Photo credits: Lei Lei Clavey / Lei Lei Photography
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What happens when a sustainable fashion blogger gets married? A carbon neutral wedding of course!
Being a sustainable fashion blogger (let’s emphasise the word sustainable there!) we knew Britt wouldn’t be a slave to the hyped up fast fashion wedding trends. Instead she focused on beautiful, ethical, sustainable choices for her wedding and the result was a perfectly curated carbon neutral wedding.
Married on their family’s property in Mornington Peninsula, Britt and Pete went for a classic look that really matched the vibe of the manicured gardens of the family property. To keep travel miles low, they focussed on local vendors such as local caterer Finesse Catering which sources much of its local produce to reduce its environmental impact, locally sourced locally grown roses from Tully’s Corner Produce Store, as well as serving Australian East Coast wines and beers.
Locally grown flowers
The beautiful grounds at the family property in the Mornington Peninsula, where flowers were planted so they were blooming for the wedding!
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But it wasn’t as simple as it sounds. It turns out Britt initially hadn’t thought much beyond the sustainability of their gorgeous outfits, which is where the Less Stuff More Meaning Wedding Footprint Calculator came in. With lots of interstate guests flying in (flying has a big environmental impact) and 100 guests to cater for, Britt soon realised the carbon footprint was going to be substantial.
By using our calculator, Britt and Pete could make as many sustainable and ethical choices as possible, keeping the vendor’s travel to a minimum by choosing local vendors, and then offsetting their carbon footprint by using one of our awesome vendors Greenfleet.
Britt and Pete planted a tree on their wedding day, a beautiful and symbolic gesture for a marriage!
The local caterer used locally grown foods
Choosing local wines and beers made their carbon footprint smaller
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The fashion was always going to be carefully considered, with Britt choosing an ethically made gown by Kamperett, and Pete and the groomsmen wearing M.J. Bale – Australia’s first fully carbon neutral fashion brand. And let’s not forget the Loeffler Randall heels, which Britt purchased secondhand off Facebook Marketplace.
Britt’s ethically made Kamperett wedding gown
The Loeffler Randall heels were secondhand off Facebook Marketplace
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Their rings were designed and made by Brisbane-based artist and jeweller Paula Walden, using and repurposing some family jewels.
We asked Britt to share her experience with planning a carbon neutral wedding.
The aisle confetti was leftover petals from the flower arrangements
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What was your experience with using the calculator?
Less Stuff, More Meaning’s carbon footprint calculator was really easy to use and straightforward in the information required. A lot is calculated “per guest” so if you know how many people are coming interstate, internationally etc that’s covered pretty easily. I was surprised when I saw the outcome of the impact – with approximately 400 trees required to offset the footprint. But I now realise that’s the reality of hosting an event of that scale.
What aspect of your wedding had the biggest carbon footprint?
Easily the biggest contributor to carbon emissions for our event was guests travelling. Our wedding was held at my partner’s family home in Mornington Peninsula, but we live in Queensland. So more than half of our guests travelled interstate for the wedding.
With the transparent marquee showing off the garden, along with mismatched vintage furniture, minimalist florals and secondhand vintage plates -this wedding had an elegant and timeless atmosphere
The mismatched vintage plates were a sweet touch
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Did you make any changes when you discovered the environmental impact of some of your choices?
Prior to using the calculator, we had already done a number of things to reduce our impact. Natural fibre garments + recycled jewellery + hiring tableware and buying second hand where we could + working with local suppliers and locally sourced produce and drinks etc. The unavoidable impact was travel and food, which is where the major part of the offset was.
Did you feel like you had to miss out on things in order to have a carbon-neutral wedding?
I don’t really feel like we missed out on anything, but that’s because I am inclined to choose environmentally friendly options in the first instance. If I wanted to get the impact down even further, we could have fed out guests less or reduced the number of people attending. But I was happy to offset that rather than reducing our headcount.
The sustainable, solar powered portable toilets by Gather Round were actually cute!
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What is your top tip for a couple planning an eco-ethical wedding?
Get creative. We bought our reception plates from op shops so we had gorgeous miss-matched vintage plates with no carbon footprint. We also found a sustainable solar powered port a loo with recycled toilet paper.
Ultimately, if you want to keep you footprint to a minimum, you want to get married locally with a small number of guests. But if that’s not for you – there’s lots of ways to reduce your impact and offset the rest.
We’re so thrilled that we could help Britt and Pete make their wedding carbon neutral, and if you’d like to hear more about their wedding you can head straight to the source by checking out Britt’s blog Britt’s List.
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WEDDING SUPPLIERS
Photos: Lei Lei Clavey Photography
Celebrant: Ceremonies With Sarah
Design and styling: St Clement Creative
Flowers: @abbeyhg & Tully’s Corner Produce Store
Hair and make up: Pink Gloss
Outfits: Kamperett | Rachel Comey | M.J.Bale
Rings and accessories: Paula Walden | Louise Olsen | Kavalri
Shoes: Loeffler Randall | RM Williams
Furniture and marquee: Peninsula Party Hire | A Day to Remember
Catering: Finesse Catering Group
Cake: Torte By Mirjana
Amenities: Gather Round
