Finding a green wedding supplier CherryGorgeous

Finding a green wedding supplier

Search for suppliers through dedicated green wedding sites such as greenunion or ethical weddings. When looking at a wedding supplier look for their green policy on their website or ask if they have one. Some suppliers may have green ranges that you can choose from.

See if they have green working practices? Do they recycle? Do they use UK or local suppliers? Are they carbon neutral? Do they use seasonal, organic, fair-trade or recycled products? Is their packaging recycled? 

And remember you can be greener when organising your wedding. Encourage your guests to car share or provide transport between the church and reception to cut disk on transport emissions.

Most wedding favours get left at the reception. And disposable cameras can be wasteful. Instead get wedding favours that your guests will actually want, such as wedding seed packets, a charity donation or plant a tree in their name. And set up a free wedding website so guests can share pictures of your big day. This means that you can print only the photos you really want and cuts down on the chemicals used in printing photos.

If you can, sell your dress after the wedding. It's a great cost cutter and it means that your dress can go on to make other brides look great on their big day as opposed to languishing in a wardrobe. There are many dedicated sites for this as well as obviously eBay. Or give it to a local charity.

Use recycled card for your invites and other wedding stationery. Many companies get invites cheaply printed in China then shipped over, which gives them a huge carbon footprint – look for companies that print in the UK, this reducing their footprint but also shows they are supporting UK businesses. And remember instead of having an order of service for everyone, cut down on your paper by having one per couple. 

The important thing to remember is that's it’s your day and your chosen supplier may not have a green policy. But the important thing is to ask. If you ask and the next bride-to-be asks that maybe we can persuade suppliers to have greener alternatives and business practices.