Have a greener wedding abroad
If you have decided to get married abroad, you may be having twinges of guilt about the environmental impact of doing this. Although few would deny that the explosion in international tourism is leaving its carbon footprint, you can still travel and marry abroad in a more environmentally-responsible way.
Travel
If you’re getting married abroad your main environmental concern could be the emissions caused by your flight. You don’t have to fly though. Have you thought about a romantic train journey to reach the destination of your wedding abroad, or how about holding your wedding abroad on a cruise ship?
Obviously, if you have your heart set on holding your wedding abroad somewhere exotic you will probably have to fly there. All is not lost though. Many couples these days are choosing to offset the carbon emissions from their wedding abroad. You can pay an offsetting fee to a company such as www.climatecare.org which they will put towards funding a sustainable environmental project.
Destination
There are a number of companies these days which specialise in helping people to travel more responsibly and many of them also offer good advice on weddings abroad.
Try to use suppliers and operators who demonstrate an ethical conscience when you are arranging your wedding abroad. As well as being better for the environment, responsible tourism is big business these days. Companies are looking for ways to use tourism and weddings abroad to benefit local people and economies as much as possible, and minimise the environmental impact of holidays and weddings abroad.
Ethically-conscious weddings abroad can be organised in destinations as far flung as Sri Lanka, India and New Zealand.
Gifts
Many couples these days live together before they get married, and so have everything they need. Or, they simply don’t want or have space for any more material objects. In keeping with the simplicity of your wedding abroad, you can ask guests to either forgo gifts altogether or offer them some alternatives.
Some couples ask those who want to buy a gift to contribute to the wedding instead, for example paying for the bouquet or providing music. This can also be a great way to help people feel involved, especially if they can’t make it for your wedding abroad.
If you really don’t need anything for your wedding abroad either, there are plenty of people that do need something. A common option is for people to donate to a chosen charity, or sign up to one of the many ethical gift services available these days.
Dress
Think about where your dress and other outfits for your wedding abroad come from and how they are made. Ask about the social credentials of companies selling any clothes you are interested in for your wedding abroad. Look for dresses made from organic or fair trade materials.
Another good, and trendy, option is to go vintage! There are plenty of stylish, used wedding dresses around to add a little retro chic to your wedding abroad.
When choosing rings for your wedding abroad use companies who can offer items made with fairly traded or recycled precious metals and who use conflict free diamonds
Extras
- Have locally-sourced, and if possible organic, food for the meal after your wedding abroad.
- Similarly, don’t ship in expensive flowers for your ceremony abroad. Find out what’s available in the area and build them into your wedding abroad.
- If you’re sending out invites to your wedding abroad, use recycled paper, or better yet-send invites by email!
- Take digital photos to capture your wedding abroad and upload them to an online album when you return.