You of course could refuse to get sucked into the ‘wedding business’ and not get married! But if you do, there are ways to be a peaceful troublemaker, instead of making big companies richer on the back of your love!
Keep your wedding small and simple. This could be a local church or community club, it doesn’t have to be hiring a big church with a big buffet. Some people even get married in unusual places. We love USA vegans who get married at farm sanctuaries, so animal friends get donations at the same time!
A wedding should be a simple expression of mutual love, not ‘keeping other people’ happy. It’s not for extended relatives or friends/colleagues you don’t really like. Just keep to a few relatives and friends, leave it at that. If others are annoyed, they were never really friends.
Never release balloons or fire lanterns. Both cause huge issues with wildlfie and marine creatures. Likewise, don’t release anything butterflies, doves, kites – they all harm birds and wildlife.
Where To Buy a Preloved Wedding Dress
Still White is England’s largest online marketplace, to find preloved wedding gowns and outfits for mother-of-the-bride. Rather than spend a fortune on a dress that you’ll wear just once, find a bargain online, wear it yourself, then sell it on, for someone else to enjoy.
If laundering synthetic fibres, use a microplastic catcher, to stop minute plastic fibres escaping the machine, and going into the sea.
It’s also a great site, to earn a little moolah, if you have a wedding gown from years ago, stashed in the attic somewhere.
Fashion is the world’s second-most polluting industry on earth. And by reducing ‘fast fashion’ and reusing garments already existing, it goes a long way to reduce textile waste.
This company was founded by a married couple. After their wedding, she was hesitant about stuffing the dress she wore just once, under the bed. So her husband (an entrepreneur) had an a-ha moment, and the site was launched.
Wedding dresses are sometimes silly prices. You’ll still find cheaper versions of ‘expensive designer dresses’ on this site, if that’s what you’re after. But mostly, the site offers good bargains, many people save half the price of buying new.
Others sell their wedding dresses, once they learn of the site. One woman who had bought a very expensive dress, sold it on this website, and used the savings to pay a deposit for their first home. Others sell their once-used dresses to pay for upcoming babies or holidays.
Due to the nature of the items sold, the site has good security measures in place, to protect against fraud. This (now worldwide) site is easy to use. Just find and chat about a dress you like, confirm measurements and negotiate a price. You can then either meet in person (if local) or make an offer, to purchase the dress. It’s then just as easy to sell it on, after your wedding day.
Where to Buy Recycled Wedding Rings
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.
Hairy Growler makes jewellery (including wedding rings) from old Victorian coins and cutlery. The gold sovereign coins make beautiful 22ct gold rings, and as the coin rings have no join, they are an ‘unbroken circle’ symbolic of the connection you have made to each other.
And the ‘share a fork’ concept from one antique silver sterling fork offers a lovely starting point for a pair of wedding bands.
Glasswing Jewellery not only makes beautiful recycled silver and wedding rings, but also makes engagement rings set with seaglass (stones washed smooth by the sea).
Your stone may well be an old pirate bottle from hundreds of years ago that dropped off a ship – shiver me timbers!
To keep your ring looking its best, regular cleaning is key. Use a mild soap and warm water, or a professional jewellery cleaner. Avoid harsh chemicals and ultrasonic cleaners, as these can damage delicate recycled materials.
If your ring starts to show signs of wear, or a stone feels loose, don’t hesitate to take it to a professional jeweller. They’ll have the expertise to make any necessary repairs, prolonging the life of your precious ring.
How to Bake Your Own Vegan Wedding Cake
Rather than buy plastic-wrapped cake made with factory-farmed ingredients, try making your own vegan wedding cake!
If used, choose palm-oil-free vegan butter. Read up on keeping people & pets safe in the kitchen (many ingredients like chocolate, dried fruits, citrus, nutmeg and caffeine are not safe near animal friends).
This vegan pink cake with champagne frosting (Rainbow Nourishments) is surprisingly simple to make, with just a few ingredients. It’s paired with strawberry jam and vegan ‘buttercream’.
Easy Vegan Vanilla Cake (The Curious Chickpea) is the perfect sweet treat for any kind of special occasion, with a lovely creamy frosting.
Vegan Vanilla Cake (Addicted to Dates) is a recipe by a classically-trained Irish baker. It only requires a few ingredients, and you can add your own touches with different plant-based fillings and frostings.
Rubys of London is one of England’s finest artisan vegan bakeries, everything is made with organic ingredients (free from palm oil) and delivered to anywhere in the city. Use a letterbox guard around animal friends.
