Green Wedding Reception Ideas
Green wedding receptions are becoming increasingly popular as more and more people become concerned about what impact their actions have on the environment. Climate Care (an offsetting company) state that the average wedding creates thirteen and a half tonnes of carbon dioxide. Here are a few ways to minimize the carbon emissions of your event, make it eco friendly and have a green wedding reception.
Source the Food and Drink Locally
The first step towards a green wedding reception is to make sure that, as far as possible, the wine and food are bought locally. So much food we buy today has traveled thousands of miles over oceans and continents. There isn’t really any need for this.
Wherever you are in the world, there is a good chance that there are producers of high quality, local food in your area. Find out which foods are a specialty in your locale. As well as being more enviornmentally friendly, it will give your wedding an extra touch of individuality.
You can also ensure that all the food you use is more environmentally friendly by buying organic.
Photo: advencap
Use Green Wedding Transport
Hybrid cars are becoming increasingly popular and increasingly classy. Using hybrid cars to transport you and your guests to the wedding, from the wedding to the wedding reception and at the end of the day will make you wedding reception much more green.
You could even go one step further. Using a horse drawn carriage to transport you from the wedding to the wedding reception venue is not only more romantic and special, it also makes for a lower carbon method of transport.
Use Recycled Wedding Recption Invitations
In the past, recycled paper tended to be much lower quality. This is no longer the case. These days, recycled paper can be made to a standard which is expected for wedding reception invitations. Recycled paper can also be used for the menus, place cards and any other items you can think of.
You can take this even further and make sure that your printing firm uses soy based ink.
Have a Candle Lit Wedding Reception
Reducing the amount of artificial lighting will make for a more green wedding reception. Using wedding reception candles will reduce the need for a great deal of lighting (it may even eliminate the need for it completely depend on the venue and the time of day). Not only that, but it will make for a more intimate feel to the wedding reception and are the perfect wedding reception centerpieces.
Eco Friendly Wedding Reception Favors
Buying green wedding reception favors will also help make your event more environmentally friendly. If you are giving coffee, chocolates etc. make sure they are organic and, even better, that they are ethically produced by buying fair trade goods. For other gifts, buy reusable items that guests will want to use over and over again.
Offset Your Wedding Reception Emissions
Doing all these things will vastly reduce the carbon emissions of your wedding reception. However, no matter how careful you are, the event will still add to the carbon in the atmosphere and contribute to global warming. For a truly green wedding reception, it needs to be carbon neutral.
There are many companies out their who will offset these emissions. They will calculate how much carbon your event is releasing and will ensure that an equal amount of carbon is taken out of the atmosphere to compensate.
Having an eco friendly wedding will make a great statement to your guests about your beliefs and hopefully spread these ideas into their day to day life. You can make a great contribution to the fight against global warming by hosting a green wedding reception.