Go Green with Your Wedding

About a decade ago, before she settled on a career in wedding planning, Dana Watts got her first taste of the industry when she worked seasonally for a number of area planners. 

“As I was working with different venues and planners, just seeing the backend side of things, I was liking it—but I was also seeing a lot of opportunities to do better, especially when it comes to waste,” Watts says. 

From flowers to food to decorations, numerous elements of weddings tend to get thrown away or discarded in a manner unlikely to please Mother Earth. Sustainability is seldom a priority. 

By 2020, when she opened Thyme & Details, Watts had resolved to run her wedding planning business in a more eco-friendly manner than what she had seen firsthand years earlier. 

“I wanted to do something different and bring a different perspective to planning,” she says. “It’s about doing better, not about making people feel bad for what they’re not doing already.” 

Thyme & Details is part of a broader shift within wedding planning. Elegance and style remain important, but couples are increasingly considering environmental impact. 

“People are caring a lot more about intention and what’s meaningful to them; not just what’s going to make a good memory, but what’s a legacy,” Watts says. 

Earlier this year, Fiori Florals announced that they had embarked on a partnership with Retreat 21 in Marysville, a popular venue for weddings. Amid the site’s 64 acres, already encompassing a vineyard and orchard, will be a new flower farm from which couples’ floral designs can be created. 

“It’s something that we can only do for a few months out of the year, but we really go all-in for it,” says Kristin Pulcheon of Fiori Florals, which is now a preferred florist for Retreat 21 and its sister company, the event space Vue Columbus. “We’re cutting down on carbon; we’re trying to grow agriculture here in Ohio.” 

“As we’re trying to be more sustainable and locally grown as well, it’s a natural fit for us,” says Liz Seiley of Retreat 21 and Vue Columbus. 

Floral designs can be a surprising contributor to carbon emissions. Sometimes encouraged by social media, Pulcheon notes, couples attempt to create elaborate designs with flowers that may be unavailable locally; therefore, the flowers have to be shipped in. 

“In order to offset some of that, it’s very important, whenever possible, to try to source locally,” Pulcheon says. “Truthfully, there is too much waste, especially in the wedding world, especially in the floral world.” 

Planted in late spring, flowers from the new farm will start becoming available for couples in the fall. 

“Who doesn’t want to get married and see the flowers that are going to be used in their wedding right outside the door?” Pulcheon says. 

Another local florist, the Flowerman, also focuses on reducing waste, sourcing product from fair-trade growers and reusing floral boxes for repackaging and storage. “In addition, we offer rentals for weddings to reduce the enormous cost of purchasing new vessels weekly,” says Erin Geyer, director of marketing and media for the Flowerman. “Above all, we repurpose any leftover product and donate to local charities to help reduce the waste to the landfill and repurpose florals so others can enjoy them.” 

When Clintonville resident Mikayla Jacino was planning her wedding, she knew she wanted a sustainable event. 

“I grew up in a family that talked about sustainability and nature,” says Mikayla, who married her husband, Tim, last August at Everal Barn in Westerville. “My dad actually was a zoology major. ... Everything I do, I always think about the life cycle of everything we buy and what happens when we throw something away.” 

To that end, the couple not only repurposed tablecloths and décor from past weddings of families and friends, but also worked exclusively with local vendors, many of whom shared her same sense of purpose. 

“I have a friend who works for High Bank Distillery, and he was able to give me their used bottles,” she says. “We used a lot of their bottles for the centerpieces.” 

Mikayla and Tim chose utensils made of bamboo (or other materials that would break down easily) and made ample use of thrift shops and antique stores. Since she owns a stationery business, Wildflower Press + Paper, Mikayla made paper goods from sustainable sources. Glassware was taken home by family members to be recycled.  

“We can have an elegant wedding and still take care of the Earth as well,” Mikayla says. “I was pretty impressed when looking back on our photos.” 

Watts says there are commonsense ways to combat waste when planning a wedding. For example, search Facebook Marketplace for gently used wedding decorations. 

“Maybe they need a little bit of cleaning, but they’re basically brand-new products—and then [you can] resell them after your event,” Watts says. “It’s a really cost-effective, beautiful way to use high-quality items without having to spend a bunch of money.” 

Plated meals are preferable to buffets, because they involve less food waste to start with, Watts says. 

“It makes it easier to donate food, because if this person didn’t show up, that food is not being served and it can be put in a box and donated,” she says. 

Although it can be a challenge to find green-friendly venues, such as those that use solar panels, Watts says that couples should consider multi-use sites that aren’t reserved exclusively for events or weddings. 

“Try to find places that are not just in business to do Friday-Saturday weddings, but provide services to the community all week long,” Watts says.  

A version of this story first appeared in the fall/winterF023 issue of Columbus Weddings, published in June 2023.