Eco Friendly Wedding Suppliers
Local suppliers who care about our planet
Planning an eco friendly wedding doesn’t have to be hard, it should be just like planning any other wedding. To help you on your wedding planning journey and to encourage you to make your wedding as eco friendly as you can I have brought together a selection of local eco friendly wedding suppliers right here in this blog.
Over the past 6 months or more I have been way more aware of what I buy, how I live and what I eat. This includes the way I run my business. As a wedding photographer my carbon footprint isn’t a big problem and I have very little waste as my products are mostly digital but even I have made changes to do my bit. All of my packaging and stationary is made with recycled, biodegradable materials and I now encourage clients to download from their gallery instead of using USBs (which are delivered in a lot of plastic and made overseas).
The wonderful suppliers in this blog are all making a difference and working towards making the wedding industry a more sustainable business. Take a look through and see what they have to say.
Clare Gray Designs
Hi I’m Clare, of Clare Gray Designs, I design pretty paper for weddings and events. I know that working with paper can be bad for the environment, so I have taken steps to be as low waste and low impact on the environment as I can be, and I’m always looking for greener ways to work.
How do I make sure my business is as sustainable as it can be?
I reuse paper, packaging, ribbons, you name it, if I can put it to new use I will. Your parcel may come to you wrapped in bubble wrap – that’s me reusing bubble wrap I’ve received in deliveries. I encourage all of my lovely customers to reuse or recycle this packaging too. On the rare occasions that my stash of recycled bubble wrap runs out and I have to buy packaging, I always buy plastic-free.
I work digitally as much as possible, most of my hand lettering for stationery is done using the apple pencil and ProCreate software, meaning less waste. When using paper is essential, I use recycled paper or FSC certified paper. I also have a stack of scrap paper in the office for making notes, printing onto, testing pens etc., paper is never used just once in my house!
I recycle, anything that can’t be reused is recycled. Even your hot foiled invitations can be recycled if you’re done with them – though I hope your guests don’t ever want to throw their invitations away!
I offer clients several printing options, including the option to print using recycled card and vegetable based inks. I only work with printing partners, and paper and foil manufacturers who have great sustainability policies, and are as keen as I am to take care of our planet.
Take a look at my website for more details
https://www.instagram.com/
https://www.facebook.com/
Images by Seyda Karimpour
Glamavan
At Glamavan we offer eco friendly glitter bar hire for Weddings, Parties & Events. Our rustic glitter bar setup is made of authentic apple crates stacked on top and decorated with beautiful boho decor.
We only use our own brand of Glamavan’s biodegradable glitter products and have a vast range of colours to choose from. Our Glitter Gel is also an aloe vera based product which is great for sensitive skin and this is the adhesive to stick our glitters to your face, body or hair.
The reason our glitter is biodegradable is that it is not made from plastic but mainly Eucalyptus Tree which will then biodegrade in approximately 28 days in the natural environment.
It’s suitable for both children & adults and brings that extra bit of sparkle to your big day!”
Twitter: @Glamavan
Pinterest: @Glamavan
The Powder Box
At The Powder Box we made a decision from the beginning to only use make up that was Vegan and also cruelty free.
We believe no animal should ever be harmed for beauty purposes. We also believe very much in sustainability, and high quality, now more then ever with the environmental damages.
The brand we predominantly use is all these things and more. They also recently have become B corp certified, this is a huge testament in regards to sustainability. It means it reaches the highest standard of verified social and environmental performance and public transparency. From the minute the ingredients are sourced, grown, developed, packaged and delivered. It keeps the highest level of quality and sustainability.
For our brides this means we can give an ultra premium service with ultra premium Swiss formulated products. Our foundations we use are a hybrid and continuation on skincare, this means you do not get dehydrated wearing it, it is not heavy but offers an incredible amount of coverage while keeping skin looking like skin. It also photographs beautifully, naturally highlighting features and even applied at the early hours will look the same and feel same over the entire day and evening.
Our ethos is always; on your wedding day you should look like you but the best version of you.
