Planning your Green Wedding
A beautiful wedding celebration that reflects your green values may not be easy to plan, but it should be great fun and an exciting journey of discovery culminating in a day which is not only very personal and unique but gives everyone something to celebrate. It'll certainly get your guests talking. It might just get them thinking too!There's no right or wrong way to plan a wedding and knowing where to start can be a daunting prospect especially when you want to create a day that reflects your values as an environmentally concious couple.
No matter how modest your wedding, organisation, planning and attention to detail is the key to gaining as much pleasure in the months prior to the wedding as in the day itself. But we don't intend to get bogged down with step-by-step guides to planning your wedding such as checklists and budget planners. These areas are well covered by others. We have opted, instead, to fill our pages with tips and ideas for creating gorgeous eco-chic weddings and celebrations.
Its worthwhile remembering that the general wedding industry relies on a bride's enthusiasm to spend a disproportionate amount of money on arranging her day. So considering greener, local and home made alternatives when planning your wedding will go a long way to personalising your whole event.
Wedding Planning Tips
Before getting started here are some major decisions to make.BUDGET? How much money do you want to spend?
HOW? Do you want a civil or religious ceremony?
WHEN? Do you have a date?
Things to consider are venue availability, family and friends' holidays, the seasons.
WHERE? Will the ceremony and reception be at the same venue?
Save on transport and keep them together or at least within walking distance of each other.
WHO? Who do you want to invite?
The numbers may be dictated by your budget and venue.
If you live abroad or the general demands of work leave you little time to organise your own wedding, consider employing a professional wedding planner. This need not necessarily be an extra cost. Ethical wedding planners will work well within your budget, and will ensure you keep to it. They'll help you find the ideal suppliers to create an eco friendly wedding that suits you.
Although wedding planning is a growing business in the UK there are not many truly green planners. But any good wedding planner should be able to work to your brief and help you to create a greener wedding.
Wedding Budget
While there are hundreds of decisions to make for your wedding, setting a budget is the first - it will shape nearly every other decision you make.As a general rule your wedding budget could break down as follows:
* 50% on the reception including food and drink
* 15% on wedding outfits
* 10% on flowers
* 10% on photography
* 5% on entertainment
* 10% on everything else including stationary, fees, gifts etc.
Allow a 5% to 10% contingency to your final figure for unforeseen expenses
But rules are there for breaking and you can save money in every area by being thrifty, clever and organised. You can hire, borrow, swap and make your own - not only will it help your budget but these are great ways to create less impact with your celebrations and make them more creative and individual. Here a a few things to bear in mind before you get carried away:
It's a really good idea to set yourself a spending cap in each budget area.
Write a list of items in order of importance and allocate a chunk of budget to each item. It'll help prevent going over budget.
Key areas to keep a tight control of are guest numbers and price per head.
Other money matters to consider when planning a wedding are:
Wedding Insurance - Don't even think about it, get insured! At present, as far as we are aware, there are no ethical insurance companies offering wedding insurance, but if enough couples ask, they may be tempted to offer a policy in the future.
Save up for your wedding day - ethical banks offer good savings accounts.
Wedding Countdown
A timeline or schedule of what needs doing and when, will ensure that planning your wedding will be an absolute pleasure.Bookshops are overflowing with wedding books and magazines offering countdowns, wedding schedules and checklists. In our library you will find a few carefully selected books to buy which contain this sort of information.
Also plenty of information is readily available on countless wedding websites offering a wide array of wedding planning ABCs and tools to help you set up a timeline.
But remember every wedding or celebration is unique, every couples' priorities are different, the decisions you make are very personal and there is no right and wrong. Study their advice and plan wisely, make a personal priority list and take care to attend to the major decisions before getting down to the detail.
Get your family and friends involved, give everyone a task and a timeline. Share the fun of planning your celebration and enjoy every minute of your wedding countdown!
Information courtesy of Green Union