How To Organise A Sustainable Wedding On A Budget

Weddings in India are synonymous with 'big' and 'fat'. Hundreds of guests, tonnes of food, grand decor and a million other things. In such a setting, going sustainable isn't the easiest choice. But it is essential that you choose to do it the right way.

Here are a few tips that you can use to have the most beautiful, eco-friendly wedding. 

 

1. Keep your guest list small.

The fewer the number of guests, lesser resources are used and wasted. Be it the food, fuel, fabrics or energy.

 

2. A basic, but amazing menu of majorly vegetarian food.

Meat and poultry industries are hugely responsible for a massive amount of carbon emissions. Also, an elaborate menu increases greater chances of wastage.

Aim for a simple menu, majorly vegetarian. If necessary, choose a few non-vegetarian dishes, but don't go overboard.

 

3. Digital Invites

Send out your major invitations through an email or WhatsApp. But since we all have certain people in our family who are not that active digitally, you can also get them printed on recycled handmade paper.

 

4. Recyclable cutlery and utensils.

Use cutlery made of sustainable and recyclable materials at all costs. Kulhars sourced from local potters can be used to to serve water. Say a big no to plastic, use and throw materials.

 

5. Handmade, no plastic decor

All the decor used for the wedding was biodegradable. Make your decor yourself or source it locally.

 

6. No exotic flowers

Exotic flowers like peonies, hydrangeas and orchids use more resources for their productions and are not a conscious choice at Indian weddings.

Ditch the exotics, use the basic marigolds and roses found easily around us.

 

7. Don’t use plastic, styrofoam confetti

You can use leftover leaves from the decorations to shower on and bless the beautiful couple.

 

8. Wedding favours

Choose your wedding favours mindfully. Instead of buying new things, choose to up-cycle. You can also add along seeds for extra love.

 

9. Soy candles

Instead of the regular paraffin wax candles that are made with petroleum products and cause pollution, use candles hand made with soy wax that are way more eco-friendly and have way less carbon emission count.

 

10. Make maximum use of the decorations. Use the same on both the days.

Instead of changing the whole decor for every ceremony, try to keep everything same with a little tweaking here and there.

 

11. Have a day wedding

No generators will be required as you won’t  need any extra light, making minimum use of man-made resources.

Have a quick one and a half day of ceremony rather than a week full of festivities.

Be economical. Be efficient. #DoYourBit