Two days after Christmas Day 2015, the Builder asked me to marry him. And I said yes. Five months later we were married. This blog post covers how we tried to create a zero waste wedding for 170 guests. It's a long post, so if you want to read it all, then I suggest making yourself a cup of tea.
Planning a wedding was something I had never contemplated fully. Admittedly, there has been the odd wedding related chat with girlfriends. But those conversations were usually forgotten, never fixated upon. I’m all for commitment, it’s just I’ve never related a wedding or marriage as the solitary symbol of commitment.
Marriage is important to the Builder. Out of the two of us, I’d label him the traditional one.
The only marriage ceremony that appealed to me, consisted of the registry office, followed by a long lunch. No fuss. Intimate. Simple. Affordable. The Builder's was the opposite. Traditional church, me walking down an aisle in a white dress, big reception, first dance etc. He wanted to make a commitment to me, in front of the people we love.
Since I didn't have any dreams of how I wanted my wedding to look or be, I let go of my desire for a small wedding and gave the Builder the wedding he dreamed of. One of my conditions was that we make for a plastic free and zero waste wedding. Or at least attempt it. My husband worked very hard with me, to make this happen. In fact he did most of the planning and organising, as I was too busy with work to focus solely on the wedding preparations. I now happily admit that it was the best day of my life. Cliché much? You bet! Especially from a girl who never really thought about weddings.
For those that don’t want to read a breakdown of the wedding, the photo below shows the waste we accumulated from the planning through to sending out thank you cards. So, there is your answer – we did create plastic waste on our wedding day. I named this post zero waste wedding, as it was a goal. To me, that is what zero waste is...a goal.
Before I begin, I’d like to thank my readers who offered a variety of ways to help make our day wonderful and low waste. Dresses, candles, props, styling, celebrant and even a private garden. I was floored by how much was offered to us for free. THANK YOU!
Choosing the venues
The venue for our reception was decided on rather quickly. We fell in love with the Newport Substation's unique character at first sight.
We liked that it was a community run space too. Initially an electrical substation built in 1915, the building sat in disrepair until the early 1990s. A group of residents came together, gathered donations from members of the local community and set about repairing the building, turning the forgotten space into a thriving community arts facility. It now houses concerts, art exhibitions, markets and of course, weddings. Since we live in north west Melbourne, it felt right to pick a venue close to our home and the area we spend most of our time.
They had two dates available, May and October. The Builder could not understand why we should wait so long. Naively, we went with the date in May. Planning a wedding in five months, with the added stress of it being a very busy time at work for me was…well it was a test. I don't think we have ever fought so much in our relationship!!
The Newport Substation is not an equipped function space. This means everything, but tables, some seating in the entrance area and AV, had to be brought in for the event. Clients simply book the building, then whichever catering company is picked, runs the day. Not an in house team from the Substation. It did prove a little challenging, but we just loved the building. Guests could explore the whole space, from the gallery to every other little and big room. The Newport Substation is an interesting building and is well worth a visit.
The wedding ceremony was held at St Mary's Antiochian Orthodox Church in Yarraville.
Paper, printing and choosing sustainable options that suited us
Planning a wedding was something I had never contemplated fully. Admittedly, there has been the odd wedding related chat with girlfriends. But those conversations were usually forgotten, never fixated upon. I’m all for commitment, it’s just I’ve never related a wedding or marriage as the solitary symbol of commitment.
Marriage is important to the Builder. Out of the two of us, I’d label him the traditional one.
The only marriage ceremony that appealed to me, consisted of the registry office, followed by a long lunch. No fuss. Intimate. Simple. Affordable. The Builder's was the opposite. Traditional church, me walking down an aisle in a white dress, big reception, first dance etc. He wanted to make a commitment to me, in front of the people we love.
Since I didn't have any dreams of how I wanted my wedding to look or be, I let go of my desire for a small wedding and gave the Builder the wedding he dreamed of. One of my conditions was that we make for a plastic free and zero waste wedding. Or at least attempt it. My husband worked very hard with me, to make this happen. In fact he did most of the planning and organising, as I was too busy with work to focus solely on the wedding preparations. I now happily admit that it was the best day of my life. Cliché much? You bet! Especially from a girl who never really thought about weddings.
For those that don’t want to read a breakdown of the wedding, the photo below shows the waste we accumulated from the planning through to sending out thank you cards. So, there is your answer – we did create plastic waste on our wedding day. I named this post zero waste wedding, as it was a goal. To me, that is what zero waste is...a goal.
All the rubbish (non recyclable material) that we created from planning through to sending out thank you cards. |
Before I begin, I’d like to thank my readers who offered a variety of ways to help make our day wonderful and low waste. Dresses, candles, props, styling, celebrant and even a private garden. I was floored by how much was offered to us for free. THANK YOU!
Choosing the venues
The venue for our reception was decided on rather quickly. We fell in love with the Newport Substation's unique character at first sight.
We liked that it was a community run space too. Initially an electrical substation built in 1915, the building sat in disrepair until the early 1990s. A group of residents came together, gathered donations from members of the local community and set about repairing the building, turning the forgotten space into a thriving community arts facility. It now houses concerts, art exhibitions, markets and of course, weddings. Since we live in north west Melbourne, it felt right to pick a venue close to our home and the area we spend most of our time.
View from outside - Image from Wikipedia Commons |
The hall - Image by The Substation |
The Newport Substation is not an equipped function space. This means everything, but tables, some seating in the entrance area and AV, had to be brought in for the event. Clients simply book the building, then whichever catering company is picked, runs the day. Not an in house team from the Substation. It did prove a little challenging, but we just loved the building. Guests could explore the whole space, from the gallery to every other little and big room. The Newport Substation is an interesting building and is well worth a visit.
