TOP 5 ECO-FRIENDLY WEDDING TRENDS

Your wedding day is so personal and your decor, the colors and the entire vibe should be a direct reflection of you and your significant others personality!

There are so many wonderful trends from wedding dresses, to floral design, bridesmaid dresses, color schemes and more. But a recent and upcoming wedding trend has caught my eye. Many newly weds are considering more Eco-Friendly options and alternatives! What a beautiful way to not only express your love on your big day but to also spread a little love to our Earth❤️

Long Island Bridal Shower Location: Rare650 Photography by Stargazed Photography All rights reserved

In today’s world, many people turn the other cheek or are oblivious to the pollution that is detrimental to our planet. I’m guilty myself, some things are out of sight, out of mind. But recently I went to an exhibit with a friend in Manhattan and it has since changed my mindset and has made me personally realize the small steps I can take to reduce my carbon footprint. The pop-up gallery I went to is called Arcadia Earth and I would highly recommend checking it out! Here’s the link: Arcadia Earth

Plastic Bag Jelly Fish Art Installation from Arcadia Earth

Now, you’re probably wondering… what about those wedding trend tips?! 😂 With a little research I was able to find wonderful ideas and inspirations for the eco-friendly, earth-loving couples out there. Here are my TOP 5 ways to make your wedding a more eco-friendly environment! So lets get into it! How to create an ECO-FRIENDLY Wedding:

1. Create Electronic Save-The-Dates

Create electronic save-the-dates and email or post it online for your family and friends. By doing so, you reduce that carbon-footprint and limit paper waste. Such an easy & manageable idea!

2. Use 100% Recycled Paper Products

Maybe you don’t want to do an e-vite for your wedding! Totally understandable! What’s great is that there are a lot of environmentally friendly websites and online retailers where you can customize beautiful wedding invitations or save the dates with Recycled paper or bamboo. There are many companies out there but these two companies stood out to me:

Paper Culture (They plant a tree with every order made! Plus, you can even order wedding dinner menus from their site as well. More eco-friendly paper goods, heck yeah!!)

Greenvelope (Really loved this site. Not only can you create a beautiful invitation or save the date but it also has custom options to keep your guest lists and addresses organized with different spread sheets. Also, they have a few partnerships to help develop a greener future!)

3. Up-cycle your decor

Whether for your wedding day, engagement party, bridal shower or bachelor/bachelorette party — you can use upcycled decor and make it look totally GLAM! Maybe recycled centerpieces doesn’t sound glamorous to you but, hear me out! If you’re a DIY lover, this will excite you and if you’re not so into DIY there are still many alternative decor options you can look into! For my DIY lovers, here’s an example: you can save jars or cans to use as a part of your centerpiece or for overall room decor. Having a winter wedding? Save pine cones to create a little DIY design. Going for a rustic look? Maybe you can find a pair of real deer antlers on a walk before the wedding! Planning for a beach look? Take a stroll on the beach for some nice, natural driftwood, sea glass or seashells to add to your tablescape. If those options aren’t for you, there are so many alternative options. For example, during your florist appointment, ask what kind of rentals they offer so you’re not using fresh flowers OR if you love the fresh flower look, see if you can custom create a floral centerpiece in a nice potted urn or Terra-cotta pot that your guests can take home and re-plant! Rather than cutting so many flowers down, you have the option to give those flowers and plants LIFE!

Photography by Stargazed Photography All rights reserved

4. Ceremony Traditions

Traditionally guests would do a rice toss after the couple married. Originally it was meant to symbolize rain which was a sign of prosperity, good fortune & fertility. Then there was a rumor stating a rice-toss was bad for birds. Apparently The Knot Weddings decided it was time to bust that myth! But who wants rice thrown at them anyway??? There are so many more eco-friendly alternatives. Here are a few options: Lavender toss (who doesn’t love the fresh scent of lavender?!), a petal toss (you can even ask your florist to save scraps from flower cleaning rather than ruining extra roses just for their petals), a eucalyptus leaf toss (I’m digging all the aroma-toss vibes right now), make your own confetti from recycled paper and last but not least you can consider doing a butterfly release! At first I was not sure if a butterfly release is eco-friendly until I did some research. One of the websites I had looked into called Swallowtail Farms stated there is no harm to our little fluttery friends and they have a whole page documenting what experts have to say! **BONUS: Swallowtail Farms also have Plantable paper stock you can order! Really cool!

Image from Pintrest Sourced by Registry Finds

5. Eco-Friendly favors

I personally love this idea! So many great options are available no matter what season your wedding is in. You can purchase favors from a locally sourced farm to show support to the environment and your community. Some favor examples are: Local sourced honey in glass jars, locally sourced maple syrup in glass jars, mini potted succulents, mini potted herbs (cilantro, basil, thyme), hand crafted soaps, fresh baked goods, plantable paper stock (see above in option # 4 “Swallowtail Farms” for the link!) or you can order locally sourced wine/champagne! The options are endless. Your guests will be happy with one of these options instead of some sort of bottle opener or thing-a-ma-jig that may end up in their junk drawer at home. A little thoughtfulness goes a long way!

Overall, this may be a lengthy blog post but I hope it inspires all newly engaged couples! Any couple can create a more eco-friendly, sustainable wedding day in 2020 and still have the wedding of their dreams!! ❤️

Peace & love✨

All the images, unless otherwise noted in this post have been copyrighted. All rights reserved to Stargazed Photography by Christina Marie.