Circular options on your special day

More and more couples are looking at alternative ways to celebrate ‘the big day’, which reduce waste (and in some cases cut costs) while holding on to the magical atmosphere.  

This can mean calling in favours from friends who can supply flowers or make the wedding cake, buying your wedding dress in a charity bridal boutique or website, choosing an alternative venue such as community or heritage centre, and designing your own invitations.  

Creative improvisation can lead to a more fun-loving atmosphere. The fact it can cost less, and be more sustainable, is all the better. 

Venue for Ceremony & Celebrations:  

Couples who want to put their eco-credentials out front can of course choose to host their wedding in a hotel which has sustainability at the core of what it does.   

Check out Greenhospitality.ie for a list of hotels at various stages of eco-certification.  Gold award winners will have the highest credentials. Tourism Ireland has a handy guide on eco-friendly hotels across Ireland. 

Outdoor wedding ceremonies were legalised in Ireland in 2013 but, before you start considering your favourite beach or forest, you will require permission from the land owner or local authority. All outdoor venues must be approved before being used as a wedding venue.  

The Office of Public Works has a list of approved heritage sites available for weddings with three months advance notification required. Apply online on Heritageireland.ie. 

Hosting your wedding reception in a large garden owned by family or friends offers opportunity to reduce consumption in several ways. 

If sunny weather is likely, you can take a complete DIY approach. Borrow tables and chairs from a local community centre and get a loan of sets of crockery and cutlery from friends and family. Charity shops are also a great source for china sets for this special occasion. 

Make some bunting from old cotton clothing and use slim glass jars with wildflowers or rose buds to decorate tables. If you don’t fancy making these yourself, places like Change Clothes Dublin, Roscommon Womens’ Network or the Rediscovery Centre sell scrap materials perfect for this use. If you don’t have a budget for catering, you could even ask everyone to bring a savoury dish, salad or dessert so there’s enough to share around.   

It’s worth keeping in mind public transport routes when choosing your venue, and consider hiring a bus to return your guests to a central spot if the venue is not easily accessible via public transport. 

Wedding Dresses 

Many brides-to-be are now avoiding the exorbitant costs of buying a new designer wedding dress, which will only be worn once.  Instead, the savvy option can be to buy second-hand wedding dresses – which have been drycleaned and offered for sale at half the price of a new dress – at the nearest charity shop, or on sites such as Vinted, Vestiare Collective, or the Irish website Rebride.ie 

Charity shop bridal boutiques provide a range of mainly new wedding dresses which have been donated by bridal retailers, wholesalers and designers. For example, there are Barnardos Bridal Boutiques on Main st, Dun Laoghaire and 11a Selskar St, Wexford.  Visit Barnardos.ie to book an appointment for €20 (redeemable against purchase).  Elsewhere there’s the Bridal Room at St Vincent de Paul, Jocelyn St, Dundalk, County Louth (contact them at 042-9381694).  

Also have a look on HIGM (Help! I’m Getting Married), a private Facebook group where brides and grooms sell their pre-loved and unused wedding items.  

Invitations:  

Making your own wedding invitations has never been easier with lots of colourful templates on places like Canva to choose from.  There are many options around paper types which offer sustainable opportunities, such as seed paper, which is growing in popularity. However, many couples opt not to send wedding invitations in the post to save on costs and instead send a digital invite to guests.    

Flowers and Confetti: 

Knowing someone who will grow flowers for your wedding day is the ideal scenario. Sourcing Irish is also a preferred option.  It’s also worth considering moving flowers from the location for the ceremony to the reception, so they get a second use. Some people also like putting the wedding bouquets on the graves of loved ones the following day. 

Businesses like Siog Botanicals in Kildare offer flower preservation or framing as an alternative to throwing away what was used on the day. Søstrene Grene sells biodegradable confetti made from real flowers. They also have a YouTube video on how to make dried flower confetti decorations and bespoke table settings.