The wedding ceremony was held at St Mary's Antiochian Orthodox Church in Yarraville.
Paper, printing and choosing sustainable options that suited us
Using paper was always going to happen. Deciding on how much, where we wanted to use it, printing and sourcing stock was easy to navigate. I work as a graphic designer. I knew where to source 100% sustainable recycled post-consumer paper, made in Australia.
70% of our invites and information cards were sent electronically using rsvpify.com/weddings. It proved to be an efficient tool that helped not only save on paper and postage, but also for organisng the event. Remaining invitations were sent by regular post, along with RSVP cards, to those who did not have an email address.
Apart from the printed invitations, we had church service programs, menus, gift in lieu cards and a seating chart on the day. Simple actions like asking people to share menus (we had two per table) and share church service programs helped save on the amount of paper used.
The church service program was not necessary, but something I felt was needed at our wedding. I had an Antiochian Orthodox wedding ceremony. I knew pretty much all of my family and friends had never been to one and I wanted to explain parts of the service to them, so they could understand why I was wearing a crown or why I walked around a table.
I set up the printing so I could get three church service programs on one A4 page or two menus on an A4 page. All material that was left at the church or reception was collected to be reused or recycled at home.
Our Thank you cards were also sent out electronically to those that we had emailed invitations too and hand written cards for those sent via post.
Apart from my engagement ring, I borrowed earrings from my mum and a vintage dress pin, turned into a hair clip.
The Builder chose to invest in a new suit. He tried to find a second hand suit, but nothing fit him. I suppose one perk for boys buying a new suit, is that they will likely wear it again. Since the wedding it's been worn five times.
I also let my beautiful bridesmaids choose whatever dress they wanted. I’d rather they pick a dress that’d be worn again.
Hair and Makeup
For the day, I opted to have my hair fashioned by a vintage hairstylist.
Anyone who knows me, has endured my love for vintage. I adored the vintage faux bob, and will admit there was a bit of hairspray used to achieve the look. I had planned to do my own hair for the day. Then I started looking into professional services, and I thought why not. When would be the next time I’ll get to have my hair done like this? Probably never! Should I have given the hairstylist the challenge of finishing the style without hairspray? Yes, I should have and I wish I had. Regardless, I don’t regret getting my hair done…only the hairspray.
While I splurged on my hair, I did my own makeup. I wore my regular compostable lipstick and blush all day and night. I made the decision to borrow my mum’s eyebrow pencil, my sister’s foundation and mascara.
Wedding rings
I didn't even think about buying a wedding ring. I knew that I had something suitable in my jewellery box. My wedding ring belonged to my Mum, that I have worn since I was a teenager, just on the other hand. I think many of my friends know it as I've been wearing it that long. I don't know where she got it from, but I liked it so much when I was younger, that I asked for it. And since she never wore it, she passed it over. It's called a Russian wedding ring or also known as a Trinity ring. Three bands intertwined in harmony, three colours of gold: pink for love, yellow for fidelity and white for friendship.
My engagement ring also came from my mother. I have never EVER seen the point of them. When the Builder proposed, he did it without a ring. Then he asked what eco sustainable ring I wanted, and I said none. It's not needed. However, my mother is traditional and so is my now husband. They conspired behind my back, and the Builder presented me with one of my Mum's old rings. She bought it for herself in the 1970s.
The Builder's wedding band is made of gold sourced entirely from his mum, aunt and grandmother's old jewelry from Lebanon. It was simply melted down and turned into a new ring. He likes the connection the ring has to his family and heritage.
Styling the venues
The large windows and grand velvet curtains with the high exposed ceilings of Newport Substation were features in themselves. We didn’t see the need to add anything else either.
I did want to add flowers to each of the guest tables and dessert table. I decided to forage for native plants along the Maribynong River with my mum and sister.
Having a wedding in the cooler months allowed us to take advantage of the native gum blossoms. We also used found bark and native seeds to dress the tables. I had planned on gathering proteas from a nearby tree. By the time our wedding rolled around, there was only a handful left. In the end I ended up buying 25 protea’s and silvan red from a Victorian supplier. Total cost was $150.
The flowers were arranged in jars I already owned. Living zero waste and plastic free, means my jar collection is strong. We only had to collect ten extra from family.
One of my readers donated candles, used at her own wedding (thanks Shay!!). We put these on the guest tables and used 17 of the candles as table numbers, wrapping them in old paper I had lying around, painting the table numbers on the paper.
We used eucalyptus leaves as place cards, writing on each one with a pen I borrowed from the Builders toolset.
Each table had two menus, rather than one per person.
Our catering company lent us old wooden crates to style our gift table/dessert table. I also borrowed old bird cages from a work colleague to use for the wishing well.
Newport Substation had round tables available for use, along with trestle tables. To keep costs low, we utilized these rather than hire. We did need to hire chairs for the night.
Unfortunately, the guest tables were worn chipboard, requiring us to hire table cloths. We rented these along with cloth napkins for the night. A MAJOR oversight by us, was not asking how the linen would be packaged, when dropped off. The linen was wrapped in a soft plastic. We could recycle it through RED Cycle program BUT on each bag was a sticker and some plastic tape. I took these off each plastic bag (you can see the stack of stickers in the photo of our rubbish at the top) before they were dropped off at the recycle bins, otherwise they would not be fit for recycling.
At the end of the night, everything we foraged for, was collected by the catering company for us to then drop off at our local Transfer Station. They collect tree pruning, garden rubbish and green waste. Paper elements left behind were recycled.
