My Sustainable Backyard Wedding
As an event planner, I can’t resist the chance to throw a dinner party!
My husband and I eloped in the Sawtooth Mountains of Idaho like we had dreamed of, but it was also important to us to recognize and celebrate this milestone with close friends and family. In addition to our ceremony in the mountains, we had an intimate and casual wedding celebration right in our backyard in Boise. This day was special not only because of the people that were there, but also because we incorporated lots of sustainable details!
If you’re wondering how to make your event more eco-friendly without sacrificing style, budget, or authenticity, read on — I’ll be sharing ten different ways I incorporated sustainability into my own wedding celebration, captured beautifully by Oralee Photography.
Attire
My husband ordered a custom suit that he will wear again and again from Sartoro, a company with ethical manufacturing practices. Ordering custom clothing is also more sustainable than purchasing off the rack, since this method of manufacturing prevents the creation of surplus garments. (My husband was in need of a suit for events so this purchase made sense…however, if you are NOT in need of a new suit, renting is a great option!)
I scoured the internet for a pre-loved wedding dress in the style and size I was interested in, but was unable to find "the one" - and Boise is currently not home to any consignment bridal stores! As much as I wanted to find a pre-loved dress, I also didn’t want to force it if it wasn’t supposed to happen.
I ended up finding a Wendy Makin dress online that I absolutely LOVED. I contacted the designer and they said that the exact style and color I was interested in had been discontinued, but they happened to have a sample dress in my size in storage! I purchased this gently-used sample, which also was much less expensive than a brand new dress. After alterations, it fit perfectly - and I was lucky enough to wear it twice, for both my mountain ceremony and our backyard party.
After the wedding, a bridal consignment shop opened in Boise and I consigned my dress there. Sadly, the shop closed after a year in business, but I plan on finding a new consignment opportunity for my dress, and then eventually repurposing it into a different garment.
The Backyard
We chose to keep our wedding celebration small, and a low guest count is one of the most significant ways to reduce the environmental footprint of an event! With our modest guest count, we also realized we could host it right in our backyard. We chose local vendors, so there was no need for vendors to drive long distances to a venue. We also weren’t in a large building that needed to be temperature regulated – luckily Mother Nature cooperated with us!
Some of our guests flew in from other states, but at least half of the attendees were local, so holding our event in Boise meant the least possible amount of people traveling. Bonus - our puppy got to be there too!
Reducing your guest count is one of the most impactful ways to lower your budget. We had about 35 people at our wedding celebration, and we spent less than one-third of the cost of an average US wedding (which was around $30,000 in 2022, according to The Knot).
Also, backyard weddings can be amazing, but be aware that there are a few extra considerations to make if you’re planning one - email me for details!
Stationery
To cut back on paper (and save money), we decided to email our save the dates. For our invitations, I designed and then printed them through Paper Culture, which prints on 100% post-consumer recycled paper and plants a tree with every order. For the signage and stationery that was at our wedding, we were thoughtful about the types of paper used. This meant printing on recycled paper for our limited signage, and printing thank you notes on seed paper embedded with wildflower seeds. The notes then became a wedding favor for guests to take home and plant!
Catering + Cake
Idaho is home to beautiful and lush farm regions, so it only made sense to book a caterer that takes advantage of our location! My husband and I also love to eat, so good food was a priority for us. We chose to book Wild Plum, a caterer that specializes in farm-to-table food by using seasonal, organic, and sustainable ingredients from local farmers, bakers, ranchers, and foragers - and we were so glad we did!
We limited the red meat to our appetizer menu, which included meatballs made with local beef & pork in an organic tomato sauce, and a platter of fresh burrata, local peaches, and prosciutto. Our dinner included sustainably-farmed roasted steelhead, organic chicken with creamy mushrooms, sour cream & scallion mashed potatoes, shaved kale salad with stone fruit, sauteed seasonal veggies, and local bread with butter. The food was phenomenal in presentation, freshness, and flavor; and many guests commented on how it was the best catered food, if not some of the best food, they’ve had (we agreed). If your mouth is watering, Wild Plum currently offers intimate dinners in their onsite greenhouses - go check them out!
