Eco Decorations and Favours

There’s lots of waste at weddings. It’s a simple statement, painful but true. However, the good news is there doesn’t have to be. It’s your wedding, you have the final say on everything, so you can dictate how it goes.

This week I want to look at wedding favours and how you can reduce waste by thinking about the impact of these little gifts.

Place Names

Combine favours with place names. There are companies who will create personalised favours for your guests which you could use. The Kitsch Hen creates beautiful hand stamped biscuits which can double up as a place names.

Ghostnets

Another favour idea is jewellery made from ghost nets. Ghost nets are the bits of commercial fishing net that are cut off and discarded into the sea when they break. Marine life can get caught in them or ingest them. Some companies salvage these and up-cycle them into new products, cleaning our seas at the same time. Bracenet create bracelets. They are unique pieces of jewellery and come with a little pouch and a card telling you which sea the net came from.

Charitable donations

Sadly, many of us face times in our lives when we, or someone close to us, needs the support of a charity. You can use your wedding favour budget to thank them. Whether it’s providing meals at Christmas for people who would be on their own or donating to your local hospital, it’s a great way to say thank you.

You can also look to charities helping people in developing countries by buying livestock and tools so people can create a better life for themselves.

Plants

Closer to home, you could provide packets of seeds to your guests that encourage wildlife into your gardens. You can get packets that even the most reluctant of gardener can get on with. You scatter them over a patch of garden and leave them. The plants that grow will be a bright addition to any garden and encourage honeybees, ladybirds, and butterflies into your garden.

Confetti

Give your guests their favours at the start of the wedding. On each chair provide a pack of eco-friendly confetti, flower petals! Using flower petals as confetti is great for two reasons. The first is petals are bio-degradable, no waste. The second is it speaks to our inner romantic, being showered in petals after we’ve gotten married.

NB: Although I have included links to certain companies, that’s not telling you these are the ones to use. Do a little research, understand the companies, their ethos, and how they work to benefit the environment, then pick the ones that you feel represent your own ethics.