Key Takeaways

• Opt for stabilized flowers for a lasting bridal bouquet
• Use dried flowers for sustainable wedding decor
• Choose organic fresh flowers to minimize chemical use
• Consider eco-friendly packaging like craft paper for flower gifts
• Reduce overall flower use and repurpose arrangements
• Plan an outdoor wedding to cut energy costs
• Select recycled or digital invitations to save trees
• Serve local, seasonal food to reduce environmental impact

Flowers accompany almost every celebration and are constantly present in our lives: at a birthday, graduation, date or wedding. But how can you stay eco-friendly during your last celebration? We’ll tell you in our guide.

Give Preference To Stabilized Flowers For The Bridal Bouquet

Stabilized flowers are natural, fresh flowers after special processing. Thanks to the scientific method of stabilization (or otherwise preservation), flowers retain their natural beauty and freshness without the need for water or sunlight for many years. They are not afraid of cold, heat, or temperature changes. They are not afraid of all this, which means the bride will not have to worry about the bouquet. Moreover, it is very environmentally friendly. After the wedding, such a bouquet will be a wonderful decoration for your home.

You can stabilize flowers yourself: first you need to order a ready-made bouquet, for example a carnation bouquet, or cut flowers if you want to make a flower arrangement yourself. Mix water and glycerin in equal proportions. Place the plant in the solution. Within two weeks, glycerin will fill the flower tissues, displacing liquid from them.

Use Dried Flowers In Wedding Decor

Online platforms like Dubai flower shop DJFlowers offer bouquets of dried flowers, and in the decor of cafes and beauty salons they now often use fluffy foxtail branches that resemble feathers (they look great in large floor vases at home). They can also be used in wedding decor!

In addition to decorating the arch, registration area, and so on with floral arrangements made from dried flowers, you can use petals and dried buds floating in glasses with cocktails – this is beautiful and impressive. Dried flowers will fit perfectly into ordinary bouquets that you place on the table.

And you can also prepare them yourself – buy, for example, the bouquet of violet flowers and find a dry, warm place. Flowers should be dried in small bunches, hanging them with the buds down. It is better to hang plants with large inflorescences separately – they should not touch, otherwise the petals may fall off during the drying process. If you decide to make dried flowers with your own hands, monitor the air humidity – increasing its levels can lead to rotting of the flowers.

If There Are Fresh Flowers, Then Only Organic Ones

Many flowers may be cultivated organically, which means that harsh chemicals and poisons are substituted for natural fertilizers and insect control strategies. This is an excellent choice for bouquets and centerpieces of cut flowers. Choose potted plants, topiary, or flowers that you can take home and plant after the wedding for even more organic and eco-friendly decor. Decorate the table with fruit or vegetables and invite visitors to throw herbs instead of rice or bubbles as you depart. Include locally grown, seasonal flowers as another easy method to make your wedding day eco-friendly.

Eco-Friendly Packaging Of Flowers From Guests

The fashion for an eco-friendly lifestyle is forcing us to reconsider the traditional plastic packaging of flowers. The trend now remains packaging flowers in craft paper.

It is ideal if guests generally refuse to give flowers in favor of a bottle of your favorite wine or a bouquet of marshmallows, sweets or other edible products. However, if someone still wants to give bouquets of fresh flowers, ask guests to abandon plastic packaging in favor of paper or regular twine. By the way, this will be very organic for a wedding in a rustic style.

Also, ask not to give you baskets of flowers. Typically, such compositions use floral foam (also known as oasis). Essentially, this foam is equivalent to single-use plastic and does not biodegrade in the ground. The chemicals in it can leach into the water and air, and the dust produced by decomposition can be harmful.

Reduce The Volume Of Flowers For Decoration

If the wedding reception lasts all day, reuse some of the decor from the formal part for the evening reception. For example, flowers that decorated an arch can be used as table decorations at a buffet table, or a floral wreath that was used to decorate a wedding car can be used as dessert table decor.

