Sustainable & Minimal Impact Weddings

What is a sustainable/minimal impact wedding?

When I first started learning about “sustainability”, “zero waste”, and “leave no trace” almost three years ago, never did I ever think I would be writing a blog post about the topic (or that I would have a blog at all, really). At the time, being a photographer wasn’t even on my radar. But it’s been a really natural transition for me to take the principles I learned and have been practicing in my personal life and apply them to my photography business. And I’m really excited that I get to help my couples learn about the topic and specifically how they can have a sustainable wedding. 

One of the reasons I’m drawn to and choose to photograph intimate weddings and elopements is that by default they are already so much more sustainable than big, traditional weddings. Two people eloping create a lot less waste than 200 guests would. Heck, even a 30 guest intimate wedding creates a lot less waste than most “average” weddings. But just because you’re having an intimate wedding or are eloping doesn’t mean your responsibility is over – every decision during your wedding planning process can make a difference, from the dress you wear to the flowers you choose to the food you eat (and even what you eat it on). The vendors you hire can also play a huge role in helping you create a sustainable day – just remember that no decision is too small to make a difference for the planet. 

The way I like to explain sustainability is knowing how our actions impact the planet, and making choices that have low or no impact. For example, buying from a local small business is more sustainable than buying products from a national chain that has a store in your area, which is more sustainable than shopping on Amazon – it all has to do with how the products are transported to your location (plane + delivery truck vs. just a delivery truck vs. personal vehicle or possibly even hand made). Washing your clothes on the tap cold setting and line drying is more sustainable than washing them on the tap cold setting and drying in a machine, which is more sustainable than washing them on the hot setting and drying in a machine – basically it has to do with how much energy you’re using (hot water uses a lot of energy and there’s not really a proven benefit to washing your clothes with hot water – in fact it can make them wear out faster which then leads to you needing to buy new clothes sooner … you get the picture). Every single action we take can have a negative or positive impact, and it’s up to us to learn about those impacts so that we can make better choices. 

Now we’re going to plan a sustainable wedding together (*sustainability will look different for every couple based on their wedding location, guest count, the vendors they hire, etc.). Let’s imagine a mountain elopement in Colorado. The couple plans to hike to a scenic overlook to say their vows. Once there, they will relax and enjoy a charcuterie board picnic while soaking in the views. After exploring to their hearts’ content, they will head back down the mountain and enjoy the sunset while soaking in a natural hot spring near the private cabin they have rented. This couple has planned a simple day, but it is their perfect day and really reflects their relationship. The first question they ask themselves is …

Why is having a sustainable wedding important?

So many of the things used for weddings are single use – your wedding dress, paper or plastic plates/utensils/napkins/decorations/etc., favors … you get the picture. It’s also estimated that 10% of all wedding food gets thrown away. On top of being bad for the environment, all of those things are literally money being tossed in the trash. 

Another thing to consider when thinking about having a sustainable wedding is the location. Intimate weddings and elopements in remote locations, national parks, and wilderness areas are extremely popular right now (for good reason), but unfortunately with an increase in human traffic also comes an increase in the destruction of those wild and beautiful locations. I firmly believe that if you love a place enough to get married in it, you should love it enough to do everything possible to keep it beautiful so that others in the future can learn to love it as much as you do. 

Let’s make this a little more real. Say you want to get married in Arches National Park. Did you know that a single footstep off the trail in Southern Utah can destroy hundreds of years of soil growth (yeah, the stuff’s alive) and can take 50+ years to recover – and that’s under the best circumstances (read more here). Or how about Mount Rainier National Park? A single step off the trail there can damage the fragile soil and decrease its ability to support wildflower growth (read why this is important here). These are just a few examples of how even a single person can have an impact on the environment, but the main point I want to make is that every outdoor location is susceptible to harm by humans, and in order to recreate responsibly we must learn how we can best protect and steward the land we will be visiting. 

After learning about wedding waste and the importance of leave no trace, the next question our eloping couples has is …

How can I have a more sustainable wedding?

1. Hire wedding vendors who run sustainable businesses. For me that looks like educating my couples on sustainability and following Leave No Trace principles when photographing my couples. For wedding florists and caterers that might look like only using locally sourced, in season flowers and ingredients. All wedding vendors have ways to make their businesses sustainable – it’s up to you to choose the ones you want to support.

2. Consider thrifting, borrowing, renting, and repurposing when making purchases for your wedding. This can be everything from dishes to decorations to your wedding attire. Imagine planning a hiking elopement and (carefully) packing your grandmother’s wedding china to eat your picnic lunch off of – what a special way to include her on your wedding day while at the same time not producing any waste! Or imagine finding a vintage wedding dress and having a seamstress alter it into the dress of your dreams!

3. If you do choose to include your closest family or friends on your wedding day, create a digital location guide for them that includes the reasons why you love that specific location, the features that make that location unique, and how they can help protect that environment when they attend your wedding.

Let’s go back to that mountain elopement and take a look at some different options our couple has to choose from:

After researching the location of their elopement, they decide to get married on a weekday instead of a weekend. They’ll be more likely to have the beautiful view all to themselves, and less traffic on the trails makes it easier to stay on the trail at all times.

There are a few hiking items they will need for their wedding day, but instead of buying brand new they will ask around their friend group first to see if anyone has what they need – as an added bonus this will count as “something borrowed”.

A local cafe sells everything they need for their charcuterie board picnic. In addition, all the ingredients this cafe uses are locally sourced and organic. Since it is a small business, the cafe owner is able to sell them only the portions they know they will eat and wrap the food up without using plastic. Packed carefully in a thrifted picnic basket along with plates, utensils, and napkins borrowed from her grandmother, the couple will enjoy their mountaintop meal without producing any waste.

While exploring the beautiful natural area they have chosen to spend their wedding day in, our couple makes sure they enjoy wildlife from a distance, always stay on established trails, and they don’t take any souvenirs other than the (stunning) photos their photographer takes.

By enjoying a soak in a natural hot spring rather than a hot tub, the couple eliminates the use of electricity to heat the water.

When a wedding day is broken down like this, it’s easy to see that sustainability can be achieved when you plan ahead and prioritize it. Of course there are so many other details that I did not include in this example, BUT when you book me to photograph your wedding you will receive a comprehensive wedding guide that emphasizes sustainability at every step in the planning process.

I hope this post is helpful to you as you plan your wedding. In full transparency, I’m not perfect when it comes to sustainability – no one is. It’s an on-going learning process, and I look forward to learning more about this topic for the rest of my life. I believe that one of the best things you can do for yourself on your sustainability journey is to give yourself grace, because there’s nothing sustainable about trying to do all the “right” things at once, becoming frustrated, burning yourself out, and then giving up. So keep learning and keep growing. Ask for help when you don’t know something. The fact that you read this blog post is a step in the right direction. Now go out there and plan the sustainable wedding of your dreams! 

I’m a wife, a dog mom, a foodie, a wanderer, a registered nurse, and a couples/intimate wedding/elopement photographer … and this blog will cover it all! If you enjoyed this post, first of all thank you, and second of all please follow me on Instagram + Facebook to get updates on future blog posts, see sneak peeks of my amazing couples, and so much more! If you have any questions about elopement photography, my journey from nursing to photography, or my time spent as a full-time RVer, drop a comment and I just might write a blog post answering your question (but I definitely will)!

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