My Sustainable Wedding...

Getting ready

Ready! Also wearing beautiful heirloom jewellery

My remade wedding dress

I fell in love with a dress I found at an op-shop for $10 and decided to use it as the inspiration for my wedding dress. The fit and the quality of the dress was so good, I decided to refashion the dress and turn it into my wedding dress. Another op shop find, a $3 lace dress, was pulled apart to reuse the beautiful lace on my wedding dress. A good friend and dressmaker sourced new fabrics for the skirt and pulled the whole thing together into a gorgeous and unique wedding dress.

The shoes were yet another great op shop find, $7.50 and will be able to be worn with other outfits later.

Garden wedding ceremony

A romantic garden ceremony

Sustainable tree seedlings used to define the aisle in a garden ceremony

More...A romantic garden setting!

Mummy and Daddy just got married!

• Mt Coot-tha Gardens was a perfect setting for a garden wedding, and had no power, so natural lighting and ventilation was the go.
• We created an aisle with:
  • Bunches of tree seedlings which were also the bonbonnière, and
  • Bamboo tripods (bamboo sourced from my aunt's garden, and re-used as garden stakes after the day) decorated with white tulle (saved from my sister's wedding) and pink ribbon (op shop find), making the scene beautifully bridal as well as a simple and easily transportable decoration
• Beautiful acoustic music was performed by Jumping Fences, a wonderful local band as well as close friends and neighbours

One of our wedding trees

Planting a tree

Tree temporarily planted into larger pot

More...Trees are easy to plant

Flame Tree seedlings. Each guest takes a tree seedling home from the ceremony Tree seedlings in sustainable hessian pots. Ribbon can be co-ordinated with your wedding colour

Each person received a tree seedling, in this case a Flame Tree (a stunning local native which has masses of vibrant red flowers in spring) as they are my husband's favourite tree. The trees were all in sustainable hessian pots decorated with ribbon, and able to be planted directly into the ground with no waste.

We shared and planted 100 trees for our wedding, giving guests a long lasting and beautiful reminder of the day, and making a substantial contribution towards offsetting carbon emissions generated by the wedding.

For more information about sustainable tree seedlings as bonbonnière, please see Live and Lovely tree seedlings.

Eco friendly – soy tealight candles in re-useable glass dish with water crystals for effect. Glass dishes available for hire from Live and Lovely

• Natural soy candles were used - they are non-toxic and do not contain paraffin derived from oil. For supply of soy candles please see Live and Lovely Candles.
• Candles were placed into lovely glass sundae dishes collected from op-shops, and able to be re-used or sold afterwards
• Surrounding the candles were garden water crystals to create a pretty glittering effect, and which were recycled in the garden afterwards.

Personalised invitation made using beautiful salvaged card

Invitation decoration using handmade paper with seeds embedded and fabric off cuts from the wedding dress

• Pearl card sourced from Reverse Garbage, diverting usable waste from landfill.
• Decorated with leaves of handmade paper made from old Christmas paper, with seeds from my garden embedded, allowing guests to grow herbs from the invite
• Flowers made with off-cuts from dress fabrics
• Designed and printed in our sustainable home office, on an ink efficient printer using solar power

Chandelier

Rose lights made from real leaves

Wrapping the bridal bouquet in ribbon off cut from the dress

• Vases of seasonal flowers sourced from the flower markets, and combined with green leaves from my mother's garden featured everywhere, all able to be taken home and enjoyed afterwards before ending up in the compost;
• Decorative table runners were created from old lace curtains and smaller pieces of gold and silver lace, left over table runners from my aunt's wedding
• Ivy from my bridesmaid's garden was draped along the table, entwined with pink glass beads on wire;
• A collection of pink and white sheets and table cloths from op shops were transformed into table cloths, bench covers and cushion covers. The overall effect was a beautiful and inviting courtyard setting, keeping to the garden theme and yet offering a sense of luxury and indulgence
• LED (low voltage) fairy lights and soy candles gave the soft lighting which combined with the abundance of flowers and pretty cushions created a Midsummer Night's Dream effect.

Wedding cake features organic and fair-trade chocolate, free range eggs and Australian dried fruit, and is decorated with roses made with off cuts from the wedding dress

• Top featured mini panettone drizzled with white chocolate cream cheese moose to represent the Himalayas where we met;
• Features Australian grown dried fruit and Included organic and fair trade chocolate to create a rich chocolate fruit cake
• Figurine was an antique shop find ($4);
• Glass raspberry decorations were another op shop find and will be used to make Christmas decorations afterwards;
• Decorated with ribbon roses made from offcuts from the wedding dress;
• Home made with love using borrowed cake tins, my aunt's wisdom and using solar power for the oven!

We opted for buffet style to avoid set seating and allow people a choice and the option to eat as little or as much as they liked. A fully organic meal was out of our budget, however there were a few sustainability touches here too:

• Serviettes were recycled paper;
• Organic milk was provided for the tea and coffee;
• Left overs and kitchen scraps were all composted on site for use in the venue's gardens;
• Soft drink brands were selected on the basis of Australian owned and manufactured with preference to those brands who have implemented water and energy efficiency measures in their manufacture;
• Beer was all Australian, with a preference for brands who have implemented water and energy efficient measures;
• Wine was all Australian (of course!), and with most Australian wineries already working towards sustainable practices, we did make an effort to feature some local SEQ wines

The Venue

Mercy Place garden courtyard

Reception sustainably decorated to be beautiful and inviting

• Very close to the ceremony venue to keep transport between venues to a minimum;
• The garden courtyard allowed us to continue the outdoor garden theme, without the need to use air conditioning. The use of candles and LED fairy lights created a Midsummer Night's Dream atmosphere and kept energy use down;
• Exceptionally friendly and welcoming. They allowed us to make arrangements and decorate to suite our theme and budget;
• On site composting of kitchen scraps for use in the garden;
• Waste separation and recycling;