When the evening is over, donate some of the decor to a nursing home or hospital. Call one of them to see if you can arrange delivery directly from the wedding site after the wedding has ended.

How to be eco-friendly beyond bouquets?

Area

Choosing a wedding location helps determine the style of the wedding and is usually the very first big decision. One of the most effective ways to reduce energy costs is to have a summer wedding outdoors, somewhere where the sun can provide good lighting. There are plenty of beautiful parks, country clubs, or even private backyards equipped with modern amenities like sinks and toilets, so you don’t have to sacrifice hygiene.

But a wedding under a roof can also be made “green”. Firstly, the ceremony and the party itself should take place in the same place – this will reduce vehicle emissions and fuel consumption. Second, rent a venue with large windows and have your ceremony early – you can even find hotels that recycle and use energy-efficient appliances and biodegradable products.

The most advanced option for a “useful wedding” is to rent a gallery, premises at a museum or other cultural organization. Ask where the rental amount will be spent – it’s nice to know that your money is not just the profit of the restaurant owner, but is directed towards educational programs, restoration of an architectural monument or other useful things.

Invitations

Every year, millions of trees are destroyed to soon become waste paper, and paper production is highly polluting. Join the green movement and choose recycled paper, vegetable-based inks, or contact one of the companies also trying to save the planet – some even print invitations on printers powered by windmills! The most environmentally friendly type of recycled paper is one that contains tiny flower and herb seeds that germinate once in the ground.

You can go even further and completely abandon printed invitations – send a wedding notification by email and provide a link to the website dedicated to the event – the program, contacts and address will be perfectly placed on it. Sending invitations by email may not sound very romantic, but it is becoming increasingly popular. It’s convenient and gives free rein to imagination – guests can respond to an invitation with one click, download a map of the wedding location, view a list of gifts, or admire animation from photographs of the future newlyweds.

Catering

Food is the crucial point of any celebration, and going green doesn’t mean you have to sacrifice taste. Farm products have become very accessible, which means a banquet of healthy, environmentally friendly food is a feasible task. Of course, organic produce may cost more, but choosing local, seasonal produce ensures that it’s not only fresh, but also of great value. Today, farmers’ markets and weekend markets are common – where it is easy to negotiate with the manufacturer for direct wholesale supply. Products purchased directly from farmers spend less time in the refrigerator and require less packaging, making them better for the environment. And because products travel shorter distances, less fuel is required to transport them. Want to impress your guests? Complete table decor with table herbs in terracotta pots, such as basil or cilantro, so guests can add them to their dishes. You can also arrange with the bakery to bring the basic ingredients, such as eggs, flour or milk, yourself.

Avoid shrimp, imported fish and out-of-season products (such as strawberries in winter) as they have extremely negative impacts on the environment. Treat your guests to a feast of local delicacies. Let vegetarian dishes dominate the menu – for example, heart-shaped pumpkin ravioli with truffle oil or pasta with a complex vegetable sauce. You shouldn’t completely exclude meat dishes – unless you’re going to celebrate in a vegan hippie commune. It is believed that raising chicken causes less damage to the environment than, say, beef production.

Drinks, like food, are best chosen locally. You don’t have to buy French or Italian wines – just explore domestic vineyards. The same goes for water: who needs water in imported bottles when you can install a cooler or even serve water in carafes. Add sliced lemons, cucumbers, lime and mint to them – this homemade lemonade constructor will be an alternative to bottled water or juice, and will also ease a hangover for those who have overdone it with local alcohol.

And of course the most obvious advice: Refuse disposable items: rose petals, confetti, balloons, fireworks can be replaced, for example, with soap bubbles. Eating from disposable tableware is not only environmentally unfriendly, but also simply unpleasant. Rent dishes: Washing is usually included in the price, so you don’t have to stand at the sink all night.

A “green” wedding also requires a thoughtful approach, even in terms of flowers. And although flowers as such are organic, a wedding can be made virtually waste-free. We hope our tips helped you!