Simple, Affordable and Zero Waste Weddings
Recycled wedding rings tend to last forever, so choose one with the earth in mind. This gorgeous wedding ring is made in Birmingham, from recycled silver.
There is enough gold and silver already mined on earth, to last for eternity. So what’s the point of blowing up mines with dynamite (and making donkeys work in hot weather to transport gold from mines), just to wear a piece of jewellery?
Donate broken necklaces or odd earrings to Recycling for Good Causes (list your local animal shelter: they sell the metal and pass on funds). Send unwanted jewellery (and watches) to Animals Asia, where cash raised helps to rescue moon bears.
These recycled gold textured wedding rings are sold in several sizes, so you can order one for the bride and groom (or bride-and-bride or groom-and-groom), whatever suits!
Or for a little less bling, go for more subtle recycled white gold wedding rings.
These botanical recycled wedding rings feature your choice of engraving: Ash, cedar, fern, grape etc.
Or go for these elegant recycled silver oak leaf wedding rings.
Recycled Silver & Seaglass Rings
Glasswing is a company that specialises in seaglass jewellery (broken bottles washed smooth by the sea, and foraged hundreds of years later). So your wedding ring could be an old pirate’s bottle (shiver me timbers!)
This lovely company tends to use recycled silver for the rings themselves, the the ‘seaglass’ replaces conventional gemstones. It also offers nice recycled silver stacking rings and other gifts for bridesmaids.
Wedding Rings (made from old coins!)
Hairy Growler is a unique Cambridge company, that creates beautiful wedding rings (and cake knives) from old silver and gold (22ct) coins and Victorian cutlery.
Made with hand tools, you can even have two rings made from the same antique sterling silver fork, a nice romantic touch!
Lily Charmed: Recycled Silver Bridesmaid Gifts
Lily Charmed is a gorgeous little brand, which makes beautiful jewellery, all with recycled sterling silver. It has a nice range of wedding gifts for bridesmaids (young and older!) including charm bracelets, earrings and necklaces.
There is enough gold and silver already mined on earth, to last for eternity. So what’s the point of blowing up mines with dynamite (and making donkeys work in hot weather to transport gold from mines), just to wear a piece of jewellery?
How’s this for a vegan wedding cake?! This Vanilla Wedding Cake (The Vegan 8) is a detailed recipe, but good for skilled bakers, or to give ideas for professional caterers. The cake is also free from gluten, nuts, oats and oil
Avoid chocolate/caffeine cakes for pregnancy/nursing. Keep dry ice away from children and pets, and recycle or dispose of securely. Read more on food safety for people and pets.
Brandi learned to cook gluten-free vegan meals, after her husband’s doctor said there was nothing more to help her husband’s painful gout. She now writes wonderful cookbooks including The Vegan 8 (with 8 or less ingredients) and comes up with more complicated recipes like this one.
She took a lot of time and effort to make this recipe, and says not to sub even one ingredient. If you do it right, it tastes like conventional wedding cake, and also slices well. So it’s a trip to the shops to find cornstarch and white rice flour!
A Simpler Vegan Wedding Cake Recipe
This cake is not specifically for weddings, but it’s much simpler to make. Find the recipe in Freya’s wonderful book Simply Vegan Baking (she was a contestant on the Great British Bake-Off).
Ruby’s of London (luxury vegan cakes)
Ruby’s of London offers award-winning sustainable cakes in the capital city. Everything is made with natural ingredients and is free from palm oil. The cakes are super-fancy and ideal for birthdays and weddings.
Ruby began her business selling homemade cakes at local markets, and became so successful, it’s now one of the most elite bakeries in London. The range includes selection boxes, cupcakes and donuts.
The company has now expanded to a branch in Tunbridge Wells, where you can visit for a vegan afternoon tea!
How to Spot Quality Vegan Ingredients
Looking for luxury vegan cakes deserves more than checking the word “vegan” on a label. Choose companies that use real quality plant-based ingredients, not refined sugar, palm oil or cheap fillers.
Another ingredient to look for is natural sweeteners. Good bakers tend to use agave syrup, maple or date syrup or coconut sugar, never white refined sugar or pet-toxic xylitol (lethal from a few dropped crumbs). And also avoid artificial sweeteners.
Choose brands that use real flavourings (real over fake vanilla etc). Anything with an E-number is not a proper artisan baker.
As a comparison, one major supermarket ‘luxury chocolate cake’ contains refined sugar, glucose syrup, palm oil, lots of unfamiliar ingredients and more palm oil. It does not even contain real chocolate, just cheap ‘fat-reduced cocoa powder’. So it’s not tasty, not healthy, packed in plastic, and also very expensive, for what it is.
Ordering and Delivery Tips
Luxury cakes are in high demand. And as skilled bakers usually make to order, give a lead time of two to four weeks, this gives bakers time to sort ingredients and accommodate special requests. List allergies or dietary needs and preferred flavours. Most cakes are sent chilled in insulated boxes.
