Your dream reception is coming to an end. The lights are coming on. Your guests are beginning to leave. The tables have been cleared…except for the centerpieces. Ah…the centerpieces. What to do with centerpieces? Having the catering or venue staff throw them away (which happens ALL THE TIME) is not a great GREEN option. Greening your wedding should be all about Reducing, Reusing and Recycling. Here are some ideas about what to do with your wedding flowers and centerpieces when the wedding is over.Share Them: You can always encourage guests to take the flowers home with them. This is a nice way to have the flowers do "double duty." It’s also always nice to give flowers to people — since they make people so HAPPY! One thing to think about is whether you want your guests to take glassware or just the flowers. Lots of times, glassware is rented from the florist. In this case, tell the catering or venue staff or your wedding planner that people should be encouraged to take the flowers but leave the vase.
Donate Them: Last year, we had several socially conscious couples donate their flowers/centerpieces. Centerpieces can be made out of locally grown fruits and veggies displayed in an eclectic mix of bowls, plates and cake platters. The centerpieces look amazing, but you can also make arrangements with the Local Area Food Bank to pick up the produce at the end of the night and donate it to needy individuals and families.
Compost Them: You can always compost your flowers! What a great way to give back to the earth. The easiest way to compost your flowers is to ask your florist or caterer to compost them for you. If they don’t compost, you can hire a commercial composting company to come to the reception site, pick up the flowers and compost them. There are a million good reasons to compost (but that’s a whole other post!). For now, let’s just say it’s great for the earth and totally worth the effort.
Getting the most out of your wedding flowers is another great way to Green your wedding!
No comments:
Post a Comment