Jan 25, 2022

Five Ways to Make Your Wedding Flowers Eco-Friendly

As we start 2024 one thing we can no longer ignore is the effects we are having on our environment and Global Warming. Weddings can be extremely wasteful and while there are several ways to reduce waste at your event, today I specifically want to touch on ways you can make your florals more eco-friendly with these 5 tips.

Foam Free Ceremony Arrangements | Photography by Lovely Light Imagery

1.) Stay Away from Floral Foam.

If you've read my other blogs, you'll know that Floral foam is very toxic not only to your florist's health, but for the environment. It takes years to breakdown and never fully decomposes. There are so many alternatives to foam, so when looking for a Florist choose one that is use to designing foam free. Search hashtags like #foamfreeflorist #foamfree to find a florist, or if you've already hired a florist ask them to use foam alternatives like chickenwire, pin frogs, or hairpin frogs in your arrangements. Read more about this here.

2.) Opt for Local: Source a Local Florist and Locally Grown Product

Hire a florist that is in the same or near by city to your venue so they're not having to transport your arrangements far and know local growers to source flowers from.

We try to work with California grown product, some even grown right here in San Diego. This eliminates the need to ship flowers across the world and when buying from small local farms the product is much fresher, usually organically grown, and not wrapped in plastic.

3.) Discuss What to do with the Flowers After the Event.

We are fortunate enough here to have a city wide free green waste pick up. So all of our arrangements are composted. We reuse our vessels and mechanics and all the product gets composted. I also compost all my personal home waste and provide it to one of our local growers to grow me more beautiful flowers!

If composting is not an option where you live, look in to donating them after the event so they get twice the use. I know with Covid right now this is hard to, but hopefully we'll be able to do this again soon.

4.) Consider Reusing Arrangements

Reusing ceremony flowers to your reception is a great way to cut down on the number of arrangements you need (and cost). Just keep in mind that if the flowers are out in the sun or heat for a long time they may not look their best being transferred to your sweetheart table. Work with your florist to make sure they use hardy blooms that hold up well, roses, lisianthus, carnations, ranunculus, etc. Also make sure that your coordinator and photographer are aware that there will be a flip so there is enough time for the transfer.

*Note: I never recommend reusing Bridesmaid bouquets. They are out of water too long to hold up after photos and the ceremony.

Foam Free Ceremony Arrangements transferred to Reception | Photography by Lovely Light Imagery

5.) Avoid Dyed, Painted, Preserved/Bleached, and Invasive Florals

Within the last few years dried, bleached, pampas and painted flowers have become a huge trend. Unfortunately unless the flowers are dried naturally they're preserved in a cocktail of harsh chemicals along with bleached florals to strip the natural color away. Painted flowers are sprayed with can after can of spray paint. The chemicals and paint are not only hazardous to peoples health, but all these types of flowers cannot be composted. Pampas has really become trendy, but unfortunately it is an invasive species and using it causes it to spread and take over and harm eco systems native animals rely on. If you're looking for something unique or different to incorporate maybe use potted plants!

I hope this was helpful! If you have any specific questions drop them in the comments below.

Peace, Love, and Flowers my Friends!