Due to the single-use plastic ban, confetti made from plastic or glitter is now banned for sale confetti is now banned. Although it’s biodegradable, most churches ban rice confetti. It’s not only a slipping hazard, but attracts pigeons!
Many flowers used for confetti (larkspur/delphiniums & hydrangeas) are unsafe near animal friends. So only use at pet-free weddings. Same applies for ‘plantable cards’. Read how to make gardens safe for pets.
Never release balloons or fire lanterns (nor butterflies, doves or kites – all harm birds, wildlife and marine creatures).
You could collectively buy a Terracycle Party Supplies Box to recycle remaining confetti, but if not, just bin it (don’t throw it around, as the plastic is harmful to local birds and wildlife (and marine creatures, when it washes down drains).
Dried Rose Petal Wedding Confetti
Instead, use a natural biodegradable confetti. The Dried Petal Company offers lovely freeze-dried rose petals (grown in Europe with no pesticides). Order a few weeks ahead, but no longer before, and don’t store them in the fridge).
You can even buy eco-friendly cones, to throw your confetti from!
Flower Wedding Confetti from Shropshire
Shropshire Petals grows its own wedding confetti on a farm. Again, some flowers are not pet-safe, so stick to rose petals if animal friends are nearby. Sent in eco-packaging, choose delayed delivery (3 months and more before weddings).
As a guide, 1 litre of petals provides around 10 to 12 handfuls of throwing confetti. Of course, many couples also like to add flower petals to the wedding table.
Other Zero Waste Confetti Options
The other main options usually centre around recycled paper or card, cut into pretty shapes. These could be from used maps to music sheets. Avoid brands that pack in plastic, which rather defeats the point: We like this recycled music sheet confetti and recycled Mills & Boon romance novel confetti!
Many food dyes are made from animal ingredients (like carmine/cochineal from insects). Vegan Strawberry Frosting (Rainbow Nourishments) uses freeze-dried strawberry powder.
Homemade food dyes should last a few days, if kept in airtight containers in the fridge. Avoid (pink) hibiscus powder for pregnancy/nursing and check medication before using spirulina. Keep cocoa powder away from pets.
Before baking, read up on food safety for people and pets (many ingredients like chocolate, nuts, dried fruits, citrus and nutmeg are unsafe near animal friends). To avoid palm oil, make your own pastry (keep fresh dough away from children and pets).
The main natural plants used to dye foods are:
- Matcha is a Japanese powder to turn things green. It’s very strong so you only need a little, which is good as it’s green tea, so makes things taste of grass! The authors suggest adding a little cinnamon to mask the taste (matcha is good in tea, not cake!)
- Beetroot powder can turn foods pink or red. It’s better than beetroot juice, which can change the texture, and won’t make things as pink.
- Acai is a superfood berry to turn things purple. You only need a tiny amount (so the amount of superfoods you get is low, but the colour is a lot). It even leaves pretty purple flecks.
- Turmeric is a spice to turn things yellow (it’s often used by vegans to make ‘scrambled egg and omelettes’). You can add a little beet powder or juice to turn this dye orange. Again turmeric has a strong (curry) flavour, so add a little cinnamon if wished.
- Culinary Charcoal powder is used to make things black. Not everyone wants a black cake, but there is a market out there for goth teenager birthdays or people who commercial bake items for ‘ghoulish’ themed parties.
Where to Buy Natural Vegan Food Dyes
Raw Nice is a brand of natural vegan food dyes, in brown paper packaging. Loved by tens of thousands of people, these have no taste, so are ideal for smoothies and cakes. Just scoop and stir. The range includes:
- Curcumin (yellow)
- Beetroot (pink)
- Purple sweet potato
- Matcha (green)
If you visit WH Smith or similar, you’ll find bog-standard wedding invitations on virgin paper (from trees) in the same designs as everyone else, and likely in plastic packaging.
Why not be more eco-friendly and original, and support local artists who design beautiful wedding invites on post-consumer paper/card.
Plantable ‘seed paper’ is very popular these days. It’s a lovely idea (you plant the paper after use, to grow wildflowers).
Many flowers are unsafe near animals unsafe near animals, so only gift or buy for pet-free homes.
Summer Lane Studio offers some lovely recycled wedding invites (the ones listed here are not plantable. You can change the wording, colours and fonts.
Each purchase helps to plant trees with World Lane Trust (which creates tropical forests in Borneo to restore habitats for endangered orangutans). Most items are sent in compostable packaging.
The artist is a zoologist (nothing to do with zoos, it means she’s an expert on animal behaviour) and works (alongside her little dog) in her Scottish studio.
These invites are sold in packs of 10 and you fill them in at home. Printed on 80% recycled card in a beautiful A5 size, they are sold with C3 kraft brown recycled envelopes. Choose from:
Each day, millions of flower bouquets are bought, but only last a few days or weeks. Rather than throw them away, there is a growing movement to recycle them into new bouquets, to gift to others, or to give to brides who can’t afford the sky-high prices of florist wedding bouquets.
