Sustainably Chic Wedding Ideas Give Back to Mother Nature

Keep your environmental impact low and actualize a gorgeous wedding design with these innovative ideas.

Written by

Sherri Hildebrandt

Published:

Minnesota Bride Fall/Winter 2023

A beautiful wedding and environmental awareness need not be mutually exclusive. Whether you’re committed to saving the planet or just hoping to create some awareness through small changes, there are many ways you can make an impact. These six ideas can be seamlessly woven into any wedding and offer tons of inspiration that also honors our Earth.

Personalized Posies

Locally sourced flowers from Green Goddess Floral are arranged using a pin frog rather than floral foam (which is increasingly being phased out by florists because it breaks down into microplastics that can be harmful to aquatic life and water supplies). Green Goddess will also work with couples who aren’t looking for large floral displays but prefer to work on an à la carte basis.

In Good Taste

The crudité cup at far left is a vegan delight in a glass, created by Chowgirls Catering. The nondairy dip is made with beet and fava beans, served with fresh veggies including biodiverse carrots, colorful cauliflower, mini cucumbers, green beans, snap peas and garnished with a fresh dill frond and pansies (and yes, they are edible!). At right, try a vegan pasta dish with a house-made “meatball” composed of black beans, sweet potato, red bell pepper and parsnips tossed with basil, mint, lemon pesto and pine nuts.

Small is Beautiful

From Amy’s Cupcake Shoppe comes this piquant vegan and gluten-free beauty. Vegan, of course, means it contains no animal products; animal agriculture accounts for the largest source of methane emissions in the US.

Doubly Elegant

Dramatically different textures make this combo twice as nice. The chic shimmer of the pleated white satin jacket by House of KLynn is the perfect background for a colorful corsage of fresh mixed blossoms and greens by Green Goddess Floral.

All Tied Up

A big bouquet of mixed florals captures fall colors in an unstructured, casual arrangement. Among the flowers are ranunculus, roses, spirea, tulips and frittalaria. A velvet ribbon wrapped around the stems adds a further touch of romance. Jeni Becht of Green Goddess Floral has a small urban flower farm and also buys locally from Northerly Flora Flower Farm and Twin Cities Flower Exchange, a flower co-op.

Honoring the Earth

Keeping sustainability in mind, Eloise and Marvin used recycled paper in muted earth tones for their invitation suite by Champagne Press. On the round insert card, they acknowledge “the ancestral and traditional lands of the Dakota people” and also note they “give thanks for the opportunity to be wed on their traditional homeland.” A further pledge: “As stewards of this earth, we will plant trees to give back some of what we take.” The cream-colored blossoms accompanying the stationery are particularly sustainable: They are handmade using sola wood from the tapioca plant.