Naturally green weddings

I love going to weddings (as you might imagine!) so I was really excited to be going to the wedding of an old school friend last weekend - especially as all my other school friends were coming along too!

We had a fantastic time (and the fabulous weather didn't go amiss after so much rain either!) and while the bride and groom had not set out deliberately to have a green or ethical wedding, the fact that they had gone to such efforts to make it a personal event (they even personalised their vows which set many of us off sobbing!) and a reflection of the things that were important to them meant that in many ways it was.

The whole event took place in Somerset in a lovely old barn so the ceremony and reception were in the same place - no need for lots of travelling around (civil ceremonies are often easier to make green in this sense than church weddings!).

The bridesmaids distributed rose petals to all the guests as confetti (paper confetti was a no no) and took round baskets of home made heart shaped biscuits, iced with the initials of the bride and groom (very yummy - I won't tell you how many we scoffed but suffice to say we were following those bridesmaids and their baskets around for quite some time!).

Favours were home made fudge and table decorations were hand crafted butterflies (by the artistic art teacher bride!) - butterflies being a recurring theme throughout the wedding.

Family and friends had helped out with the cake, flowers and photography, orders of service were created by the couple - including amusing photos of them both from when they were little!

To keep us all amused and break the ice a local band played for a rousing barn dance to get everyone on their feet after a light but filling summer buffet. And there was certainly no question of waste where the food was concerned - the evening buffet was stripped bare within seconds, leaving those who had been a little slow off the mark wondering if a swarm of locusts had passed through while they were busy barn dancing!

It often seems to me that the main principles of a green and ethical wedding are about making it personal and giving yourself time to think about what you're doing - without being dictated to by tradition or feeling that you're obliged to buy everything the wedding magazines dangle in front of you...

Oh, and to finish without fail with a good old knees up!

Happy planning,

Katie
www.ethicalweddings.com