We all love helping a couple make their day as special as it can be. But sometimes our industry can be a little less than friendly to the environment.
With waste-free, eco-friendly, environmental and sustainable weddings becoming more popular with couples, it’s important for us as suppliers to step up when we can. It’s not just about thinking of ways we can be more environmentally friendly to secure that sale when a couple asks us to be. It’s about thinking about how we can make our businesses more eco-friendly all year round.
We chatted with Julia from Julia’s Celebrant Agency to see how she’s making her business more sustainable. Plus, get her tips on how other suppliers can make little changes to their businesses that have a big impact.
Start going paper-free
“As a celebrant, it’s handy to have the script in front of us. But that no longer means that we need to print it,” says Julia.
“Aside from the decorative marriage certificate, my goal is to become completely digital by the end of the year.”
More celebrants are going fully digital and there are ways that other suppliers can jump onto this to make their business admin more sustainable. You could start by reducing the number of pages you need to print, or by printing double-sided. And if you do have paper waste make sure you recycle!
Support other local businesses
“By purchasing other goods and services from small local businesses, you’re not only doing wonders for the local wedding community. But you’re also helping with your footprint,” Julia says.
“More vendors should be connecting with their local communities to help reduce travel as well as connect with other local suppliers and resources.”
Sourcing produce, flowers, hiring or borrowing decor, or collaborating with another supplier are just some of the ways you can get what you need for your business while reducing your environmental impact.
Embrace new technologies
We know that meeting a couple can be really important to help secure a sale. But if you’ve already met them once, consider how technology can help you communicate further while reducing your carbon imprint.
“I try to encourage my couples to arrange meetings via Skype where possible so we both don’t need to jump in a car to meet somewhere,” Julia says.
“With technology advancing so quickly, there’s no reason not to jump on board when it can make our processes much more environmentally friendly and streamlined.”
Other ways to use technology include thinking about what you need to physically post to a couple or what can be sent in an email, using platforms like Google Forms to ask questions over the internet, and making sure you have a suitable webcam and audio set up to chat with your couples.
Get on top of waste-free trends
“I am noticing a trend of couples wanting to be more eco-friendly,” Julia says.
“However, they do tend to direct more questions to their caterer, florist, stylist and venue rather than myself as a celebrant.”
Between Julia and ourselves, here are some of the most common trends and themes when it comes to couples planning more sustainable weddings.
- Eco confetti
- Eliminating printed wedding programs
- Native flowers
- Online RSVPs or recycled paper invitations
- Local produce
- Cruelty-free makeup
- Shared plates or banquet style meals to reduce leftover food wastage
- Avoiding single-use plastics, particularly plastic straws
- Charity or donation-style bomboniere
- Asking guests to carpool or getting shuttle transport for them to reduce the number of cars on the road
- The ceremony and reception being held at the same venue
Take a look at these trends to see which ones fit into your category and see how you can align your business to make it more eco-friendly in the long run.