Our cake was made with all-natural ingredients by Sweet Things Bespoke Bakery, a local small business. The cake was incredibly flavorful (but not too sweet), with fresh tangy lemon curd folded beautifully into a moist and luscious Swiss lemon meringue cake frosted with vanilla bean icing. As a wedding planner, I’ve tried LOTS of wedding cakes…and I can honestly say that our wedding cake was the best I’ve ever tasted. I highly recommend this baker if you’re looking for a cake with amazing flavor!
Flowers
Possibly my favorite sustainable element of the day! We booked Lindsay with Fireweed Floral as our florist, and to say she is talented is an understatement. My bouquet was a gorgeous mix of orange and peach dahlias, white cosmos, terra cotta celosia, snapdragon, and wildflowers. Lindsay also arranged an assortment of playful bud vases for our tables, adding in cream lisianthus, white asters, peach zinnia, and yellow craspedia. She even created a greenery runner made out of sage leaves, which added more earthiness to our table and smelled heavenly!
The most amazing part was that ALL of our greenery and blooms were grown twenty minutes away at the local organic farm where Lindsay works as a florist/farmer! To put this in perspective, most flowers used at events (and 80% of flowers sold in the US) are imported from other countries via long-haul refrigerated transport, and often treated with harmful carcinogenic pesticides. We were able to get beautiful fresh-cut, pesticide-free flowers that only had to travel a short car ride to get to our house!
After the wedding, we gave away some flowers to friends to enjoy. When it came time to dispose of the remaining flowers and greenery, we tossed them into our compost.
Rentals + Decor
Nearly all of our decor elements and dinnerware were rented from local vendors. Renting is a great eco-friendly option for events, since it is zero waste - you are essentially borrowing the exact items you need and then returning them!
We created a modern yet playful and earthy design by contrasting matte black plates and flatware with our bright whimsical florals, and adding in dark sage linen napkins and seed paper notes. For the single use items such as candles, we did our best to shop small by purchasing items locally or through websites such as Etsy. Besides the dinner tables, we kept the decor minimal and used items we already owned, such as a seagrass basket for our cards and handmade ceramics for our dessert display.
Avoiding plastic and incorporating quality materials and textures into your decor (such as ceramic, glass, wood, and linen) will immediately elevate your design! There are ways to do this without breaking the bank too - instead of renting full place settings, consider renting a single glass goblet for each setting, and then purchase biodegradable plates and cutlery and stack them on your buffet. A wedding planner/designer can help you make the most of your design budget!
Our tableware rentals came from Little Gem Details and Flying China, both local companies that have beautiful collections to compliment nearly any aesthetic. Our farm tables and crossback chairs came from Blooming Belles, who were wonderful to work with. Check out these rental companies when designing your next event!
Jewelry
My husband purchased my engagement ring from Brilliant Earth, which sources ethical diamonds and utilizes recycled metals. His wedding band is made from titanium, the mining of which has a slightly lower environmental impact than precious metals such as gold. Titanium is also incredibly durable, lightweight, scratch and corrosion resistant, hypoallergenic, and easy to recycle. It is also much more affordable than other metals commonly used for wedding bands!
My wedding band is made with moissanite stones, which are lab-grown gems that look nearly identical to diamonds. Can you tell the difference in types of stones between the two rings? Moissanite is becoming a very popular, economical, and sustainable alternative to mined diamonds.
For our other wedding-day accessories (his watch and bolo tie, my earrings), we chose to wear items we already owned instead of buying new ones for the occasion.
Hair + Makeup
Before our wedding celebration, I went to Madril Hair Design for an updated haircut and color. Madril is a Green Circle Salon, which means that they are committed to recycling used foils, excess hair dyes, hair clippings, paper, plastics and other single use items that normally end up in landfills!