Transport
We had the wedding ceremony at St Mary's Antiochian Orthodox Church in Yarraville - a 10 minute drive from the Newport Substation. With 80% of my guests coming from interstate and overseas, we decided on hiring two buses to take people from the ceremony to the reception. If people were travelling long distances, we wanted them to have an easy time getting between the venues, even if it was only a 10 minute drive. It saved on individual cars and also fuel.
The Builder wanted to rent a nice car...I was quite happy to get a taxi. Either way, we needed transport from my house (I don't own a car and I was not driving his dirty ute in my dress). Some arguments later, I let him hire two cars for us. One for us, the other for the bridal party. It was very cool to drive around in a vintage car. It's not something I had done before or will probably ever do again. Probably not the most eco of choices, but compromise is very important in any relationship.
The food
Bringing our own food or asking guests to bring a plate would have been one of the easiest ways to limit waste.
But only if all the guests followed our same lifestyle.
Sending out a request for them to BYO food, with a list of how to prepare and package, so it falls into a zero waste and plastic free category, did not sound like fun. Plus, with so many travelling, the last thing I wanted to do, was put them to work trying to find food in a city they don't know. The idea sounds great, but the execution would have been hard to follow through without some stress.
The quest for a zero waste catering company returned futile results. We ended up choosing Farm Café Catering (Collingwood Children’s Farm) namely because we liked their local and seasonal food philosophy and we had seen the giant compost piles on the farm. The farm sounds far away, but it’s actually in Melbourne, 10 mins from the CBD.
We flirted with the idea of asking people to bring containers or supply paper boxes for leftovers. The idea was nice, but we did not think enough people would take food home. Especially all those travelling from interstate. Instead, we decided to compost ourselves.
We asked our event manager if we could take the leftover food home for composting. They agreed. The staff put everything in large containers for us, that we picked up on the following Monday.
Composting large amounts of food is not possible for everyone. Melbourne has a pickup service called Compost Collectors. If we did not have our own place to compost, I would have arranged for Compost Collectors to collect it.
Composting the scraps helped reduce waste significantly.
Our guests loved the meal and continue to compliment it. It was shared plates of local seasonal food. Sharing the food allowed people to dictate how much food they wanted themselves and what they wanted to actually eat. The catering company said it's a good way to reduce waste as some people like to eat more than others, while others are small eaters.
We were shocked with how much food was left at the end and had to remind ourselves it was 170 people worth of food, and some of the scraps were from prep. It made us think about all the food waste, at all the weddings, going to landfill. Kind of disheartening. The Farm Café are now thinking seriously about how to change this in their own practice.
The reception began with canapes, meaning that either small plates or cloth napkins were needed. Since the space where we were having the canapes was a little tight, we decided on cloth. We asked if we could hire cloth cocktail napkins – neither we nor the catering company could find these for hire. The cloth napkins we hired for dinner were big and bulky. The Farm Café located compostable napkins, so we went with those. They did come wrapped in a soft plastic, that could be recycled through RED Cycle.
In hindsight, we should have looked for place to buy actual cloth napkins as I had an event for Plastic Bag Free Victoria where I could have used them. Regardless, we composted the paper napkins that were used.
We did away with having a wedding cake. Neither of us are big on cake. Instead, the gift table was turned into a dessert, coffee and tea table. We ordered baklava and Turkish delight - the Builder was able to pick these up in our own containers the day before. Milk for the coffee and tea was sourced in returnable glass bottles from La Latteria by our catering company. Tea was loose leaf.
The beverages
Alcohol was an easy option for us. We got to provide most of it in bulk to our guests! And we had no glass that needed recycling at the end of the night.
Melbourne based mobile bar service TAP. provided our wine on the night. All of the wine is dispensed from stainless steel kegs, that are reused.
Choosing TAP. helped reduce the waste associated with wine bottles such as cartons, labels and corks. One keg of wine eliminates the need to manufacture, package, store and dispose of 26 glass bottles.
We served rose, red and white wine along with prosecco. Yes, we had bubbles on tap!
Whisky was not as easy to source in bulk or refill. The Builder had a conversation with Starward Whisky, a local whisky distillery, about the prospect of offering a refill option at their brewery in the future. We hope they do; it’s great whisky and a 10 minute drive from our house. Fingers crossed the conversation planted a seed for the future. I've already started reusing the empty whisky bottles we bought.
Ice also presented a hurdle. We tried to avoid buying ice in plastic bags. The Builder researched hiring an ice machine. The time, space and money needed to create enough ice presented too many challenges. The Builder queried local pubs on using their ice, but no luck. We went with ice bags and recycled them through RED Cycle.
Non-alcoholic drinks consisted of homemade Lebanese lemonade and water. We borrowed the Builder’s sister juicer for the lemonade making process. It was an epic day making the lemonade. 22L of concentrate was created, then dropped to the catering company in every empty jar and bottle we had spare. Our kitchen floors were sticky for a week!
Final thoughts
None of our guests were aware they had attended a low waste wedding. Not one, suspected that we worked hard to make it sustainable. It was never explained on the invites or on the day, because we didn't feel the need to tell everyone that our wedding was an Eco event. We wanted all the zero waste elements to be a normal part of the day and prove that an Eco wedding can be had and enjoyed by all, even by people who are not that way inclined. We estimated that there were around 60 people that had no idea we even live a low waste lifestyle. And it was not that hard for us to keep our wedding low waste. This is because we kept everything simple. It had all the usual elements of a traditional wedding, we just happened to reduce, reuse, borrow, compost and recycle properly.
The days following our wedding, I was struck with thoughts like, "I should have sourced 20 second hand table cloths to avoid that plastic packaging" or "why did I not make cloth cocktail napkins myself." In the end I had to step back and remind myself that we did the best we could, and that is better than not trying.
