Have an Eco-Friendly Wedding!

NParks will be offering a 20 per cent discount for the Garden of Seasons at HortPark. The discount is only applicable for non-air conditioned venues in HortPark.

In order to qualify, couples have to show NParks that they have made some efforts to go "green" and show at least 8 environmentally-friendly efforts for the wedding.
(Source: Straits Times article on "Cheaper Green Weddings" dated 7 Dec 09)

Hot on the heels of this article, what are some examples of environmentally-friendly ideas for your wedding?  Here goes..

Ang Pow Box
Borrow an ang pow box from couples who have gotten married recently or check with the venue organizer if they provide complimentary usage of their ang pow box. If you like, you could do some minor decorations to customize it accordingly to your theme. Of course, remember to use recycled materials if possible!
If you still prefer to get a new ang pow box, you can use it as a storage for your wedding cards and wedding related keepsakes. If not, be creative and reuse it for other purposes.

Guestbooks
Create your own guestbook out of recycled paper or materials.

Invitations
Emails - With today's powerful editing software, you can create very nice and unique invitations. Be creative and create your own invite with a wedding photo to make it memorable! There are some websites which provides free design templates as well.
Recycled paper - If you still prefer to print and mail out invitations, consider using recycled paper for the purpose.

Plant a tree to commemorate your wedding
Make it special and plant a tree as part of your celebration and contribute to the environment as well! Click here to find out more about the Plant a Tree Programme!

Transport for the wedding
Charter a bus for your family, relatives or even guests to ferry them over to the wedding venue. It would be much more convenient for them so they wont have to worry about the hassles of finding parking lots. This is a way to get them to arrive punctually for the celebration as well. ;)
Plan well and minimize the number of cars required for the wedding entourage.

Wedding Decorations
Make use of recycled materials if possible for the wedding decoration. Find alternative uses or save the decorations for another event to maximize the usage of the decorative materials.

There are many ways of having an eco-friendly wedding while bringing down your wedding expenses. You can have a memorable wedding while contributing positively to the environment! It takes extra efforts but it's definitely more meaningful. A little effort can go a long way so put on your thinking caps and brainstorm on how else you can help the environment while planning for your wedding!