Green Weddings...it needn’t cost the Earth Colin and Nancy - Images copyright Jo Cripps
It’s your Big Day! So just how do you ensure that your wedding reflects your lifestyle and personal values? Alice Doyle spoke to Nancy and Colin Higgins to ask how they applied their ethical values to their big day.
You are engaged...congratulations! You have met the person of your dreams, someone with whom you share the same values and zest for life. And now you are thinking about the Big Day... the perfect day of love and laughter surrounded by family and friends.
As a couple you are probably already making eco conscious lifestyle choices. You recycle, you shop ethically so you will no doubt be wanting your wedding to reflect your lifestyle.
So just how do you marry (excuse the pun!) your nuptial aspirations with protecting the planet? With careful planning and research, it is possible to have the wedding of your dreams without compromising your ideals. And most importantly without busting your budget!
Nancy and Colin Higgins
tied the knot on the 1st June 2008, with just over 100 guests, with the
ceremony and reception held at Florence House in Seaford. For Nancy, an
environmental consultant, ensuring the wedding was of a sustainable and
ethical nature was “an extension of our lives and for such a
meaningful day, a reflection of lots of positive choices.”
With
this in mind Nancy and Colin soon set about attending wedding fairs to
get ideas coupled with internet research to ensure their choices were
eco friendly but also within budget. Brides and grooms to be, can be
inundated with choices from wedding invites to flowers, but Nancy and
Colin found that having set their own ethical criteria it “cut out a
lot of choices, for instance recycled cards, you get a choice of 10-15
suppliers rather than the hundreds.”
“There is no point in
spending more that you comfortably can, so don’t beat yourself up....
it’s a reflection of you and so don’t lose sight of that.”
Nancy
and Colin’s wedding rings were chosen from an ethical jewellers, that
is part of an initiative for Fair-trade and environmentally sensitive
diamond and gold mining. Nancy’s
white gold band was set with small diamonds and her engagement ring personally designed by Colin.
In
terms of Venue, they searched the local council venue listing to find a
historic building that also had environmental awareness. Florence House
in nearby Seaford, which overlooks the natural beauty of the Downs and
the sea, already had an environmental policy and was easily accessible
by public transport. They were only too happy to oblige in providing
local produce for the ceremony as well as luxurious accommodation for
the wedding party. With a post ceremony buffet stacked full of seasonal
fare such as local mackerel, Sussex beef and Sussex cheese to name a
few, Nancy said “we had a really positive and proactive venue, Florence
House already had local farms to supply salads, fruit and vegetables,
so we worked out with them what was in season.” In terms of price “it
didn’t come to any more and where possible we reduced costs by reducing
the number of different kinds of canapés, for instance”.
 Copyright - Jo Cripps
After a happy day that cumulated in
guests gathering round a bonfire, Nancy and Colin took a Euro star to
reduce air miles and visited cities such as Paris, Barcelona, and
Florence over a three week period by train and ferry.
“It really
reflected all our values and the day had integrity and honesty and was
made amazingly special by being able to share that with our loved ones.”
Nancy
found making an informed purchase for an ethical wedding dress proved
the hardest and most time consuming challenge, one which she found
needed 6 months to research. Nancy looked in magazines for names and
makers to see where dresses were made, and then went to a wedding dress
shop to try some on. When first looking for a dress “I emailed the
companies who made the ones I liked, most of which I found were made in
China. I asked what policies they had, for instance in terms of fabric,
who made it, were they well paid? I wanted to know.” Finally Nancy
chose a linen dress made in the UK which she will wear again with a
wrap bolero made by a UK company and chose simple summer dresses for
the bridesmaids, which they have worn again since.
With
ethical shopping and informed choices becoming the main stream, there
is an increasing amount of green wedding advice that is easily
accessible, to make your big day a true reflection of yourselves. See
our other links below.