Sticking to the zero waste philosophy and aiming to be plastic free, helped us save money too. Our wedding fell way below our budget. We found it easier to cut back on anything that was not needed or served us. While we wanted a low waste wedding, our ultimate aim was to have a fun day with our family and friends.
If you have read over this, and believe you could do a better job at creating a zero waste and plastic free wedding, then I really truly wish you do! I am sharing what we did, the problems encountered, areas we did not pay attention to, anticipating that another couple does come along with the hopes of doing it better. Otherwise, what's the point in sharing this?
My tips for a zero waste wedding
70% of our invites and information cards were sent electronically using rsvpify.com/weddings. It proved to be an efficient tool that helped not only save on paper and postage, but also for organisng the event. Remaining invitations were sent by regular post, along with RSVP cards, to those who did not have an email address.
Apart from the printed invitations, we had church service programs, menus, gift in lieu cards and a seating chart on the day. Simple actions like asking people to share menus (we had two per table) and share church service programs helped save on the amount of paper used.
The church service program was not necessary, but something I felt was needed at our wedding. I had an Antiochian Orthodox wedding ceremony. I knew pretty much all of my family and friends had never been to one and I wanted to explain parts of the service to them, so they could understand why I was wearing a crown or why I walked around a table.
I set up the printing so I could get three church service programs on one A4 page or two menus on an A4 page. All material that was left at the church or reception was collected to be reused or recycled at home.
Our Thank you cards were also sent out electronically to those that we had emailed invitations too and hand written cards for those sent via post.
Dress, Shoes and Jewellery
I found my second hand wedding dress on Love Me Twice Facebook page. When I saw it, I immediately knew it was MY wedding dress. Another cliche? You bet.
I found my second hand wedding dress on Love Me Twice Facebook page. When I saw it, I immediately knew it was MY wedding dress. Another cliche? You bet.
Truthfully, it was not what I had planned.
When I first began looking for wedding dresses, I had two rules: it had to be functional post wedding and it needed to keep me warm. The wedding was at the end of May, meaning it would be cold. And it was cold!
I liked the idea of the combination of a knitted jumper with bridal skirt. I had found a place to rent a bridal skirt for the day. The only hiccup was locating the right knitted jumper, that I would want to wear again.
When I first began looking for wedding dresses, I had two rules: it had to be functional post wedding and it needed to keep me warm. The wedding was at the end of May, meaning it would be cold. And it was cold!
I liked the idea of the combination of a knitted jumper with bridal skirt. I had found a place to rent a bridal skirt for the day. The only hiccup was locating the right knitted jumper, that I would want to wear again.
Then I began searching online for second hand wedding dress sites. But I found nothing that would suit a cold autumn day. It seemed like winter dresses consisted of long lace sleeves and that was it!
When I saw my wedding dress, it ticked the 'keep me warm' box. And it will be functional post wedding, because I intend to sell it onto another bride. I like the idea of selling my dress. I had such a wonderful day wearing it, and want to give that to someone else.
When I saw my wedding dress, it ticked the 'keep me warm' box. And it will be functional post wedding, because I intend to sell it onto another bride. I like the idea of selling my dress. I had such a wonderful day wearing it, and want to give that to someone else.
Second hand wedding dress shopping is tricky, for the simple reason that dresses are made especially for someones body or off the rack dresses are altered to fit specific measurements. Even my dress had to be altered on the left hand cuff.
If I had not chanced upon my dress, I would have started scouring vintage stores in Melbourne. Hiring is also an option too...the simple reason I did not hire was because I wanted a warm dress and there were zip available. Can you tell I like to be comfortable and warm?
I found my shoes in an Op Shop. They were simple kitten heels, comfortable for dancing all night in. A bargain at $6.
Apart from my engagement ring, I borrowed earrings from my mum and a vintage dress pin, turned into a hair clip.
The Builder chose to invest in a new suit. He tried to find a second hand suit, but nothing fit him. I suppose one perk for boys buying a new suit, is that they will likely wear it again. Since the wedding it's been worn five times.
I also let my beautiful bridesmaids choose whatever dress they wanted. I’d rather they pick a dress that’d be worn again.
Hair and Makeup
For the day, I opted to have my hair fashioned by a vintage hairstylist.
Anyone who knows me, has endured my love for vintage. I adored the vintage faux bob, and will admit there was a bit of hairspray used to achieve the look. I had planned to do my own hair for the day. Then I started looking into professional services, and I thought why not. When would be the next time I’ll get to have my hair done like this? Probably never! Should I have given the hairstylist the challenge of finishing the style without hairspray? Yes, I should have and I wish I had. Regardless, I don’t regret getting my hair done…only the hairspray.
While I splurged on my hair, I did my own makeup. I wore my regular compostable lipstick and blush all day and night. I made the decision to borrow my mum’s eyebrow pencil, my sister’s foundation and mascara.
With my beautiful bridesmaids |
The eyebrow powder I use regularly has turmeric in it. I did not want to risk any of it getting onto my dress. It felt weird to have the foundation and blush on my face. I did not regret borrowing the mascara, mine is not waterproof and I cried throughout the speeches.
I feel like I should feel guilty, for not wearing my usual plastic free/zero waste makeup. My homemade makeup is great, but not long wearing. Since this wedding was only going to happen ONCE, I figured why not go with something I knew would last without needing a couple touch ups. I did not want to spend time at my wedding doing that. So just this once, I use old conventional makeup.
Bouquets
The bouquets were made of the same proteas, foraged blossoms and eucalyptus used in the table settings (more on that below). My mum fastened them together with old hessian and twine. They looked beautiful. Thanks Mum!!
The bouquets were made of the same proteas, foraged blossoms and eucalyptus used in the table settings (more on that below). My mum fastened them together with old hessian and twine. They looked beautiful. Thanks Mum!!
