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Green Weddings: Part - 2
Eco-friendly Invitations And Gifts
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Many couples are very open to the idea of Going Green for their wedding. However, where the mind is willing, often the ways and means are hidden. Here are some ideas on how you can make your wedding invitations and gifts eco-friendly.
Green Wedding Invitations
Wastage during weddings begins right at the onset with sending wedding invites. Why send hundreds of glossy wedding cards, which reduce the green belt? Postal costs hike the wedding budget. Start off your wedding with an eco-friendly green signal instead.
Green letter day
Let your wedding day be treated as a green letter day as soon as your guests view your invite. The most eco-friendly and economic wedding invites are e-mail invites.
If you fear that e-mail invites are too informal then make a wedding website with a personal touch. You can avail for a free website hosting provider, explain clearly on your website what a Green Wedding is and what the guests may do to make it a success!
Some tips to make your wedding website & e-invites a success:
- A wedding blog will make your site fun and interactive. You can even print it out and keep it as a precious memory.
- Have an online wedding album.
- Add some wedding trivia.
- Include a voice message invite and perhaps even a video of your entire family inviting the guests.
- Let the e-vites have the proper address and detailed map directing your guests to the wedding venue.
- Let guests confirm their attendance through RSVP via email so that you can carefully plan the number of dishes to prevent wastage.
To invite guests who aren't connected send cards of chlorine-free paper, recycled or tree-free fibre content. Use soy-based and vegetable inks. You may also use self-mailers, which help to reduce costs and the amount of paper used.
You can include an eco-friendly quote in these cards to get guests into the spirit of things. Another cool thing to do is use 'seed' paper for wedding invites. The guests can actually plant the paper into the soil and add more Green power to the Earth.
You can also send handmade cards by NGOs or eco-friendly heritage cards from India's cottage and small-scale industries.
Green Gifts That Don't Cost The Earth
Wedding gifts literally cost the Earth - in more ways than one!
If you don't need gifts - mention so on the invitations - 'no gifts, no flowers'. Model and actor Arfie Lamba says, "I would definitely refuse to accept flowers as I am against plucking them in the first place. They really look good on their own branches instead."
If you would like to receive gifts politely explain on your website what eco-friendly gifts are. Express your preference for gifts that are energy efficient, non-toxic, recycled, reclaimed, naturally resourced, biodegradable and eco-friendly ethnic and local products. Receiving gift passes to eco-friendly resorts can be a really unique honeymoon - and eco-friendly too!
Request guests not to get gifts of animal fur, skin and bones, involving child labour and blood diamonds. Bouquets of fresh cut flowers usually whither fast and go waste.
A major problem of weddings is excess gifts. Environmentalist Anand Pendharkar explains, "Most wedding gifts either end up as junk or are passed on. If you know the bride / groom well enough it is always better to ask what he / she may need. E.g.: An architect gave a gift of wedding fixtures for a newlywed's new house."
Also, most couples get multiples of several wedding gifts. Since you can possibly use only one dinner set or one bar set, donate gifts you can't use to charity.
Abiding by these gifting ethics is in itself a gift to Planet Earth. After all shouldn't we repay nature for all the bountiful gifts it showers on us?
Also read:
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Pallavi Bhattacharya
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