Top Tips for Choosing an Eco Friendly Wedding Venue
You may be thinking "How could a wedding venue not be eco friendly?"
The reality is, in lots of ways.
A typical wedding in the United States produces an average of 500 pounds of garbage and 60 tons of carbon dioxide. That's a whole lot of waste!
So what can you do about it...?
Choosing a green wedding venue is the first step and it can make a huge difference to the future of the planet. Finding a venue that operates with the same degree of concern for the earth as you have is an essential part of planning a green wedding. Follow these top tips to help you find the perfect eco friendly wedding venue...
Look for a Unique Locale
From organic farms and botanical gardens to museums and nonprofit spaces, think beyond traditional wedding venues.
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Utilize the Great Outdoors
Consider an outdoor setting such as public garden, park, lakeside or beach, and let Mother Nature take care of the decoration for you. Outdoor venues offer naturally beautiful surroundings that need little to no extra embellishment.
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Throw a Backyard Do
If your own backyard isn't quite up to scratch then borrow a friend or family member's instead. By selecting a backyard with an established flower garden and/or gorgeous view the need to decorate will be greatly reduced.
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Hunt for Green Hotels
For those of you wanting to host your wedding ceremony and reception at a hotel, go green. Green hotels fit the brief perfectly by offering a variety of minimal impact options such as dispensers instead of bottles, low flow showerheads, and by donating leftover food to local shelters.
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Be Energy Efficient
Planning on using strung lights? Sure they're beautiful, but be smart and source energy efficient LED bulbs for the job. For powering the rest of the venue use renewable sources, timed lighting and light sensors where possible.
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Opt for Daylight Hours
Tying the knot during the day and making use of the natural light available makes sense. Why rack up a huge electricity bill when the sun is kindly offering her services for free.
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Hire a Wedding Planner
Wedding planners can help you orchestrate the eco friendly wedding of your dreams. With their help you can bag a green wedding venue and ensure everything goes to plan.
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Forgo Faraway Destinations
Destination weddings no matter how lovely involve a lot of extra travelling and subsequently a lot of extra pollution. Save the exotic locations for your honeymoon when it's just the two of you.
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Trim the Guest List
However harsh it may sound, don't invite everyone you know. The bigger the guest list, the bigger the venue, the bigger the gas bill and the bigger the food bill!
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Leave No Trace
A green wedding should leave no trace of its existence. You'll be surprised how trashed a meadow can look after a group of people have been on the land for a couple of hours. Recycle your litter and lessen physical impact.
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Close To Home
One of the biggest strains weddings place on the planet is travel by out of town guests. Eliminate this problem by choosing a green wedding venue that's situated close to the majority of your attendees.
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One Location
Lots of couples are doing it, and it is a great way to cut down on transportation. If you need to have two separate locations for your ceremony and reception then organize car pools or shared transport for your guests.
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Green Credentials
Venues that are proud of their eco friendly accomplishments will undoubtedly boast green credentials so be on the lookout for these when deciding where to get hitched.
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Locally Sourced Oranic Food
If your venue is taking care of the food make sure it is organic and sourced locally. Not only does this support the local area, it minimizes the need for transportation and packaging, plus you can quit worrying about chemicals and pesticides.
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Waste Management
How is your venue disposing of all the waste at the end of the day? Food can be composted or donated to a homeless shelter, flowers can also be donated to local nursing homes and rubbish can be recycled.
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Non Toxic Cleaning
Look for venues that use non toxic cleaners that are free from harmful chemicals such as VOCs and other nasty environmental pollutants.
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Water Conservation
What is you venue doing to conserve water? Do they have a system in place throughout the venue to ensure water use and wastage is kept to a minimum?
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Community Involvement
Try to find a wedding venue that actively engages and supports the local area through charity work, buying locally or by getting involved in community projects.
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Have we missed anything..?
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