I’m going to be honest with you, I did 90% of my own wedding planning myself. I didn’t hire a planner or a full coordinator because I had an idea in mind and new I could figure it out myself. But I did hire a day of coordinator to help with all the details that day like keeping us on schedule, dealing with the vendors, cleaning up, collecting gifts and cards to put in my car, etc.
One of the changes I’ve been working on as a soon to be new wife was how can our money go further, but how can we be more sustainable in the process, even when it comes to the wedding?
Dishes: Our appetizer and dinner plates were all eco-friendly, made from 100% Natural Sugarcane. How cool is that?? I had looked into renting beautiful dishes, but that would have cost us $2,500. Instead we found these simple, elegant dishes that would work perfectly, while also being cautious of the environment. You can order them here.
Napkins: We bought cloth napkins for our guests and donated them to our wedding coordinator for her to rent out to future clients, instead of just tossing them. Plus they looked really beautiful in burgundy with gold silverware tucked inside.
Dessert Bar: We did a dessert bar for the reception. Instead of hiring a fancy bakery, we used our local grocery stores bakery instead to cut on costs. For the set up, we reused all of the items my mom had created for the bridal shower. She’d made these beautiful 2 tier serving platters from plates and candle sticks she bought at the Dollar Store and had other plates and trays that we took advantage of as well.
Guest book: We wanted a guest book that would be useful, rather than something that would hang on the wall. We ended up ordering a giant custom Jenga set for people to leave a note on, so they could help us build our love. ♥️ it’ll be great to have for tailgates, backyard bbqs or just hanging out with our kids in the future. Plus, every time we use it we’ll be reminded of all the love from friends and family!
For my bridal shower, my mom also purchased us a beautiful Bible with our names on the cover. She has guests highlight their favorite verse and sign their name. We used that as a guest book as well so we can look back on those scriptures!
Decor: Our ceremony decor consisted of on a cream chandelier that we rented from the venue. I wanted super simple. Nothing to take away or distract our guests, but also to highlight to beautiful backdrop. We got married under a massive and stunning oak tree and I felt she was a star of the decor. Nothing additional or unnecessary fluff was going to make her any more beautiful.
Our reception was SUPER simple. We rented farmhouse tables from our venue, which thankfully don’t need much decoration since they’re beautiful on their own! I took the labels off of 40+ wine bottles that we’d saved or collected from my parents and friends to use on the tables. My mom added glitter to about half and our florist filled them all with flowers. We added gold candle votives as well for a change of dimension and a little romantic lighting. I was able to rent the majority of those from our florist and then purchased an additional 25 + the tea lights on amazon. We let all of the guests take home the wine bottles with flowers so they could continue to enjoy them at home and hopefully reuse the bottles!!
How did you incorporate being conscious and eco-friendly into your wedding?
From City Life to Homestead Living 