Wedding rings
I didn't even think about buying a wedding ring. I knew that I had something suitable in my jewellery box. My wedding ring belonged to my Mum, that I have worn since I was a teenager, just on the other hand. I think many of my friends know it as I've been wearing it that long. I don't know where she got it from, but I liked it so much when I was younger, that I asked for it. And since she never wore it, she passed it over. It's called a Russian wedding ring or also known as a Trinity ring. Three bands intertwined in harmony, three colours of gold: pink for love, yellow for fidelity and white for friendship.
My engagement ring also came from my mother. I have never EVER seen the point of them. When the Builder proposed, he did it without a ring. Then he asked what eco sustainable ring I wanted, and I said none. It's not needed. However, my mother is traditional and so is my now husband. They conspired behind my back, and the Builder presented me with one of my Mum's old rings. She bought it for herself in the 1970s.
The Builder's wedding band is made of gold sourced entirely from his mum, aunt and grandmother's old jewelry from Lebanon. It was simply melted down and turned into a new ring. He likes the connection the ring has to his family and heritage.
Styling the venues
We chose not to style the church. Being an Antiochian Orthodox church, it had enough going on. If you have been to an Orthodox church, you will know what I mean.
The large windows and grand velvet curtains with the high exposed ceilings of Newport Substation were features in themselves. We didn’t see the need to add anything else either.
The main hall before the guests arrived |
Having a wedding in the cooler months allowed us to take advantage of the native gum blossoms. We also used found bark and native seeds to dress the tables. I had planned on gathering proteas from a nearby tree. By the time our wedding rolled around, there was only a handful left. In the end I ended up buying 25 protea’s and silvan red from a Victorian supplier. Total cost was $150.
The flowers were arranged in jars I already owned. Living zero waste and plastic free, means my jar collection is strong. We only had to collect ten extra from family.
Foraging for native flowers, gum leaves and bark then assembling into table decorations |
We used eucalyptus leaves as place cards, writing on each one with a pen I borrowed from the Builders toolset.
Each table had two menus, rather than one per person.
Our catering company lent us old wooden crates to style our gift table/dessert table. I also borrowed old bird cages from a work colleague to use for the wishing well.
Newport Substation had round tables available for use, along with trestle tables. To keep costs low, we utilized these rather than hire. We did need to hire chairs for the night.
Unfortunately, the guest tables were worn chipboard, requiring us to hire table cloths. We rented these along with cloth napkins for the night. A MAJOR oversight by us, was not asking how the linen would be packaged, when dropped off. The linen was wrapped in a soft plastic. We could recycle it through RED Cycle program BUT on each bag was a sticker and some plastic tape. I took these off each plastic bag (you can see the stack of stickers in the photo of our rubbish at the top) before they were dropped off at the recycle bins, otherwise they would not be fit for recycling.
At the end of the night, everything we foraged for, was collected by the catering company for us to then drop off at our local Transfer Station. They collect tree pruning, garden rubbish and green waste. Paper elements left behind were recycled.
Transport
We had the wedding ceremony at St Mary's Antiochian Orthodox Church in Yarraville - a 10 minute drive from the Newport Substation. With 80% of my guests coming from interstate and overseas, we decided on hiring two buses to take people from the ceremony to the reception. If people were travelling long distances, we wanted them to have an easy time getting between the venues, even if it was only a 10 minute drive. It saved on individual cars and also fuel.
The Builder wanted to rent a nice car...I was quite happy to get a taxi. Either way, we needed transport from my house (I don't own a car and I was not driving his dirty ute in my dress). Some arguments later, I let him hire two cars for us. One for us, the other for the bridal party. It was very cool to drive around in a vintage car. It's not something I had done before or will probably ever do again. Probably not the most eco of choices, but compromise is very important in any relationship.
The food
Bringing our own food or asking guests to bring a plate would have been one of the easiest ways to limit waste.
But only if all the guests followed our same lifestyle.
Sending out a request for them to BYO food, with a list of how to prepare and package, so it falls into a zero waste and plastic free category, did not sound like fun. Plus, with so many travelling, the last thing I wanted to do, was put them to work trying to find food in a city they don't know. The idea sounds great, but the execution would have been hard to follow through without some stress.
The quest for a zero waste catering company returned futile results. We ended up choosing Farm Café Catering (Collingwood Children’s Farm) namely because we liked their local and seasonal food philosophy and we had seen the giant compost piles on the farm. The farm sounds far away, but it’s actually in Melbourne, 10 mins from the CBD.
Roasted field mushroom, thyme and blue cheese on sesame brioche bun |
We explained our desire to have a zero waste and plastic free wedding. They jumped on board, helping us along the way.
While the farm had compost on site, they were not allowed to take food served to guests back to the farm for compost.
We flirted with the idea of asking people to bring containers or supply paper boxes for leftovers. The idea was nice, but we did not think enough people would take food home. Especially all those travelling from interstate. Instead, we decided to compost ourselves.
We asked our event manager if we could take the leftover food home for composting. They agreed. The staff put everything in large containers for us, that we picked up on the following Monday.
Composting large amounts of food is not possible for everyone. Melbourne has a pickup service called Compost Collectors. If we did not have our own place to compost, I would have arranged for Compost Collectors to collect it.
Composting the scraps helped reduce waste significantly.
All the food scraps from our wedding! It filled to just over 3/4 of this bin. |
Into the compost it went... |
We were shocked with how much food was left at the end and had to remind ourselves it was 170 people worth of food, and some of the scraps were from prep. It made us think about all the food waste, at all the weddings, going to landfill. Kind of disheartening. The Farm Café are now thinking seriously about how to change this in their own practice.
