Well, after 18 years of being boyfriend/girlfriend/partners Amy and I finally tied the knot. It was a great day and of course we tried to give it as low a footprint as possible.
The biggest factor in this is probably travel. We certainly didn't want people flying to Bali or Costa Rica just for our big day due to the air miles. So, we went ultra local: in our back yard! It just made sense for us, we love our home and garden, we have the space and it made it lower stress as well. We could set it up as we wanted, not having to rely on other people to do things like waste management, decorations, etc. Sure, it made a bit more work for us but Amy and I had time off work to do this. In the end two people out of seventy flew to the wedding and everyone else drove or rode a few kms.
We borrowed almost all the plates, cutlery, etc from Amy's parents church. We also borrowed chairs, tablecloths, cushions, lighting and more from friends and family. No plastic involved there and no cost. Amy made decorations, lots of beautiful bunting.
The power was 100% renewable, either from our solar panels or from Synergy's natural power. The water came from the rain water tank.
We had a great time and definitely recommend backyard weddings if you have the time and space.
The biggest factor in this is probably travel. We certainly didn't want people flying to Bali or Costa Rica just for our big day due to the air miles. So, we went ultra local: in our back yard! It just made sense for us, we love our home and garden, we have the space and it made it lower stress as well. We could set it up as we wanted, not having to rely on other people to do things like waste management, decorations, etc. Sure, it made a bit more work for us but Amy and I had time off work to do this. In the end two people out of seventy flew to the wedding and everyone else drove or rode a few kms.
We borrowed almost all the plates, cutlery, etc from Amy's parents church. We also borrowed chairs, tablecloths, cushions, lighting and more from friends and family. No plastic involved there and no cost. Amy made decorations, lots of beautiful bunting.
We paid some great local artists help out with photography, dress making, catering and music and we even had our friend Tim from Sand Sculpture WA to build us a sand sculpture as a wedding present to us.
With waste we put all the organic waste to the chooks or compost bins. All recyclables fit into one yellow Sulo bin. This was mainly bottles (wine and beer). We considered getting a keg of beer but in the end we didn't think we'd get through 50 litres and a lot would get wasted. This turned out to be true since we only used about 20 litres in the end. Most of the beer and wine was from WA, some from over east.
The flowers were flown in at great expense from the front garden (Banksia menzeisii and prionotes). Amy's dress was made from an old table cloth and she didn't buy new shoes or a tiara! The food was all vegetarian, made from mostly local and some organic produce. We even managed to use some of our own produce: home dried cherry tomatoes and pickled olives.
The power was 100% renewable, either from our solar panels or from Synergy's natural power. The water came from the rain water tank.
We had a great time and definitely recommend backyard weddings if you have the time and space.
oh congratulations, you both look lovely and what a wonderful sustainable day! I love reading about sustainable weddings, and its great that you shared your story so that more people realise what is possible :)
ReplyDeleteHey Ads and Amy, your photos look great! Such a perfect day! Loved all the little eco-touches : ) I'm curious...knowing nothing about beer-making, did you think about brewing your own? Or is 20 litres way too much? Or was it the wrong time of year?
ReplyDeleteHi Lindsay, I could have done a brew but didn't for a few reasons. Firstly I was pretty busy with other stuff. Also I don't usually start brewing until the weather cools down. It was quite warm in March and it's hard to brew good beer in summer unless you have a dedicated brewing fridge which I don't have. Lastly we needed some mid strength and some full strength and I find it hard to brew good mid strength beer (Roger's is the best) so I took the easy route.
ReplyDeleteHi Adam and Amy congratulations to you both. I think it's great that you got married in a place where all three of you have put so much love and energy. Cheers Damon Annison
ReplyDeleteI have seen weddings $30,000 and upwards but the marriage hasn't lasted. We had a backyard wedding 30 years ago and I bet you 2 will still be together in another 18 years. Congratulations to you both.
ReplyDeleteBarb.