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Saving Green While Planning your Green Wedding

Last week I had the pleasure of hearing Lori Hill – queen of green events – speak at the ISES Regional Events Conference.  Her topic – saving money while greening your event.  Her thesis – “green” does not mean “more expensive” and money woes should not be a deterrent from doing right by our future generations.

I was happy to learn that I’m already on the right path and already implementing many of these ecofriendly ideas for my current clients:

“Reuse” – I am working with a client now to create their wedding decor using their own collection of books and records (Using your own stuff = saving money on decor).

“Reduce” – During a recent tasting, my clients made sure to talk to the owner of the catering company about creating their menu with an eye to eliminating food waste (Waste not, want not, spend not!)

“Recycle” – Last December, I worked with Philly’s awesome eco-friendly florist Hana and Posy – not only did they throw in some decorative pumpkins for free (they were on their way to the compost pile when I stopped by), but they eventually did compost them when I returned them along with the vase I rented.

Now I’m excited to bring new green wedding planning ideas to my clients and have Lori to thank for sharing some of her secrets with the ISES crowd!

“Reuse” – Encourage your caterer to look into reusing the cooking oil for biodiesel fuel.

“Reduce” – Serve water at the bar in clear pitchers.  Not only do they eliminate the need to pay for water by the bottle, but you can float slices of lemon and lime in the clear container to add a little je ne sais quoi to your bar display.

“Recycle” – After the wedding, hang your cut flowers to dry for decorating your home.  Create a beautiful throw back centerpiece that you and your new spouse can enjoy (that also gives you something free to put into that new crystal vase you got from your registry).

The punchline to many of Lori’s stories was “Reduce Waste.”  Not only does this cut down on new additions to our already over-full landfills, but carefully purchasing only what’s needed leaves you with a penny saved and a penny earned.