The reception began with canapes, meaning that either small plates or cloth napkins were needed. Since the space where we were having the canapes was a little tight, we decided on cloth. We asked if we could hire cloth cocktail napkins – neither we nor the catering company could find these for hire. The cloth napkins we hired for dinner were big and bulky. The Farm Café located compostable napkins, so we went with those. They did come wrapped in a soft plastic, that could be recycled through RED Cycle.
In hindsight, we should have looked for place to buy actual cloth napkins as I had an event for Plastic Bag Free Victoria where I could have used them. Regardless, we composted the paper napkins that were used.
We did away with having a wedding cake. Neither of us are big on cake. Instead, the gift table was turned into a dessert, coffee and tea table. We ordered baklava and Turkish delight - the Builder was able to pick these up in our own containers the day before. Milk for the coffee and tea was sourced in returnable glass bottles from La Latteria by our catering company. Tea was loose leaf.
The beverages
Alcohol was an easy option for us. We got to provide most of it in bulk to our guests! And we had no glass that needed recycling at the end of the night.
Melbourne based mobile bar service TAP. provided our wine on the night. All of the wine is dispensed from stainless steel kegs, that are reused.
Choosing TAP. helped reduce the waste associated with wine bottles such as cartons, labels and corks. One keg of wine eliminates the need to manufacture, package, store and dispose of 26 glass bottles.
We served rose, red and white wine along with prosecco. Yes, we had bubbles on tap!
We hired kegs of Victorian Bitter from Kegs on Legs and served homemade Arak (Lebanese spirit) from a family friend.
Whisky was not as easy to source in bulk or refill. The Builder had a conversation with Starward Whisky, a local whisky distillery, about the prospect of offering a refill option at their brewery in the future. We hope they do; it’s great whisky and a 10 minute drive from our house. Fingers crossed the conversation planted a seed for the future. I've already started reusing the empty whisky bottles we bought.
Ice also presented a hurdle. We tried to avoid buying ice in plastic bags. The Builder researched hiring an ice machine. The time, space and money needed to create enough ice presented too many challenges. The Builder queried local pubs on using their ice, but no luck. We went with ice bags and recycled them through RED Cycle.
Non-alcoholic drinks consisted of homemade Lebanese lemonade and water. We borrowed the Builder’s sister juicer for the lemonade making process. It was an epic day making the lemonade. 22L of concentrate was created, then dropped to the catering company in every empty jar and bottle we had spare. Our kitchen floors were sticky for a week!
Bathrooms towels
Why do the bathroom towels get their own unique category? Because this is something we did not think about; how the guests would dry their hands! Luckily the catering company, Farm Café, gathered extra cloth napkins we had hired and put these into the bathrooms, in lieu of paper disposable ones.
Wedding favours
Why do the bathroom towels get their own unique category? Because this is something we did not think about; how the guests would dry their hands! Luckily the catering company, Farm Café, gathered extra cloth napkins we had hired and put these into the bathrooms, in lieu of paper disposable ones.
Wedding favours
We decided to not give people wedding favors. Instead we chose to make a donation to Cure MND Foundation. Guests did receive a small card to let them know of the donation. Sadly most of them were left in the room. They were collected and recycled.
On reflection, a small sign on the gift table would have sufficed.
On reflection, a small sign on the gift table would have sufficed.
Gifts
A request of no physical gifts was made. If they felt inclined, they were welcome to make a contribution to our honeymoon. No one gave us a physical gift on the night, except one of my friends mum, who makes the tastiest fig and ginger jam. She even wrapped it in old cloth.
We recycled the envelopes and kept the cards. Some envelopes we could reuse too!
One guest reused an old envelope, wrote a message on the front of the envelope and put a contribution inside, with no card. It was by far our favorite! Another guest sent an e-card.
A request of no physical gifts was made. If they felt inclined, they were welcome to make a contribution to our honeymoon. No one gave us a physical gift on the night, except one of my friends mum, who makes the tastiest fig and ginger jam. She even wrapped it in old cloth.
We recycled the envelopes and kept the cards. Some envelopes we could reuse too!
One guest reused an old envelope, wrote a message on the front of the envelope and put a contribution inside, with no card. It was by far our favorite! Another guest sent an e-card.
The Builder on the Lebanese drum, while guests danced the dabke |
Final thoughts
None of our guests were aware they had attended a low waste wedding. Not one, suspected that we worked hard to make it sustainable. It was never explained on the invites or on the day, because we didn't feel the need to tell everyone that our wedding was an Eco event. We wanted all the zero waste elements to be a normal part of the day and prove that an Eco wedding can be had and enjoyed by all, even by people who are not that way inclined. We estimated that there were around 60 people that had no idea we even live a low waste lifestyle. And it was not that hard for us to keep our wedding low waste. This is because we kept everything simple. It had all the usual elements of a traditional wedding, we just happened to reduce, reuse, borrow, compost and recycle properly.
The days following our wedding, I was struck with thoughts like, "I should have sourced 20 second hand table cloths to avoid that plastic packaging" or "why did I not make cloth cocktail napkins myself." In the end I had to step back and remind myself that we did the best we could, and that is better than not trying.
Sticking to the zero waste philosophy and aiming to be plastic free, helped us save money too. Our wedding fell way below our budget. We found it easier to cut back on anything that was not needed or served us. While we wanted a low waste wedding, our ultimate aim was to have a fun day with our family and friends.
If you have read over this, and believe you could do a better job at creating a zero waste and plastic free wedding, then I really truly wish you do! I am sharing what we did, the problems encountered, areas we did not pay attention to, anticipating that another couple does come along with the hopes of doing it better. Otherwise, what's the point in sharing this?
