Forget Boring Brown, British Brides Go Green!

Gordon Brown’s last budget as Chancellor was all about ‘green taxes’ but he really should have looked to the UK’s brides for a lesson in eco-friendliness. ‘Green Weddings’ are the latest bridal must have and all style savvy brides are doing their bit for the environment on their big day.

Award winning wedding planner, Tamryn Kirby of TK Weddings says: “This is something people really care about – the days of the selfish ‘bridezilla’ are well behind us and now couples are really interested in finding ways to reduce the environmental impact of their wedding day. With guests traveling across countries and continents and long flights to far flung honeymoon desintations, many brides are now using carbon offset schemes and encouraging their guests to do the same.”

And it’s not just human travel that’s got brides thinking, cutting back on food miles is also high on the agenda. “When we’re working with couples, we try to use as much locally sourced produce as possible and lots of brides are now specifically asking for organic food and drink. Even the eggs that are used to make their cakes come under scrutiny and we work with cake makers who refuse to use anything but organic and free range.” Says Tamryn.

Weddings also produce a lot of paper with invitations, Order of Service, table plans, menus and more so the green bride will be keeping an eye out for stationers who use recycled paper. “We’ve also set up recycling stations at some weddings we’ve worked on” continues Tamryn “guests are encouraged to recycle menus, place cards and anything else they don’t want to keep. Also, all those envelopes and wrapping papers from cards and gifts can be recycled as well.”

So, for a great wedding, forget those pinks and purples and go green instead!

Tamryn’s Top Ten Tips For A Great Green Wedding

1. Cut back on your stationery – instead of producing an Order of Service for every guest, let everyone share and half your paper consumption.

2. All those empty bottles of champagne, wine and water, can be recycled. Consider hiring a glass recycling bin for your day.

3. Ditch the coloured paper confetti and go for natural petals or rice instead.

4. If you’re traveling between venues, think about providing coaches for your guests – this will cut down on pollution and emissions.

5. Use seasonal flowers so your blooms don’t have to be flown miles around the world. And donate arrangements to a local care home afterwards so they’re not thrown away.

6. Use local delicacies instead of sugared almonds as favours for guests – little jams, honeys, chutneys or homemade fudge would be perfect.

7. It’s not just food and flowers that have to be flown in for weddings, so do dresses. Look for a British manufacturer or a vintage dress.

8. Consider an ‘eco gift list’ – ask guests to ‘buy’ you a tree instead of a toaster.

9. When you’re planning, don’t ask for brochures and printed information that you don’t really need. Bookmark web pages and save things to you computer rather than wasting piles of paper.

10. TK Weddings offers clients booking our ‘wedding day co-ordination’ service a discount if pre-wedding meetings can be done via phone and e-mail rather than in person to cut back on emissions, pollution and congestion.