I booked day-of makeup services through Graeber & Company, which is also a Green Circle Salon. They primarily use Aveda beauty products, which are created using responsible manufacturing processes, are 100% vegan and cruelty-free, and are packaged in post-consumer recycled materials.
My talented friend Jazmin styled my hair into a simple and lovely half-updo. All of these hair & makeup artists were hyper-local since they were all within a few miles of our house!
The Bar
We chose to have our welcome hangout at Lost Grove, which is Idaho's first B Corp brewery! At our wedding celebration, we had local and regional beer, wine, and spirit options available for our guests to enjoy. This included wine from Telaya, and beer from Woodland Empire, Payette, Fremont, and Deschutes. Our signature cocktail featured Old Boise Gin and fresh local peaches!
As a bartender, I’m aware that bars can quickly generate a lot of waste! In order to cut back on waste, we set out thrifted and rented glassware for drinks and asked guests to use and reuse their glasses as much as possible throughout the evening. We also had recycled aluminum cups to use for our kegged beer, which worked great! Aluminum cups last all night (and can even be washed & used for multiple events), keep drinks ice cold, and are super easy to recycle. For water, we set out a water station and local Proud Source aluminum water bottles. We did have some plastic cups on hand, since it’s nearly impossible to avoid these by the end of the night. However, we purchased cups made from recycled plastic, and made sure that they were a type of plastic that could be recycled again.
Our signature cocktail recipe, made with local peaches and gin:
“About Thyme”
1.5oz Old Boise Gin
1oz Peach-thyme cordial (email me for the recipe!)
.75oz Lemon juice
.25oz Lillet blanc
Sparkling water
Combine all ingredients in a shaker, shake with ice, and strain into a coupe glass or over ice in a rocks glass. Top with sparkling water and garnish with a sprig of thyme!
Waste Management
We’ve arrived at the most exciting part of planning an event - managing event waste. I forgot to ask my photographer to take photos of my recycling bins, so here are a couple photos of my dirty tables instead, and some waste-limiting tips that we followed for our day:
· Plan ahead! Every event generates waste (the average wedding generates 400 lbs of it)! Planning ahead for waste management is key to limiting it day-of. We did this by avoiding lots of single-use disposables, and using disposables that were easily recyclable. We ended up with only a small bag of trash at the end of the night!
· Make it easy for your guests to dispose of waste properly. You can do this by providing accessible and clearly-labeled bins, as well as opting for easily recyclable items, like aluminum cans and bottles. Try to avoid plastic as much as possible, since it is difficult to recycle and guidelines vary depending on where you live, so it usually ends up in the trash. If you are at a venue, ask them ahead of time about their recycling policies.
· Make your intentions known! Let your guests know that you want to have a green event, and share information on your invitations, website, and day-of signage - chances are they will be more conscious of it on your wedding day. Talk to your vendors (especially your venue, caterer, bar service, and florist) about your intentions as well! They may make some changes with their day-of protocol and/or suggest things you may not have thought of.
When it comes to going green on your wedding day, define your style and budget, decide what is realistic for you, and proceed with thought and intention. While weddings and events are not known for being sustainable, incorporating green practices in small ways can still make an impact! If you’re interested in identifying actionable steps to make your wedding or event more sustainable while staying true to your vision, feel free to inquire about my Sustainability Consultation.
Photography: Oralee Photography
Flowers: Fireweed Floral
Catering: Wild Plum Cake: Sweet Things Bespoke Bakery
Plates, Flatware, + Candle Holders: The Little Gem Details
Napkins and Champagne Coupes: Flying China
Tables and Chairs: Blooming Belles
Stationery: Paper Culture Flower Seed Paper: Of the Earth
Bride Attie: Wendy Makin Alterations: Elegance Alterations
Groom Attire: Sartoro
Engagement Ring: Brilliant Earth
Venue: Bride + Groom’s Backyard