- Each wedding is unique, and there are many different factors that make up that special individuality for each one. We found a style that worked for us. Find one that works for you and don't compare your wedding day to another.
- There is no one size fits all for an eco wedding. Do the best with what you have got and suits you. We could have had the ceremony and reception all in one building but, that did not happen for our wedding. And that's okay. An eco wedding does not have to happen on a rural farm or in a rural location. It does not have to be boho or hippy themed. It does not have to be small. It can work just fine in the suburbs with as many people as you want there.
- Ask your catering company about using seasonal, local food and their views on composting or research composting companies. You could also choose catering companies that support community or charity initiatives like Asylum Seeker Resource Centre.
- If you want to have a styled wedding, then see how you can do it with less waste, by asking some questions like; where was this item made, where will it end up at the end of its life cycle and can it be reused. Most props used to style weddings can be hired or borrowed out.
- Assuming and not asking questions of our suppliers, led to the plastic waste that was created. Neither of us had planned a wedding before, nor an event for over a hundred people. So asking those tough eco questions is a must!
- While I was able to design and print my own material for the wedding, I understand most don’t have this option. If you are going to have material designed and printed for your event, simply ask your designer exactly what you what in terms of a sustainable end product. Most designers and printers will have a good idea and contacts to help.
- If you are fortunate enough to have access to an office printer, or simply want to print at home, then finding 100% sustainable recycled post-consumer paper is not difficult. All specialty paper stores will either have it in stock, or can source it for you.
- We had our wedding photos before the ceremony so we could get people onto buses and to the venue 20 minutes after the ceremony finished. I had to fight the Builder for this, as I did not want my guests to linger in the cold while we posed for photos. Plus I wanted to spend time with them, not having my photo taken. After all, they traveled a great distance to see us. The Builder has since agreed this was a great decision as it saved us time to just enjoy the flow of the day. We still had that special moment of seeing each other for the first time, aisle or no aisle.
- There are many different ways to offer gifts to your wedding guests that are low waste and plastic free (plants, homemade jam, seeds - pinterst has numerous suggestions!). It's not a necessity to give one. Most weddings I have been to, have never had wedding favours.
- I Do Gowns, Still White and Easy Weddings allows brides to buy and sell second hand dresses.
- I even looked at hiring a dress. Here are some of the companies I looked at: Sunset Bridal (Melbourne based bridal boutique), Something Borrowed, Rent My Rack, Glam Corner, Runway Collection.com.au. There are several options to hire formal dresses that would look great as wedding dresses.
- Ask friends (married or not married) if they have anything you can borrow. You would be surprised by what people will offer too.
- Check out your local second hand clothing stores.
- Another worthy mention is visiting reuse craft stores like Resource Rescue. They are a non-profit organisation which collects rejects, seconds and factory off cuts for distribution to the community. Another handy idea if you are looking for fun, funky pieces is to visit the The Junk Map, to find salvage yards.
- If you can't forage for flowers, ask friends with flower gardens or simply choose flowers that are local and in season.
- Avoid the throw away items, and hire ones that can be washed like proper cutlery, plates, glasses and cloth napkins. And only plastic straws if a guest needed them.
- Have fun :) The last tip being the most important.
I love it! Wish I had read this before planning ours. I kept things simple but did not attempt zero waste. Well done!
ReplyDeleteThanks Liz :) I bet your day was amazing regardless.
Delete"I feel like I should feel guilty, for not wearing my usual plastic free/zero waste makeup."
ReplyDeleteNope! No guilt, no shame. You even BORROWED the makeup, and thus didn't create a need for anything new.
Your whole wedding was thoughtful and gorgeous. Thank you so much for sharing your stories!
My husband and I both wear hand-me-down wedding rings; he wears his late grandfather's ring, and mine belonged to a beloved friend's mother. My friend couldn't have children, so she handed the ring down to me instead.
It's really nice to pass on and wear jewelry connected to those we love. I believe it makes those pieces so much more special. Thanks for taking the time to read the story. I do feel better about borrowing the makeup too.
DeleteAmazing! looks like a fantastic day, you look gorgeous.
ReplyDeleteIt was a wonderful day. Thanks for the kind comment :)
DeleteYou look beautiful! Your dress is gorgeous.
ReplyDeleteMy favorites were the leaves with the names written on them.
Thank you!! I got that idea from the woman who gave us her old candles. It added a nice touch to the tables, while also being compostable at the end.
DeleteEverything looked beautiful! I am so impressed with how well you did being sustainable and almost zero waste while still creating an elegant affair. I love that you got the companies involved thinking about the waste produced. Visually seeing the compost container for a low waste waste wedding had to be an eye opener. I'm interested in how much would be there after a 'normal' wedding.
ReplyDeleteThe companies were really great - especially TAP. wines and our catering manager. The compost was a huge shock for us. We actually went through it, to see what was eaten and not eaten haha. Kinda of gross but was interesting to know. Our worms loved it :)
DeleteCONGTATULATIONS!!! This was all amazing. I aspire to have a zero waste wedding as succesful and joyous as yours. I will definitely be referencing this in the future.
ReplyDeleteThanks Kathryn :) I bet you will achieve both!!
DeleteSo impressive and inspiring. Love all the stories attached to stuff, so much better than buying. Also impressed with all the solutions your catering company helped with. The 'compromises' of the vintage cars, hair spray, and borrowed makeup seem like fantastic ones to make. Congrats to you and the builder on a fabulous special day. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteThank you :) Our catering team and TAP. wines were fantastic. It was great having someone support your decisions to lower waste. As for the compromises, they were small and I'm okay with them now.
