5 Ways to Make Your Wedding More Sustainable

Sustainability is a core value of Maris Events that we try to incorporate into each event, helping you integrate small changes that have a positive impact, but don't compromise on quality.

The best example I give my clients of a stunning, elegant, and equally sustainable wedding is that of Bre & Dylon. They planned their wedding with sustainability at the core, and here are the five key areas where they made choices that aligned with that vision.

Disclaimer: Please don't be intimidated! I encourage couples to incorporate the changes that make sense to them, and leave the rest.

Venue

A venue can help make or break the sustainability of your wedding. Choosing a venue with energy and water efficient facilities, that uses renewables and is good about recycling and composting, can reduce the impact of your event with little effort. Even if this isn't the focus of the venue you choose, you can always talk with them about how you can work together to make your event zero waste.

Bre & Dylon selected Round the Bend Farm for their wedding. They were looking for a beautiful setting in nature and found this at Round the Bend in coastal South Dartmouth, Massachusetts. The farm is a "Center for Restorative Community" and has a very clear vision for the weddings it hosts. For example, weddings at Round the Bend must:

• have 75% of the food and beverages sourced from within 60 miles of the farm

• hire local vendors

• use local flowers, not treated with chemicals

• use reusable or compostable materials

Round the Bend has a large collection of eclectic rental items on its property that eliminates all the plastic waste that comes from most other event rentals. Normally, even when an event uses rental plates, glasses, and cutlery, rather than disposables, they are transported in many layers of plastic to keep them clean and hygienic.

One of my favorite eco-friendly tidbits from Bre & Dylon's wedding is that Round the Bend has upscale, water-free, waste-fee composting toilets.

To get an even better idea of the impact of your wedding at Round the Bend, check out this cute report card they put together.

Food & Drink

Thoughtful selection of food and drink can be another big way to improve the environmental impact of your event. In the northeast of the U.S., we are mostly at the very end of the food supply chain, which means food travels a very long way before getting to us. Finding a caterer that can commit to providing you with a menu sourced mostly from local farms can help drastically lower transportation emissions, plastic waste, and chemical runoff, if the foods are produced organically.

Bre & Dylon wanted food to be a focal point of their wedding weekend and they chose two caterers that made this an absolute success. Dough Company & Café in New Bedford, MA, catered the wedding with an impressive spread of local farm fresh foods. While Farm and Coast Market in South Dartmouth, MA catered a super delicious family-style rehearsal dinner and scrumptious brunch at Little Moss, a very quaint, coastal café in Dartmouth, MA. Farm and Coast not only blew everyone away with their food, but also with the friendliness and enthusiasm of their chef and staff.

Flowers & Decorations

You wouldn't necessarily think so, but flowers have a huge environmental impact. Most often, florists source blooms that are flown in from all around the world, adding to transportation and cooling emissions along the way. Floral arrangements also frequently use wasteful and chemically treated materials like floral foam. To avoid these two common floral pitfalls, work with florists who are willing to source your flowers from local growers and avoid the use of disposable plastics and floral foam. If your event is outside of flower season, consider alternatives like dried flowers, greenery, or renting potted plants and herbs. Decorations can easily be found on Facebook Marketplace, or rented or borrowed from your florist or venue.

Bre found Halcyon Heroine, an exceptionally talented Connecticut-based florist and designer, who uses 90-100% locally grown and chemical-free flowers. Instead of floral foam, she uses Agrawool, which also serves to add structure to certain arrangements, but is made from natural materials and is completely biodegradable and chemical-free. After the event, she'll even help you find a second home for your flowers, such as a local hospital or nursing home, to continue spreading the joy from her flowers.

Nicole, owner of Halcyon Heroine, adds spontaneity to her designs by incorporating a variety of grown and collected seasonal plants. Bre loves gardening, so it was a special treat for her to have peas and little strawberries incorporated into the arrangements and even in her hair! Can you spot the pea shoots and peapod?

See more photos of the flowers at Bre & Dylons wedding on Halcyon Heroine's Instagram.

Wedding Dress & Attire

The fashion industry is one of the biggest polluters to air, land, and water. Buying clothing second hand or from companies that make an effort to produce their clothes more responsibly can help reduce that.

Redesigning a Wedding Dress from Goodwill

Bre was committed to buying her wedding dress second hand. She scored big when her mother-in-law-to-be found a Cristian Lucci dress for $80 online at Goodwill!

There were some details about the dress that she didn't like, so she brought it to Taylor on the Avenue, in Johnston, RI, for some redesigning. The beading at the top was easy to remove and instantly transformed the dress..

Next, Bre wanted to shorten the  train and to remove the lace border at the hem of the dress, since it appeared to be a different style lace than what made up the rest of the dress. She and the seamstress decided to restructure the bottom into a fade out design that gave the dress a modern, slightly whimsical feel, which was stunning when she walked and danced!

Bride's people and Groom's people - using what they have

Choosing a general color scheme and leaning into the mix and match style, makes it easier for people in the bridal party to use items they already have or to find something second hand. Bre & Dylon chose blues and grays, which made it possible for most people to wear something already in their closet..

Wedding Rings

It's pretty well known that the gems and precious metals used for wedding rings are often tied to a lot of human rights and environmental issues, which is why you often see the term "conflict free" in jewelry advertising. Using heirloom pieces, buying vintage, or working with a jeweler that is really diligent about its sourcing and using recycled metals can help avoid some of these issues.

For Bre's engagement ring, Dylon found W.R. Metalarts, a jeweler in Vermont that specializes in bespoke rings and is committed to ethical and sustainable sourcing. Learn more about what this means on their About Us page.

Bre & Dylon loved the result so much that they decided to have W.R. Metalarts also create their wedding rings. The whole design and consultation process was able to happen online, and the rings were safely shipped to them when they were finished.

Check out more from W.R. Metalarts on their Instagram.

Takeaways

Bre & Dylon prioritized sustainability when planning their wedding, but sustainability doesn't always have to be the focal point of an event in order to make small changes that are worth it.

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The relaxed and natural feel of

Bre & Dylon's wedding was captured beautifully by Molly Burns Photography.

@mollyburnsphotography