3 Couples Who Decided to Have a Smart, Eco-friendly Wedding

“Everyone thinks of changing the world. But no one thinks of changing himself” ~Leo Tolstoy 
There’s a lot that’s happening around us. From Greta Thunberg’s impassioned speeches to the bush fires in Australia, the news and issues we face are non-stop. But to change the world, one needs to change oneself. At least that’s what Russian writer & philosopher believed. Well, translate the canvas to Indian weddings, and these couples are doing just that! In their own little ways, they’re trying to celebrate their big day with a big difference—by being conscious, meaningful and in sync with the environment. That’s why these three couples decided to have a smart, eco-friendly wedding on their terms.

Here’s how these Wedding Wishlist couples bought the change they wanted to see in the world through their own celebrations with an eco-friendly wedding!! 

Praveen & Shreya

Chennai-based Carnatic musician couple Praveen & Shreya decided to have a wedding that truly resonated with their values and opted for a waste-free & eco-friendly wedding. They banned single-use plastics, said no to paper invites and engaged an agency to help distribute extra food from the wedding to orphanages. For return gifts, they worked with local collectives to ensure each gift helped the life of the person making it. In addition, they also created a gift registry to support Maithree, an organization dedicated to the welfare of people with special needs. 

The couple knew what they were doing was unconventional and so they created a website on Wedding Wishlist to explain the idea to their guests. “The website helped give our guests context about our decision to do a zero-waste wedding. We could explain why we did what we did, so they could whole-heartedly support our choice. It made them feel like they were a part of this initiative,” says Praveen

Sathya & Ratheesh

An entire wedding (including trousseau & jewellery) in a budget of Rs 5,00,000—that was the starting point for this Chennai-based couple. The idea of budgeting was not just to save money but do things in a way that was simple, waste-free and sustainable. 

The first rule for Sathya & Ratheesh was to not source anything that wasn’t available within 50 metres of the wedding venue, so they could lower the carbon footprint and the cost. The couple insisted on RSVPs to minimise food wastage and organised 2 cows to feed on the excess food and banana leaves. The cow dung generated from this was sent to an organization that grows organic vegetables, and a subscription to these vegetables was a part of the return gifts hamper. In order to avoid wedding gifts they would never use, they also did a gift registry for their wedding, and ended up having a great honeymoon from the funds raised. This was the epitome of a smart and eco-friendly wedding. To know more about their story, click here!

Pavithra & Suraj

Here’s a bride who took her decision to have a waste-free and eco-friendly wedding to a very granular level—even her makeup was vegan! When Pavithra and Suraj decided to get married, the fact that it was going to be plastic-free, cruelty-free and environment-friendly was not really negotiable. “We wanted to show how one can celebrate their wedding without using plastic, and that’s how this decision came about,” says Pavithra. From replacing plastic water bottles with steel tumblers to using recycled paper for their invitations, every decision was taken to ensure their wedding reflected what they believed in. 

The couple chose to go with vegan return gifts—vegan sweets and cosmetics that were not tested on animals. In the same vein, Pavithra also decided to do her own makeup. “Makeup artists these days use animal-tested products for their work. I chose to use cruelty-free cosmetics instead, a decision that left me with little choice but to do my own makeup.” And finally, to avoid wasted wedding gifts they created a registry that had the things they wanted for their new home and contributions towards a charity that supports underprivileged children. Now isn’t that perfect? 

Want to have a truly smart and eco-friendly wedding? Here’s the complete guide to making it a reality!