An Eco-Friendly Wedding All Starts with Location!

If you want to make eco-friendly and green choices with your upcoming wedding, then it all starts with location, location, location! Of course, your wedding venue sets the scene for your special day, and it also makes up a serious chunk of your budget. This is why focusing on an eco-friendly setting for your wedding venue will not only save you money, but it will also minimize your impact on the environment.

Here are some important considerations to keep in mind…

• Convenience. It really does make a difference to choose a venue that is convenient to the majority of your guests, which will minimize gas and travel costs for everyone in attendance. This means that it pays to shop around locally and off of the beaten path, where you may choose to rent out a library, city center, or even local park so that everyone in your city can conveniently attend your wedding and reception.

• Individuality. Instead of renting out a large hall for your wedding, which may be quite expensive, you can search for unique venues, like a nonprofit organization, botanical garden, organic restaurant, or even art gallery. This is a fun way to choose a venue that supports a cause that you already believe in, and they may be more likely to offer you organic food and drinks to cater your reception.

• Outdoors. There’s no better way to be close to Mother Nature than choosing an outdoor wedding venue! This will require less decorating on your part, and it will also allow you to focus on the beauty of the earth as you celebrate your union. On top of that, if you happen to have anyone you know with a beautiful backyard or property, you can often cut down on your wedding venue costs astronomically by holding your ceremony and reception at the beautiful property of someone that you know.

• Entrance. You can still go green when you arrive at your ceremony by choosing a hybrid car, rickshaw, or horse-drawn carriage to minimize your carbon footprint. Not only is this friendly to Mother Earth, but it is also a fun and unique way to pull up to your wedding that all of your guests will remember!

• Awareness. Last of all, make sure that you help all of your guests choose eco-friendly transportation and hotel options if they are coming in from out of town by giving them links to green hotels in your area and resources for hybrid rental cars. Your guests will be thankful for the helpful information, and you will also be giving them the opportunity to go green as they visit you to celebrate your wedding!

~Bethany Ramos is wedding makeup artist and professional freelance writer that co-owns her own business, The Coffee Bump. For a great selection of Bunn coffee makers, check out Bethany Ramos' website today!