Wedding favors have traditionally been things like matchbooks printed with the date of the wedding and the bride and groom’s names, similarly imprinted balloons and the like, which are all disposable products.
If you’re truly interested in making your wedding green, then you’re going to need to begin thinking green from beginning to end, and that includes the kinds of wedding favors that you’re handing out to your guests.
One idea that I really like for wedding favors is to give guests some hand-made, locally produced soy-based soaps or candles packaged in a square of locally manufactured cloth that can be recycled as either a handkerchief, head scarf or napkin.
That way, the wedding favors are earth friendly, produced with as tiny a carbon footprint as possible, and even the packaging can be reused again and again.
If you ask me, it’s hard to beat that for a green wedding favor.
One thing to bear in mind for whatever wedding favors you choose however is how far the components of these wedding favors will travel.
When you buy local, you’re supporting the local economy, and ensuring that the carbon footprint these small gifts create will be as small as possible.
Here’s another idea for a classy and very green wedding favor: give packets of flower seeds so that after the wedding the guests can plant the bride’s favorite flowers in their own gardens.
If you like, you can have the seeds packaged in wrappers printed with the day and date of the happy even, the bride and groom’s names, and the name of the flower that will grow from these seeds.
Just make sure that you print the gift packaging using recycled paper and soy-based inks.
And if you can find a local grower to supply the seeds and a local printer who can accommodate your desire for recycled paper and soy inks, all the better.
Always keep in mind the idea of the carbon footprint that you are creating.
If you do have a good printer in your area who carries a line of environmentally friendly paper products, then you can also give your guests a set of note cards and envelopes printed on recycled paper with soy-based inks, or how about a set of Post-It® -style notes imprinted with a picture of the bride and groom or their wedding date.
That way their friends and family will be reminded of their happy day every time they use the note cards or Post-It notes.