Many flowers (including lilies & delphiniums) are unsafe near animals, so only gift such flowers to pet-free homes and nursing homes. Read our post on pet-friendly gardens. Never face indoor foliage to face outdoor gardens, to help prevent birds flying into windows.
- London’s Floral Angels (London) delivers donated bouquets to hospices, care homes and shelters within the community, working from New Covent Garden Flower Market.
- The Flower Bank works with young offenders, to repurpose donated flowers to care homes and local community places.
Places to Donate Flower Bouquets
Read the above advice, as it’s important to ensure rules are followed for safety (and pet-toxic blooms are not given to homes and institutions where animals reside).
Hospitals and hospices – some accept flower bouquets, a few don’t so check first. Some refuse them due to infection control.
Care homes and nursing homes – many residents adore receiving flower donations, the sight and scent can really cheer someone up, especially if they feel lonely (and know someone has taken the trouble to recycle a bouquet especially for them).
Charities and community organisations – Charities like women’s shelters and support groups can benefit, to give someone a lift and show that someone cares.
Funeral homes – memorial bouquets are very expensive, so this offers a chance for someone on low income to use a lovely bouquet for a departed loved on at no cost.
Places of worship – most churches have flower bouquets. So by donating them on, churches can use donations and funds to put to good use, as they are not having to order from florists.
Homeless shelters – people living in temporary accommodation can feel uplifted by flower donations. So just that any blooms are pet-friendly (many homeless people live with dogs). Read our post on helping dogs of homeless people.
A wedding is simply an exchange of vows to express your commitment to each other for life. It’s not an excuse for big companies to send you into massive debt buying a dress, honeymoon, cake or ring!
So keep your wedding small and simple, throw the bash in the local church hall and have someone you know do the catering, and buy a recycled ring and pretty dress.
Still White is an online marketplace to buy pre-loved wedding dresses (plus dresses for mother-of-the-bride) to avoid spending a fortune on a dress you may wear just once. Once worn, you can then sell it back, for someone else to enjoy.
Some women who have already bought a very expensive wedding dress in the past, use this site to sell it, and use the money to pay for expenses like for a new baby or home deposit. The site has good security measures in place.
Launder synthetic fibres in a microfibre filter, to stop plastics escaping from the washing machine, going into the sea.
Preloved Charity Shop Wedding Dresses
Many charity shops sell preloved wedding gowns. However, only shop at stores that don’t fund animal testing, instead support humane medical research.
KEMP Hospice in Kidderminster (Worcestershire) is a good example of this idea done well. Local brides donate used wedding gowns, and these are then worn again by other brides on their special day.
And profits help to raise funds for the local hospice, which provides care to dying patients. The shop even has a dedicated bridal floor, so you can have a fitting, just like with a traditional bridal shop.
Donate Dresses to Seriously Ill Brides
Wedding Wishing Well Foundation was founded by a young woman, who when diagnosed with cancer, found that their finances did not extend to buying a wedding dress.
Donations to this charity are given to women with life-limiting or terminal illness, so they can wear the wedding dress of their dreams, at no cost.
Turning Dresses into Baby Burial Gowns
Dresses for Angels is a charity, where volunteer seamstresses unpick donated wedding and bridesmaid dresses, and turn them into free burial gowns’ for angel babies, who have gone too soon.
Founded after the sad circumstance of a stillborn child, they can create gowns for babies born sleeping or even from early miscarriage, to full term. Every baby deserves something special, on their journey to Heaven.
If you’re tying the knot, there’s a good chance there’ll be a bouquet for the bride, buttonholes for the groom and best man, and flower posies for bridesmaids.
Yet most wedding flowers are imported from abroad (not Fair Trade), wrapped in plastic and have no scent. And look/feel like you would, after a long-haul flight.
Instead, choose seasonal organic flowers from artisan florists (who use zero waste floral foam). Then donate bouquets (upcycled for hospice patients).
Many flowers (including lilies, peonies & winter ranunculus) are unsafe near animal friends (as are delphiniums, often used for flower confetti).
So ensure such flowers only go to pet-free homes (even brushing a tail past such flowers can harm). Same applies for ‘plantable cards’. Read more on pet-friendly gardens.
For indoor displays, never face foliage towards outdoor gardens, as this can confuse feathered friends, who think the ‘inside’ is ‘outside’. Read more on how to help stop bird strike.
Grow Your Own Organic Wedding Flowers
If you’ve got green fingers, you may wish to grow your own wedding flowers (this book is by a sustainable flower farmer in Somerset).
Her farm supplies sustainable wedding flowers to locals (but as they only deal with seasonal blooms, you won’t be able to have a winter wedding!) It also offers DIY flower buckets for more affordable weddings (to arrange yourself).
