How to keep your Wedding Styling Eco-friendly

Styling your wedding is all about making it beautifully you. Transforming the space to create feelings of togetherness and happiness, nurturing joyful moments between friends and family - and ultimately getting you dancing the night away!

Styling your venue doesn’t however need to cost the earth (literally!). Beautiful weddings and a beautiful planet should (and can!) go hand in hand. Here are a few tips to help you tread lightly on the planet whilst still having the wedding of your dreams.

As a general rule, think before you buy. Ask yourself, where does it come from? What is it made of? Do I really need this?

1.      Hire instead of buying new

There are numerous companies in New Zealand who specialise in renting out all sorts of hire items for your big day. We’re talking furniture, linens, plates, crockery, ceremony arches, styling accessories… The list goes on. You can pick from their inventory online and they can deliver straight to your venue, and set up too. It really doesn’t get easier than this.

From luxury to ‘just what you need’ hire items and from boho to minimalist, the price range and styles are endless. So whatever your budget or vision, you’ll definitely find what suits you. Inventories evolve frequently so keep an eye out for what’s new in stock!

Styling accessories and furniture hired from various local New Zealand hire companies

2.       Use reusable, pre-loved, recycled, second hand goods

Why buy new when you can buy second hand? Pre-loved goods are our absolute favourite. Head over to your local op shop or online on the Marketplace and Trademe. If you are in or around Whakatane, we recommend the Community Reuse Centre, Crew (one of our top hang outs). You will find an unlimited amount of goods waiting to live their second (third, or fourth!) life. Get creative, transform the object into something else - upcycling is what we call sustainable creativity!

You’re also doing good by investing your money in charities. And let’s be honest, who doesn’t love bragging about their $5 treasures found at the second hand shop?!

Why not use some of your personal belongings too? We’re always keen to incorporate items which have special meaning into our designs.

Golden mirror and vessels bought from the Waipuna Hospice in Papamoa

3.       Favour local and seasonal flowers

Florals are usually a key styling element in many weddings. Flowers are delicate, colourful, and many associate them to happy feelings. Favour florists who use locally grown or foraged, seasonal and organic flowers.

Don’t hesitate to ask your florist where the flowers come from. There is no need to order flowers in from overseas when we have so many talented floral growers right here in Aotearoa.

Native flowers foraged in rural Bay of Plenty. Left: white climbing rata, right: manuka and kamahi

4.       Support sustainably friendly floral practices

Yes the floral industry can be wasteful, but don’t be disheartened - you can still have the floral of your dreams without the waste. Apply the same rules to the floral industry as you would to your every day life. Use reusable, natural and compostable materials instead of single use and non-biodegrable. A few swaps such as jute string instead of floral tape and water containers instead of floral foam are a great starting point.

Other floral nasties to stay away from: bleached, chemically dyed and painted plant material as well as weeds (pampas being a big one at the moment - an easy swap: use New Zealand native Toetoe instead).

Bridal bouquets using a combination of freshly cut and dried native flowers and foliage

5.       Style your wedding with plants

It is no secret, for us, plants are the optimum styling element. They are beautiful, living and connect every single one of us closer to nature. But let’s delve a little deeper on why they are such an environmentally friendly styling option for your big day. The first reason is they are reusable. Unlike flowers which are cut, and then either thrown away, composted (or kept by the couple if dried), plants will be reused over and over again limiting your waste and helping you tread lightly on the planet.

By using living plants, you are also eliminating the worry of your cut foliage drooping as your plant hire company will ensure the plants are well watered on delivery so they look perky and fresh all day and night long.

Also most plant hire companies will either sell, give away or plant their old stock, so the plants are never wasted. Favour plant hire companies who grow their plants organically and offer planter pots made of natural or recycled materials.

Living plants native to Aotearoa, New Zealand

6.       Support local

Great for the local economy – and the environment! The closer your florist, stylist, furniture hire company, venue (and so on…) is to you, the less carbon will be emitted by the travel from the supplier’s home base to your wedding venue.

If your preferred vendors are not local to you, we’d suggest buying carbon credits to offset your carbon emissions. You can do so through companies such as Ekos. This will fund the growth and protection of indigenous forests.

Head over to Less Stuff More Meaning website and check out their wedding footprint calculator to understand the full environmental impact of your big day.

A combination of dried ferns fronds, bronze grasses and white climbing rata

7.       Work with what you’ve got

Last but not least, work with your venue’s environment. Make the most of what is already onsite: the trees on the property, the existing décor, natural backgrounds, etc. Sometimes not much decoration is needed at all. A natural landscape is sometimes as beautiful as it will get. You may only need a few led festoon lights, a candle or two to warm the ambiance at night or some flowers from your garden for example… You don’t need all that stuff, just because.

We are strong believers less is more, unless we’re talking plants obviously.

One may say you can never have enough plants :-)

Views over Lake Tarawera at the Black Barn wedding venue

Thanks for reading. We hope you found some of these tips useful and will be able to implement these in your wedding day. Feel free to get in touch if you have any questions or comments, or need a hand styling your eco wedding.

Love from,

Claire and Rocky, HapPea Events