The Green Wedding Series: Venues
Sustainable wedding venues
One of the first major decisions to make for any wedding day is the ‘where’. There are lots of questions you will want to ask your venue to make sure its the right place for you, so it can be overwhelming if you need to consider how environmentally friendly it is as well.
BrancoPrata
However, Gwenda from Green Union, an inspirational source of information for eco-conscious couples suggests “the best way to have a green wedding is start with the more expensive items like your venue, as it will have the biggest overall impact on your carbon footprint.”
This chapter will look at questions to ask your venue to find out its eco credentials, what you should consider for a more sustainable wedding if you have a dry hire venue or marquee/tent and some helpful directories of eco friendly venues to set you on your way.
What to ask your venue
The key things to consider when looking for a sustainable venue is its carbon footprint, its environmental policy and its waste and water management.
To help you figure out if your venue is genuinely eco-friendly, find out if they have an environmental policy in place. If they have they’ll be proud to talk about it, if not then you’ll quickly realise your values don’t align. To dig a little deeper there are some specific questions you can ask. Venues won’t necessarily tick every box as some sustainable options may not be possible for them to put in place, but it will give you a sense of how important the environment is to them.
Is the venue run via renewable energy sources e.g. solar panels, biomass heating system
Does the venue recycle and does it compost?
Does the venue have energy efficient lighting?
What other eco initiatives does the venue have e.g. policy on single use plastic?
Is the venue part of a carbon offsetting/balancing scheme?
Lyndsey Goddard
How to choose
One of the simplest ways to have a lower carbon footprint is to choose a venue that is local to the majority of guests attending so less transport is required. If nothing local floats your boat then there may be a venue that is a bit further afield but is incredibly self sufficient. Other things to consider are venues that already have their food and drink in house, so it cuts down on transporting this in, or venues with stylish indoor or exterior backdrops so you can reduce your flowers and decor.
You may assume that outdoor options or modern venues will be the only ones who are green compliant, but that isn’t the case, there are lots of different styles of venue that have a strong green ethos to help the planet and make you feel positively virtuous on your wedding day. For a head start you can try these directories
Green Union - also a great source of information for eco friendly weddings and suppliers
Marquee weddings
Marquees are a brilliant way to shake off the shackles and create the wedding day you want. However, they can have a higher carbon footprint than an established venue because of the sheer volume of equipment and suppliers that need to be brought in.
For example, if you opt for a marquee you should be aware that the marquee, furniture, catering tent and kitchen equipment, portable toilets and a generator will all need transporting on and off site. Although your marquee company may be organising all of this for you they often subcontract toilets and generators to different suppliers which means multiple journeys to the same location. The marquee and surrounding area also needs to be lit and that power is drawn from a generator.
However it’s not all doom and gloom, if you are particularly set on this type of wedding but want to stay as kind to the planet as possible think about:
Imogen Xiana
Venues with a permanent structure tent/marquee: Often set up in Spring and taken down in Autumn it reduces the carbon footprint of setting up and dismantling a new structure for each individual wedding
Hybrid or solar generators: Speak to your marquee company/venue to see what they usually use and if they’re open to you looking for a more eco friendly supplier if the generator isn’t up to scratch
Portaloos/showers: Check out who is supplying your loos to see what their environmentally policy is. Some portaloos use a flush technology that reduces water. Also think about what goes in there from recycled loo roll to soap and hand towels. The less plastic, the better.
Seth Carnill
A local or sustainable venue is a great way to reduce your carbon footprint, but it isn’t going to work for everyone so if you have your heart set on a venue that can’t tick those eco boxes there are lots of other things you can do to make your day just a little bit greener. Even just doing one thing is better than nothing.
