2020 Wedding Guide • 17
Planning a “Green Wedding” By Mallory Reetz mallory@ogemawherald.com
As we leave 2019 behind, we look forward to the new positive and eco-friendly trends that 2020 will set. According to British Vogue, one of the top wedding trends for 2020 is a “sustainable wedding.” Even Princess Eugenie planned for a plastic-free wedding back in 2018, showing an increasing awareness and popularity of the idea of a “green wedding.” There are many ways to create a beautiful and memorable wedding while still making it sustainable, and, it can be even cheaper to produce than what is considered a typical “white wedding.” Here are some of the most notable popular trends within the eco-friendly world of weddings. First, and arguably most important, are the engagement/wedding rings. We’ve all seen the movie Blood Diamond starring Leonardo Dicaprio and Djimon Hounsou, and if you haven’t, that would be a good one to watch before picking out the rings. To sum it up, the movie is about, you guessed it, blood diamonds, which are mined in war zones and sold to finance conflict, benefit warlords, and provide an enormous profit for diamond companies. The film follows the Sierra Leone civil war and how the war was funded through selling these blood diamonds. To avoid this and find a guilt-free diamond, there are many companies now that sell conflict-free diamonds for rings which means they are either locally and ethically mined in non-war zone areas, or are manufactured in a lab. Since the conflict-free diamond is more well-known now than it once was, many jewelry shops now work to ensure they sell conflict-free. Ken Branham, owner of Branham’s Jewelry in East Tawas and West Branch, said their manufacturers are under a written contract that they abide by the best practices to not deal with conflict diamonds. Finding that perfect ring without the guilt attached to it can be easier to find than you think with more companies committing to this practice. Another way to have a sustainable wedding is by ordering organic, locally grown flowers,
or go for potted flowers that you can later replant. According to the online wedding blog, Green Wedding Shoes, it is important to request that no floral foam be used on your flowers. Floral foam contains toxic chemicals and even if the flowers are biodegradable, the chemicals will still linger. With potted flowers, they make great centerpieces and are easy to reuse or donate or you could simply replant them. If you would like to keep your flowers as memorabilia, purchasing fake flowers would be a good way to go since they will last forever. A noticeable trend that goes along with most of these wedding tips is shopping locally. Local shops will have the freshest options as well as containing the least amount of chemicals. This will also save you on the cost of long-distance travel and won’t use as much gas, which is also helpful for the environment. On that note, moving on to the food. Again, local is your best option when thinking green. According to Green Wedding Shoes, the food will be more
fresh, it will cut down on transportation costs, and because there won’t be as much travel needed, the food won’t be covered in preservatives to make it last longer. And to top it all off, you are supporting local businesses! Also, a good way of getting rid of any leftovers would be to contact local shelters and food pantries to see what their donation policies are. While some eco-friendly couples opt to send out wedding invitations via email, many still prefer a tangible invitation- something they can keep for their photo albums. Green Wedding Shoes recommends purchasing biodegradable invitations made of recycled paper, ensuring no new trees get cut down to make your invitations. Wedding dresses may be a little bit harder to shop for when thinking about sustainability, as many already have a dream dress they have had picked out since they were a child, but, going vintage and wearing a hand-me-down dress from a loved one would save you on cost and would save you from purchasing a dress you only plan on wearing once. But, if that perfect dress is out there calling your name, a way to ensure someone else’s dress doesn’t just get worn once, is by letting your bridesmaids pick out their own dresses. This way, they will pick one they are likely to wear again. Same thing goes for the groom and groomsmen. Renting tuxes instead of purchasing new ones will save on cost and you won’t have to worry about having to find another special occasion to wear it again. Finally, the last tip to having the ultimate green wedding, would be to find an outdoor venue where you can use natural lighting. While outdoor weddings can be hard to plan around mother nature, they can be beautifully organic as they mostly rely on nature as the decor. What better way to promote going green than starting the rest of your life surrounded by that which gives you life. These are just a few tips on how we can take “going green” into 2020 and plan a whole wedding out of it. There is always a better and more sustainable way of planning things, if we take the time to figure out what the best option would be.
