How To Have An Ethical Wedding / Fair Trade Wedding?
The thought of having an ethical or fair trade wedding can sound daunting or expensive but the reality is that is simply about making informed decisions in line with your own personal ethics and values.
Any wedding is likely to involve lots of different decisions and many different people. So not only will your wedding be a unique celebration of the love between you and your partner, it is also a great opportunity to have a positive impact on wider society and the environment. Each decision that you make is an opportunity to say something about YOU to your family and friends: something about your ideals and your hopes for the future.
Although there is no standard template for an ethical or fair trade wedding, each decision is an opportunity to ask important questions and take steps towards a positive impact on society and the environment.
Here are a few things to think about:
- Wedding Ring Considering buying your jewellery from a company that deals in fairly traded or recycled precious metals and conflict-free diamonds. Take a look at
- Wedding List Look for companies whose product ranges are eco-friendly. Or you can replace the traditional wedding gift list by a charity list that donates money to important social and environmental projects such as http://www.thealternativeweddinglist.co.uk/, http://www.goodgifts.org/wedding_list and http://www.oxfamunwrapped.com/.
- Wedding Stationery Buy products that are made recycled paper or fairly traded traded such as http://www.seedprints.co.uk/ and http://www.cherrygorgeous.co.uk/. To save paper, you could also design a website and send an electronic invitation to guests referring them to it. And your distant uncles and aunts who couldn't make it to the wedding can see the photos as soon as they are out!
- Bridal Clothing Use a designer or dressmaker who uses organic or recycled fabrics and fair trade natural materials that haven't been subjected to any environmentally harmful chemicals. Vintage gowns can often be reworked too, so if you have a treasured family wedding dress, why not ask a designer to customise it for you. You could also hire the wedding gown and other wedding outfits instead of spending a fortune on buying clothes that you will keep in the wardrobe only to pull them out for the occasional look! One option is to make both a positive social and environmental decision by visiting one of Oxfam's bridal hire shops. Many stunning dresses are ex-cat walk and are in mint condition. http://www.oxfam.org.uk/shops/content/bridal.html
- Hair & Beauty Look for a hairstylist & make-up artist who use organic or natural mineral products that are free from environmentally harmful ingredients. One such example is http://www.orglamic.co.uk/. When buying your own products try to stick to this guideline too.
- Catering Employ a caterer that uses organic products and local, seasonal produce. Avoid using disposable plates and ensure that empties go to the recycling bin. Ask your cake-maker or local baker to use local and organic ingredients in your wedding cake. Support organic and fair-trade and consider buying your wine, champagne, spirits, beer and soft drinks from an independent organic retailer. or you can buy fair trade food and wine at http://www.traidcraftshop.co.uk/.
- Venues Try to choose a venue which is local for you and your guests. If using the catering services offered by the venue then check if they can use locally produced organic foods or fair-traded ones. Also make sure that they follow eco-friendly policies, such as recycling and their overall commitment to the environment.
- Transport You can add an enchanting touch to your wedding by using horse drawn carriages, which are also an environment friendly means of transport. Try to pick a venue as close to home as possible and if you don't have the ceremony and reception at the same venue, encourage guests to carpool to the reception or provide a bus or coach.
- Flowers Try to use florists who can supply locally grown and organic flowers for your bouquets, button holes and venue decoration. Alternatively you could use fair-trade flowers available through local florists and online stores.
- Confetti Use biodegradable confetti or organic, fair-trade or locally produced flower petals.
- Honeymoon Consider romantic destinations you can visit close to home to reduce the number of road and air miles . http://www.organicholidays.co.uk/ http://www.organicholidays.co.uk/ is an online resource of small hotels, B&Bs and guest houses, offering organic, local and sometimes home-grown produce throughout the UK. If you decide to go long haul, then stay at an eco friendly or ethical hotel. If flying is unavoidable then use a company specialising in ethical and sustainable travel to destinations where the local communities will benefit and natural surroundings are preserved. . For example, Go Differently is an ethical tour operator specialising in tailor-made, small group holidays to the Far East. http://www.godifferently.com/