Planning a Sustainable Micro Wedding
After over a decade in the hospitality industry, and half of those being an event coordinator, I know first hand how wasteful huge weddings can be. The amount of leftover food, the excessive use of single use items, the lame favors that nobody wants.
We got engaged in March 2020, just as the whole world was shutting down and plans were being cancelled, and suddenly my whole view on weddings changed. I’ve planned hundreds of other people’s weddings, but when it comes to planning my own — I’m suddenly faced with the hard questions.
What do I want that day to look like?
Who is most important in our lives?
How much do we actually want to spend?
I know it’ll be almost impossible to have a completely sustainable wedding, and at the same time, I have been dreaming of this day since Pinterest was born. I have also worked in events and as a florist and a watercolor artist and so yeah — I have given A LOT of thought about what I want that day to aesthetically look like. So how am I going to plan this in the most sustainable way that I can?
My Ring
There are several companies making sustainable engagement rings so there is no reason to get a real diamond, lab created ones are actually brighter and clearer than mined ones. My engagement ring is from Vrai and I love their values and mission and how much they give back. I get so many compliments on my ring and sometimes people will stop in their tracks to look at it. It’s gorgeous and I LOVE it!
My dress
The first place I went to try on dresses was a cute little boutique shop in an adorable little cottage, literally can’t make that up. And while I did find some very nice dresses and the stylist was extremely helpful, I couldn’t get myself to spend more than $2000 much on a dress — especially one I didn’t love.
The second place I went to was a consignment dress shop. I went in with zero expectations and ended up having multiple that I really liked. They had dresses in every size and style, classic a-line to lacey with long trains to bejeweled ballgowns.
I had narrowed it down to two that were similar, retried both on and did the photo test and the sit down test. The phone test is what does this dress look like on in photos. The sit down test is sitting down for a couple minutes to make sure you can eat and breathe, very important! I said yes to the dress that was last season’s floor model, had never been worn and needed minimal alterations.
The bustle is a french bustle and it’s fastened with string ties underneath. It’s a little bit more work for the seamstress but it’s worth it to help distribute the weight of the train.
Went Micro
I’ve heard some vendors call anything less than 15 is considered micro and I’ve also heard anything less than 50 is micro. We had 30, including us, and I consider that micro. If we invited every single member of our family and all our favorite friends, our guest count would’ve been closer to 100 if not over. My partner and I were set on a max amount that we wanted to spend and having more guests equals larger bill. There’s no shame in not hosting alcoholic drinks but you absolutely have to have food for your guests. The cheapest buffets are breakfast so can be as low as $45/person and plated meals can go as high as $160/person. Or the higher the guest count the larger the space you have to rent which means the more tables, chairs, dinnerware, stationery, etc. We loved having an intimate group of our immediate family and bestest of friends, people who genuinely make an impact on both of our lives and we wouldn’t have been able to imagine the day without them.
Stationery
For stationery, since I have a background in graphic design, I designed them myself and leaned into my favorite serif (Park Lane) and a fun new sans serif (Quiche). We got our invitations printed through Paper Culture, who’s cards are made from 100% post consumer recycled paper AND they plant a tree with each order. They have 200+ gorgeous designs to choose from or you can upload your own design. They have everything you could possibly need for your wedding day; save the dates, invitations, thank you cards, etc. I debated about getting handmade envelopes from a seller on Etsy that had a deckle edge, but I ultimately decided to save and put that budget towards taper candles. I did make my own envelope liners with paper I already had, did wax seals with a glue gun and some dried flowers before sending them off. I made all the signage for the day of with canvases and frames I had leftover from older projects.
Decor
About 90% of the table decorations we used were bought secondhand and I spent months sourcing the perfect candle holders and bud vases and vintage goblets from all over; estate sales, eBay, FBMP, OfferUp, etc. Originally the goblets were going to be favors but I just couldn’t part with them yet after spending so much time sourcing them. (Let’s be real, I just wanted to use them for more dinner parties)
The plates, cutlery, and chargers we rented through the venue and the napkins we sewed with some leftover cotton fabric and had just enough to make 30! I’m excited to experiment with dying them fun colors using different fruits and vegetables skins.
The Friday before, I got up early and went to the flowers wholesale market and I spent about two hours to find the right flowers for what I had envisioned. It was a challenge to use only what was available to me but in the end I went heavy on one of my favorite flowers, butterfly ranunculus as the main hero, and then it was supported by the soft ivory spray roses. I thought for sure that I would’ve gone with feverfew, but last minute went with Queen Anne’s lace and I’m so glad I did!