(The fact that we can use sustainable and incredible products makes us even more happy)
Squid Ink – Wedding Signage
Hey! We are Darcey and Amy. We are two designers who run a small business from home called Squidink. We specialise in offering bespoke rustic wedding signage packages to rent. Although we do offer packages you can buy, we try to encourage our couples to rent our products as its better for the environment. Weddings often have lots of items purchased which are never to be used again and sadly end up in landfill. By renting products we can combat this. To make this a more appealing option to our couples we have ensured our rental prices and packages are very affordable. We also know weddings can be expensive as it is, so we try to help our couples here by offering these attractive prices.
The feedback we receive is often noting how customers feel like they have got great value for money and feel great not to be paying full price for something they will never use again and likely throw away!
This year we are looking to bring out a range of personalised rental products. This will further tackle the wedding waste issue by providing the ability for brides to have personalised signage such as table plans or ‘order of the days’ without buying it all!
SA Floristry
I’m Sophie from SA Floristry, I offer beautiful and unique floral design to all of my couples! More and more we are becoming aware of our own footprint we are leaving behind. Both personally and through my business it is something I am very aware of and have been changeling myself to reduce my footprint.
There are a few things to think about when booking flowers and knowing how ‘Eco’ they are. I love being able to provide all of my couples with the option of British grown flowers. Making sure we are keeping things as seasonal as possible to reduce the amount of air miles contributing to your wedding. Also, because they haven’t travelled so far, they are beautifully fresh!
It is also really important to think about foam free designs. What you might not know is that floral foam or ‘oasis’ is a single use plastic that will end up in landfill. We are going back to using old techniques from moss to chicken wire to create the same beautiful designs but in a sustainable way.
Looking at hiring your props, glass wear and décor is also another way of keeping your footprint down. Being able to reuse items means that the energy and materials going into producing these items is reduced and the likelihood is you don’t need 100’s of votives holders after your wedding.
The Occasion Bar
The Occasion Bar is an Eco friendly mobile bar company, available for weddings across the UK. They provide an exception service, with a wide range of drinks including fabulous cocktails!
Their gorgeous bar is the perfect feature for a blank canvas venue, and can be adapted for all types of venue.
The Occasion Bar is doing all kinds of wonderful things to make them Eco friendly –
- Use paper straws
- Recycle glass
- Recycle cardboard
- Use glasses not plastic cups
- Use LED lights
Creative Decorations – Award winning balloon décor specialists
There is a lot of misconception that balloons are plastic.
The latex balloons I use are in fact 100% biodegradable!! They are made from the
sap of trees and take around 6 months to fully decompose, this is the same time as
an oak leaf. Having said this – I will NOT supply balloons for balloon releases.
To help with the single use plastic issues, I have changed all my plastic balloon sticks for paper
balloon holders – the same as what McDonalds now use.
I am a member of PEBA – Pro environment balloon alliance – who are fully committed to striking a
balance between the balloon industry and environmental responsibility.
These are all incredible suppliers that show you so many ways in which you can make a difference when planning your wedding.
As well as choosing great eco friendly wedding suppliers like these guys there are other choices you can make that will make a huge difference.
- Avoid buying favours that are single use only e.g. bubbles, plastic display boxes for cupcakes or small gifts. Instead go for something reusable or edible e.g. seeds, plants, cookies. Even better why not give your guests a token for a free drink or ice cream on the day.
- Speak to your florist about creating floral center pieces that don’t require foam and offer the center pieces out to your guests at the end of the day so they can be enjoyed for as long as possible.
- Compost your flowers and food waste after the big day or have Squashed Flowers turn your wedding bouquet into something beautiful.
- Rent decorations where possible and choose to personalise only the items you will keep after the wedding.
- Avoid a store gift lists, instead use a company like Patchwork to make it more meaningful and interactive for guests to give you money online.
These are just a couple ideas but I hope you find them helpful.
If you are planning an eco wedding I would love to hear from you, tell me what choices you have made and if you found the journey easy or hard. I would love to hear how your getting on. Get in touch and lets chat xx