Chris and Ruth's Wedding Planning

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When Chris and Ruth, from Buxton, began planning for the big day, which took

place in May 2008, they were very keen to minimise the carbon footprint of their

celebration. They managed to source a number of eco-friendly options, all of

which helped them to achieve the wedding of their dreams, with the

environment in mind.

Masson Farm

Chris and Ruth chose to hold their wedding at Masson Farm, an idylic organic farm, nestled in the Derbyshire hillside near Matlock. Their guests were transported to the farm in minibuses to cut down on lots of individual car journeys and there was no need for travelling between venues, due to the ceremony and the reception both taking place at Masson Farm.

They were very keen to minimise any waste caused by their wedding and kept this in mind when purchasing anything new. For instance the bridesmaids wore dresses which could be worn again at other occasions and all the men's outfits were hired.

The wedding invitations and other stationery were all made from recycled and sustainable papers (including elephant poo paper!) Chris and Ruth encouraged their guests to be eco-friendly too, by giving them some handy hints - printed on the invitations...

...They asked guests to ensure that they recycled the invitations, to travel by public transport where possible, not to wrap any presents they wished to give and, if buying a new outfit for the day to try to ensure it would be something that could be worn again.

Chris and Ruth hoped to incorporate unique wedding favour / placenames for their guests - handmade Timber Tags - plant labels; which would fit in well with their idea of giving each of their guests a tree seedling. Ideally they planned to source these locally and hoped to get a selection of different tree species.

Ruth's mum made the wedding cake and they asked for her to use organic and fair trade ingredients where possible. The couple also arranged for a friend of the family to supply UK grown and Fair Trade flowers for the bouquets and venue decoration.

Timber Tags

The wedding reception food, prepared by a local caterer, included locally sourced, seasonal vegetables and free range meats; including a fabulous hog roast.

The beverages were sourced from within the UK, the couple having found a selection of British wines and sparkling wines. This did prove quite difficult to find at first as it was still quite a niche market and some of the companies which the couple had originally approached only sold to the trade.

Chris and Ruth also supplied their guests with beer from a micro-brewery, located within a few miles of Matlock, as well as others like Fosters and Tetleys, which are brewed in Burton-on-Trent, about 25 miles away.

The wedding venue staff ensured that all bottles, cans and other waste were recycled and biodegradable drinks containers were used.

The couple thought hard about their honeymoon. They were originally going to jet off to Hawaii but in the end they decided that this would just not sit well with their eco-friendly wedding plans. Instead, they planned a visit to Croatia, Europe.