This baker began at Greenwich Market and today her goods are sold throughout the city (there’s also a shop in Tunbridge Wells, Kent). The range includes:
- Cakes
- Donuts
- Cupcakes
- Brownies
- Wedding cakes
- Corporate gifts
The cakes and other goodies are also available wholesale to bakeries, hotels and other outlets. Just get in touch! The bakery is pretty allergy-friendly but some ingredients may have been produced elsewhere, so check before ordering. Cakes are best eaten fresh or the day after, and can be frozen, but best before 3 months.
If you have a friend or relative that cooks, they may wish to cook as it’s cheaper than hiring caterers, but they’ll have to follow food hygiene laws and know of allergies. If catering for more than a pile of plates can provide, use biodegradable plates and cutlery, over plastic. You can then just compost after use.
A Bottle of Organic Vegan Prosecco
This bottle of Giol Prosecco Frizzante is both organic and vegan, so sure to please everyone, whether it’s a special day or even a wedding. Stock up for a party! This classic Italian fizz is pale straw yellow, with green highlights, and a delicate nose with fruity notes of green apple, peach and floral.
Just wind a corkscrew in, and remove with a squeak and a pop! The string holds the cork in place beforehand. The vintage may differ from photo, due to refreshed stock.
This fizz is made on a family estate at San Polo di Piave, which has been making wine since 1427. The vineyards sit in a natural depression (four metres below the surrounding flat land) giving the Prosecco a simple, clean and uplifting character.
Real corks don’t require trees to be chopped down (the cork is just stripped from the bark). Corks are too dense to compost. So take them to your local off-license for recycling.
Or store away safely (they are choking hazards) and send off in bulk to Recorked, where they are made into other things.
Choose Post-Consumer Waste Wedding Invites
These wedding invites are printed on luxury recycled card. Avoid sending plantable cards and invites to homes with pets (a nice idea, but many contain pet-toxic wildflowers).
The Great Big Vegan Wedding Idea Book
The Great Big Vegan Wedding Idea Book is a lovely American digital guide, to immediately buy and download. Packed with ideas and inspiration, it features 53 illustrated pages of menus, cakes, tips, inspiration and resources.
The e-book is from VegNews, an American magazine that runs a vegan weddings website. This features inspirational stories and interviews from vegan couples, who have created beautiful DIY weddings on a budget, sober weddings and even people who get married at farm sanctuaries, asking for people to donate to barnyard friends, rather than make a ‘list for Argos’.
As this e-book is from the USA, obviously some resources are not relevant. So here are some useful resources, closer to home:
- Sarah Horton (planning a vegan wedding)
- Rock My Wedding (stories of vegan weddings)
- London’s Hogless Roast has catered over 100 vegan weddings
- Still White (preloved wedding dresses and shoes)
Switch to Biodegradable Wedding Confetti
For weddings, either don’t use confetti or use biodegradable confetti (the single-use plastic ban from October 2023 may mean it’s banned anyway). Most churches prefer biodegradable confetti (avoid rice, it’s a slipping hazard and attracts pigeons!) Most confetti is made from plastic, so leaves plastic litter which harms wildlife and birds (it should be banned).
This is dried rose petal confetti (also in red). Or Shropshire Petals make confetti from local flowers. Avoid throwing flower confetti near pets, as some flowers used (like delphiniums) are toxic to pets.
Strangely, most paper confetti is wrapped in plastic bags? Instead, visit Etsy to find alternatives from recycled materials:
Choose Organic Seasonal Wedding Flowers
Choose seasonal organic flowers, if you choose to carry a bouquet. Grow Your Own Wedding Flowers is a lovely book, by an organic flower farmer with info on everything from posies to buttonholes.
If pets are nearby, many wedding flowers including lilies and delphiniums (often used in flower confetti) are toxic to pets, as are wildflower plantable cards/favours.
Learn more on toxic plants to avoid near pets. For indoor displays, never face foliage to face gardens, to help stop birds flying into windows. Many ‘celebration trees’ are unsafe near pets and horses.
Blooming Green Flowers (Kent) lets you wander through their acre of blooms, to pick your own wedding flowers.
Common Farm Flowers (Somerset) proves they’re local, as you can’t buy them in winter. For summer weddings only! Georgie is author of the book above.
Store your flowers in a cool, dark place. Change the water regularly and keep trimming the stems. This reduces bacteria and helps the blooms last.
If arranging flowers, use eco floral foam which is plastic-free. There are now alternatives like volcanic-based fibre-floral, an ideal investment for eco-florists.
Where to Recycle Wedding Bouquets
If only using flowers once (like weddings), you can donate them to charities like Floral Angels that use volunteers to regift them to those who need cheering up.
