Eco-friendly Wedding Flowers
Environmentally conscious wedding choices
With the preservation of our environment being brought ever more sharply into focus, you might be considering what this means for your wedding day and in particular your wedding flowers. In this blog article I’m going to talk about what choices you can make to still have stunning flowers on your wedding day, but by making sustainable choices at the same time.
I don’t for one minute claim to be perfect and I’m not expecting you to be either, but I do think that any positive changes and choices that we do make can only be a good thing!
Floral Foam
You may be familiar with floral foam (that green block of stuff that flowers are stuck into, also known as Oasis), its an absorbent block that has been used since its invention in 1954 to hold flowers in place and allow them to drink at the same time to preserve their vase life (but not longer than if they were in fresh water!).
Unfortunately, its a single use plastic and contains some nasty toxic ingredients such as formaldehyde, phenol, sulfer dioxide, cresols, xylenols and oxides of carbon. Doesn’t sound a great match for a beautiful natural product to go into, does it!
It breaks down into a powder when dry which can cause skin and eyes and throat to become itchy and irritated. It also releases particles into the water system and a recent study found that marine life mistakes it for food an ingests it, which has a stressful effect on them (published in Science of the Total Environment: https//doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.135826). Even the new ‘Biodegradable’ alternative has been shown to not really be biodegradable unless under a set of very specific conditions so not really any better for the environment at all!
Foam Alternatives
So if floral foam is out, what can be used instead? Well, as floral foam is a relatively recent invention, we only need to look back to before this time for ideas on how to make floral installations without it. It’s just a case of thinking a little bit and being inventive and must things are achievable with a trip to the local DIY store! Jam jars, twine, chicken wire, moss, re-useable cable ties are just a few of the items that can be used to create something magical! I keep and re-use anything that I possibly can to minimise the waste produced by a wedding. The arch in the picture below is entirely foam free and made from 100% British flowers - who wouldn’t want somthing this romantic and abundant to get married in front of!
British Flowers
Another way that we can make a more sustainable choice is by sourcing the flowers we use locally. Wherever possible I source flowers from my local growers to use in my work, British flowers have a wonderful character (see my favourite phlox in the picture below). Currently British flowers make up only 10% of the cut flower market in the UK (research by Royal FloraHolland 2017). Unfortunately, in the UK we don’t really have the temperatures of infrastructure to use solely British flowers all year round, but we do a pretty good job between April and October. Outside of this the majority of fresh flowers need to be imported through the flower markets in Holland, if you want to be really eco-conscious why not consider using entirely British dried flowers instead?
Besides limiting the airmiles by sourcing local flowers, many flower farms in the UK are small businesses and I love being able to support them. I also try to use local and ethical small businesses when sourcing things such as beautiful organic silk ribbons or velvet for your bridal bouquet. You can find florists and flower growers in your local area by visiting the Flowers from the Farm website, which is a brilliant membership organisation championing the British flower industry.
Sounds good but what next?
This all sounds great, but how to I know my florist uses sustainable techniques? I’ve put together a list of questions you could ask below so you can be sure your choice of wedding florist matches your values for a sustainable and eco-friendly wedding.
Things to ask your florist:
What flowers are in season on my wedding date?
Where do you source flowers from?
Do you use floral foam?
What sustainable floristry techniques will you be using?
If you aren’t happy with the answers, then either ask your florist to alter their techniques or perhaps consider changing to a florist that does use sustainable practices.
If you like this article and would like to hear more from me then you can sign up to my email list. Or contact me here, with any questions you might have or to book a wedding consultation, I’d love to hear from you!