• Type:
  • Genre:
  • Duration:
  • Average Rating:

Sustainable

What are some easy things we can do to minimize waste for our wedding?

Q: What are some easy things we can do to minimize waste for our wedding?

VIDEO SUMMARY

There are so many fun and easy things that you can do to minimize waste for your wedding, so start with decorations and buy them pre loved. Things like table, number holders, signs, frames, cardboxes easels, all these little things that get bought for one day and they have no other purpose but to be used for a wedding. Get them pre loved instead of new on Amazon and Etsy, there’s so much of this stuff already floating around out there, and you can find it in Facebook groups or here in Chicago, we have the Green Wedding Alliance ReCyclery, which is a big wedding decor garage sale with stationery. A lot of sustainable couples will go the digital route, and that’s great for save the dates because it’s just an announcement like, hey, we’re engaged. We’re getting married in this city on this date. But with invitations, you run the risk of people opening these invites, and then they get busy and they forget to open it again and respond. So you might have to do some more work getting those rsVPS. So I recommend going paper. Just make sure you’re using paper made out of recycled materials, biodegradable materials like cotton, handmade papers, seed papers, and for both of them with the elders, make sure you are sending paper copies for them, because we don’t want to make things hard on them. If you are giving your guests favors or gifts, make sure it’s a consumable item like foods, drinks, candles, plants, things that are actually going to be used instead of some decorations that have your names and date on them. And only provide enough for about 50% to 70% of the guest count because most people don’t take these things home at the end of the night. If you’re having a wedding party which is bridesmaids and groomsmen, or you’re people of honor and you’re not particular about the look of your wedding, or you want to get creative, have them go into their closets and reuse things from past weddings or just things that they have in their closet already. So many of us, by the time we’re 30, have dresses from past weddings, suits, tuxes. So just give your wedding party guidelines on color, formality and seasonality and let them have fun with it. And then your wedding is going to have a look that is so unique and not found anywhere else. All right, that’s it. Bye.

We don’t have any eco-friendly vendors near us. What should we do?

Q: We don’t have any eco-friendly vendors near us. What should we do?

VIDEO SUMMARY

So this is interesting because if you don’t have eco friendly vendors near you and you want to be sustainable, you’re going to have to get creative. So if you can hire a composting service, you can have them come to your venue and they will manage the waste sorting happening during the event. They’ll haul away the compost and then they handle the actual composting itself. And if you can’t do that, or in addition to that, you can get creative with your design. Flowers are not the only way to wow your guests. So things that you can do that are design related are things like upgrading your linens to something that’s nicer, thicker, it has a nice weight to it so it doesn’t show wrinkles. Things like different textures, like velvet are really nice. Also, pick out unique dinner wear and glassware. Use a mix of different sized and colored candles. Don’t forget about Led candles. Work with a lighting vendor that can emphasize certain areas in the venue. They can really work with you to create the atmosphere you want and create the energy that you want. And also this is a fun one if you’re getting married on a Saturday or a Sunday, see if the venue can connect you with the decor company, helping the couple getting married the day before you. So you can reuse any hanging decorations like greenery installations, flower installations, depending on the type of flower. If it’s something dried, like baby’s breath, drapery, lighting for your event as well, see if you can reuse it. And this way you split the cost with that couple, saving you both money and you’re giving the decorations and greenery a second life before it gets taken down. All right, that’s it.

What can we do to make our wedding eco-friendly?

Q: What can we do to make our wedding eco-friendly?

VIDEO SUMMARY

This is a great question. Here are my top three tips. Number one, consider the venue very carefully. Think about the location and how convenient it is for where most of your guests are coming from and to where you want to be located for all the things on your wedding weekend. Also, think about if the venue has most things in house, like tables, chairs, linens, lounge furniture, tabletop items, and the food and drinks. If that stuff is in house, then you don’t need a bunch of trucks coming and going on your wedding day to make deliveries and pickups. This will significantly cut down on carbon emissions. Number two, book local wedding vendors with ecofriendly practices, especially caterers and florists. If they are eco friendly, they will have smart waste management and prioritize composting. They source their ingredients and flowers locally and seasonally, and they don’t use things like flower foam styrofoam to transport. Number three, provide a shuttle for your guests. This will significantly cut down on the number of cars coming and going on your wedding day. All right, that’s it for now.

Scroll to top

Ready to answer our couple’s burning questions?

Here are some tips and tricks to film a great video that stops the scroll:

1

Start with a hook.

You’ve got 3-5 seconds to stop the viewer’s scroll. Be creative… start with a phrase like:

  • Oh hell no, just no…
  • Absolutely not…
  • Yes, yes, yes! You should do this…
  • It depends on one very important thing…

2

Give a super quick intro.

We’ll put your name and bio in the title and links, so you can say something more general like:

“I’m Robin, a photographer in Chicago and after shooting 500 weddings…”
Or
“I’m not only a wedding planner in Chicago, but a newlywed myself…”

3

Answer away!

Give them your hot take, and don’t hold anything back.

Examples of what we are looking for:

check out how Sal nailed it in this video and so did Megan in this one and Nichole told it straight (from her car).

Tips for filming

Filming vertically on your phone.

TikTok is vertical for good reason - Gen Z have spoken!

Good audio is more important than good video.

Find a quiet room (that isn’t an echoey bathroom!).

Make sure your face is bright enough.

Standing near a large window or lamp is helpful - You want to be brighter than your background.

Nothing works better than a good story.

If you have any experiences you can share to help answer the question, go for it!

Bring
the energy!

Down an espresso, pump yourself up, and let the answers pour out! Our couples want as much honesty as they can get.

Featured Question

Q: Is there really a wedding mark up?

Do you feel like the industry charges more “because it’s a wedding” and they know it’s an emotional purchase?

Do companies think that they can charge more for weddings since the bride and groom may be willing to spend more on their dream wedding?

Hey wedding pros – is this higher price tag justified? Why? Do you charge more for your service if it is a wedding?

This is a taboo topic, whispered but not discussed… until now.

Welcome to The Uncorked Project!

Join the conversation!

Welcome back to

Log in to continue