Everyone hopes for a grand ceremony when it comes to their wedding. After all, your big day deserves no stones unturned. However, in this day and age of living an environmentally conscious lifestyle, catering services hold the key to the overall sustainability quotient for the event. Since a wedding is much larger than a simple party organization, it also leaves a bigger carbon footprint. Combining this footprint with additional services like transportation, fuels used, or the food wasted, the ecological impact a wedding can have can be astronomically high. Sustainability is no longer a trend; many embrace it as a lifestyle to preserve nature and nonrenewable resources for our future generations.
Industry insider Prerana Agarwal Saxena, CEO, and founder of luxury wedding planning company, Theme Weavers Designs, has some fantastic ideas to facilitate a sustainable and eco-friendly wedding, especially regarding food services. Right off the bat, she recommends choosing a company that cares. By this, the caterers need to be deeply committed to protecting the environment by using local, fresh, and in-season produce that will be both delicious and good for the environment. Additionally, they should also actively recycle their disposable utensils, minimise food waste, and have a carbon-neutral approach towards catering to a huge wedding. If you choose the right catering company, half of the heavy lifting is already done as you and your food providers share the same values.
While having meat is a sign of wealth, this notion is highly outdated, says Prerana. It is firmly believed that opulent should be shown subtly through tasteful décor and clothing choices. Moreover, understated luxury goes hand-in-hand with environmental conservation. Meat production requires a vast land space, and the carbon monoxide cattle and farm animals produce drastically contributes to the depletion of the ozone layer. While farming does need a lot of space, fertile land has a long shelf life and can be reused time and again. India has a range of sumptuous vegetarian and vegan meals, with each region having its exceptional cuisine. Rich foods with heavy cream, mushrooms, plant-based meat, and dry fruits are ideally suited for a luxe wedding, sure to impress your guests as well.
Bring the issue of on-site recycling and composting up early. It is advised couples ask their venue heads and vendors questions to include composting bins and recycling areas for their wedding, reception, haldi, mehndi, and sangeet ceremonies. Most of them will be more than pleased to comply with such a request, but as this is not practised widely in India, it does need prior notice. Foods that are not oily or spicy can be composted easily. Also, single-use plastic utensils are a thing of the past. Ditching plastic utensils and opting for locally made coconut or palm-based utensils can significantly decrease the carbon footprint of your wedding. In addition, it is intelligent to skip everything single-use like plastic bottles and plates and use sustainable options like kegs, barrels, and glass displays.
However, nowadays, couples are becoming more environmentally conscious and are taking all the proper steps to avoid contributing to this waste cycle. Therefore, with the help of experienced planners, a wedding can fulfil its sustainable goals while having all the pomp and circumstance in the world.