DeleteI really admire what you both did. You looked stunning, in fact everything about your wedding looked stunning! Such an amazing example to show people how to have a beautiful day whilst putting thought and actions into leaving minimal waste and caring about the environmental footprint. Super impressed!
ReplyDeleteThanks. We didn't want to make it too obvious that it was a low waste wedding. Some people were aware of our lifestyle, while others were not. We wanted to show that making thoughtful choices and being low waste can be part of a normal wedding day.
DeleteWOW, what a wonderfull wedding. It motivates me that you conclude it wasn't hard to keep your wedding low waste. I just wonder if it would be the same in Germany since my county is champion in packaging literally everything.
ReplyDeleteMoreover I found an idea of what to do with my great granny's old dress pins: "a vintage dress pin, turned into a hair clip".
Greetings from Berlin,
Frieda
I have been to Germany a couple times, and let me say that your country is far more environmentally aware than my country. For instance, you recycling is amazing!! And I noticed so many little choices people and business made to be sustainable everyday. With some planning, you just may find out how easy it would be to plan a low waste wedding in Germany.
DeleteCongratulations Erin from the REDcycle team. What a beautiful day you created for you, your husband and your guests. I'm so sorry to let you know that you could have recycled the paper labels from the table cloth bags through the REDcycle Program. Small paper labels (up to about A5 size)are not a problem for us. But sticky tape is, so you were absolutely right to remove this. Again, I'm so sorry we haven't publicised the fact that we can accept small paper labels better.
ReplyDeleteHi Catherine, thanks for letting me know this!!! I will amend the blog post so others will know for the future. If it weren't for the REDcycle option, we would have created much more rubbish. Thank you for providing such a great service.
DeleteThis is SO lovely and inspiring!! Thanks for sharing! I'm floored by all of your incredible efforts to live up to the zero waste aspiration.
ReplyDeleteThanks Liz :) It was a challenge to pull it all together in five months, but I think we did an OK job.
DeleteYes, great job! I share your zero waste ambition and share with others through www.cookingtochangetheworld.com. Thus far without wedding. One never knows :-) Be well, Erin.
ReplyDeleteThanks Hana. Thats so awesome that you incorporate zero waste into your cooking courses :)
DeleteHello Erin. I much belated congratulations for both your wedding and joyous expansion of your family! I am so grateful for your blog in general, and for this post. I am at the starting phases of wedding planning, and needed inspiration for making the entire process zero or almost zero-waste. I truly love that you took the time to break down each component of your wedding, and explain how you achieved a beautiful, styled celebration without compromising your values. Thanks again!
ReplyDeleteHi Julie, congratulations on your upcoming wedding :) We are about to celebrate our first year of marriage this weekend. Have fun planning the wedding, and of course on the day!! The day flies by too quickly.
DeleteHi Erin. Congratulation on the wonderful wedding! Congratulation on Tifl!
ReplyDeleteMy sister is planning a low waste wedding and I will be a bridesmaid so I needed some ideas for the entire process. I really like idea to buy my dress from a second hand shop.
Thanks Sheryl and congratulations on your important role as bridesmaid. There are so many places to buy beautiful second hand dresses these days. Enjoy helping your sister plan her low waste wedding!
DeleteWow! I love your post! I grew up Antiochian Orthodox as well, however most of the weddings I attended growing up were very basic and just focused on the ceremony, so I loved that you were able to tie in your faith and a charming wedding.
ReplyDeleteI will be getting married in June 2018 in Alaska, and while I have decided not to have a church wedding I am having a sustainable and hopefully zero waste wedding and your post was such a breath of fresh air and encouragement that I can do it. I will be using this frequently to help me plan!
All the best with your wedding nest year. Enjoy everything, including the planning. I bet it will be amazing. And Alaska, what a destination!!
DeleteThis was very fun to read about. When my husband and I got married back in 98 we were not thinking about zero waste at all but thinking back it is still pretty neat to think of all the ways we were able to avoid trash. We were very frugal and so it was a very DIY sort of wedding - from my Dad making candelabras to me making may dress and the other dresses and men's vests to my sister and a friend making the cakes and foraging for wild greens and doing our own flowers and decorating. We certainly had more waste than you did but much less than normal. These days I am a wedding floral designer (I am just a little jealous that you can just go out and pick all sorts of eucalyptus! ) and I work to produce just as little waste as possible and to use recycled jars and other packaging to deliver my flowers in.
ReplyDeleteI'm impressed by the handmade candelabras. What a talented Dad! Like you, I enjoyed putting many handmade touches into the wedding. Sounds like you picked the right profession to work in as well. I worked in a florist many many years ago and I remember the amount of waste. Good job doing your part through your love of weddings and flowers.
DeleteNice done!
ReplyDeleteHello, those were some incredible and pliable ideas to make a wedding, I wish I applied some of them in our wedding three months ago, but I guess some learn the hard way. The cleaning after the wedding was horrible, although the rubbish removal firm did their best to help us remove all the trash, we had to do a lot of job the clean the mess.
ReplyDeleteSo so beautiful, thank you for sharing! Approximately how much did your wedding cost..?
ReplyDeleteOur wedding cost around $30K! Less than the average wedding which is $65,000 but still a big sum to swallow at the end.
Delete
ReplyDeleteHotel Bed Linens Wholesale collections typically refer to a curated set of bed linens, towels, and other textiles used in hotels to provide a comfortable and luxurious experience for guests.
Choose linens that are easy to wash and quick to dry. Colorfastness: Ensure the colors do not fade after repeated washes. Aesthetics, Design hotel bed sheets manufacturers and Color: Select neutral or classic colors that match the hotel’s décor and are easy to maintain. Finishing Touches: Look for details like double stitching or hemstitching for added durability and elegance.
ReplyDelete