Nancy & Colin’s Top Tips
| . | Use specialist eco/ethical wedding Internet sites to get ideas | | . | Spend time doing the research on the big things first, be flexible
and work out the between you what you both want, and then prioritize. | | . | Use your local county council guide to licensed venues to find a
community or historic building that will be of good value and keep the
money in the community | | . | Chose an interesting venue so it won’t need to be dressed up with much decoration | | . | Having one site saves time and costs, or consider hiring a field and having a marquee | | . | Apply your criteria throughout from engagement to the reception | | . | Make sure all wedding support staff are well briefed, for instance to promote local beers at the bar | | . | Arrange a mini bus or coach or perhaps a vintage bus to take guests to and from the venue to avoid single taxis | | . | Consider using local musicians and buying in local wines and beers | | . | Rope in the skills of friends and family for instance to help
decorate the venue, it also gives a good sense of community to the two
families | | . | Use fragrant decorating ideas such as herbs as flowers, or rosemary bunches on the tables | | . | Use invitations made of Fair Trade or recycled paper | | . | As wedding gifts consider donations to a favourite charity or ask
for contributions to a home project such as Nancy and Colin’s “save our
sofa fund”- the reupholstering of a beautiful 1910 Chesterfield | ·
| Have a low carbon honeymoon and travel by train and not plane. If
you do need to fly then how about carbon offsetting your flight
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Resources Ethical Weddings
Ethical Weddings is an online wedding magazine to help couples plan the
wedding or civil partnership of their dreams without compromising their
values. www.ethicalweddings.com/
Eco Wedding
The first UK website that was dedicated to helping you plan your own economical and eco-friendly wedding. www.eco-wedding.com/
Green Union
Visit for inspiring wedding ideas, planning an eco theme and organising
your big day. The website offers green wedding planning advice and
provides ethical bouquets to bunting and tipis to transport for happy
gatherings that won’t cost the earth. www.greenunion.co.uk Venue: Florence House
The
beautiful interior of the house itself, the abundant gardens, the
proximity to the sea and the wildness of the Downs, make Florence House
an ideal venue. Renowned for the delicious and creative home cooking
produced, produce is mostly organic and locally sourced where possible
or from the kitchen garden. www.florencehouse.co.uk Photography: Jo Cripps
Jo Cripps provides a local and very friendly service, specialising in reportage to capture the informal moments of the big day. Jo Cripps 01323 811107 www.jocripps.com
Drink: Sussex and the City
All products are bought directly from producers within a 50 mile radius of Brighton.
www.sussexandthecity.co.uk
Flowers: Blooms for Business
The
Brighton based designer florists cover Sussex and surrounding areas,
specialising in Wedding and Event flowers including wedding bouquets.
www.bloomsforbusiness.com
Invitations: Vinati’s Paper
The
handmade eco-friendly range of stationary is produced by recycling
waste materials such as cotton rags and waste paper. Paper made from
regenerating the bark of the banana plant is used for the lining of
envelopes. Fair Trade principles govern production.
www.vinatispaper.com/
Rings: Cred Jewellery
Fair trade
fine jewellery which reflect the company’s core values: values such as
environmental sustainability, justice for the poor and the upholding of
human rights.
www.credjewellery.com/
Diamonds – Look out for the 5th C
Diamonds are a girls’ best friend so make sure you have a rock on your
finger and not blood on your hands. Blood diamonds, or conflict
diamonds, are mined in war zones often using child labour or bonded
slavery, and used to finance rebel or invading armies mainly in Angola,
the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Liberia and Sierra Leone.
Diamonds are already certified by four Cs for carat, colour, clarity
and cut, giving an overall measure of quality. The fifth C, given in
2004 after a drive by Global Witness, gives diamonds an ethical
dimension and guarantees the stone is not a "blood" diamond. So ensure
you ask your jewellers, where the diamonds come from, what is your
company's policy on conflict diamonds and do they carry the “5th C.
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