How to Get Hitched and Still Save the Planet

Paltry matters such as the future of the planet cut little ice when darling daughter demands the Huddersfield Choral Society and the Royal Philharmonic to serenade her down the aisle. However, let me say as a father about to face such a nightmare there is plenty of support amongst my fellow sufferers for the idea of scaling back on these Olympian sized weddings. Indeed a friend of mine offered his prospective son-in-law £3000 if he would simply elope with his daughter to Las Vegas and get married there. Unfortunately his wife and daughter got to hear of the plot and the trip was off.

But what if you do want to get married without leaving a Gulliver sized carbon footprint how can you do it? Well here are a few tips:

At the risk of stating the bleedin’ obvious  it is all about keeping things as simple and as cheap as possible. So why not see if you can have the service and the reception in the same place. If you have the space do the whole thing at home. At the same time resource local suppliers of food and drink. This has the added advantage of encouraging local producers whilst keeping delivery drivers off the road and I can see will mean some interesting regional variations springing up. I await with relish attending my first Somerset wedding where we toast the bride and groom in cider after having eaten a meal of local pork and apple sauce. The atmosphere will soon become more than just festive!

There is an awful lot in modern weddings that is only used once: flowers, dresses, table decorations, the father of the bride’s sanity. Try and make sure that that all these items are retained after your wedding and given a useful and sustainable lifestyle elsewhere.

It is not only food and drink that can be resourced locally. Flowers and garlands can also use local varieties rather than orchids flown in from Papua New Guinea in temperature controlled containers.

Weddings seem to use an awful lot of paper in sending out invitations, lists of gifts and other matters. Much of this information and coordination can be done on e-mail or via a special website set up for the task.

My friend’s idea about eloping may seem on the face of it a bad one ecologically as the couple would be using an aircraft but at least that would be just one flight. Nowadays, particularly in a family such as mine that seems to have bomb burst throughout the world, a family gathering requires several long haul flights. So, instead, tell them relatives to stay at home and broadcast the ceremony using Skype and webcams.

Finally, honeymoons; get the happy couple to hop in the car down to Skegness rather than Antigua. If they really dig each other where they go should be a matter of supreme indifference to them!

So if being green is all there are some ideas for you. The poor sap paying for it will also love you but watch out for the bride’s mother!