maur
Adapted from “How To Get Married In Green” by Suzan St Maur – on all Amazons (UK: www.bit.ly/aeD6gC )

Related Topics:

1. Green Wedding Guide; The Greenest Possible Wedding Reception – Part 1
2. Green Wedding Guide; Make Your Wedding Meal & Reception Food Greener
3. Green Wedding Guide; Eco-friendly Wedding Invitations