Less Stuff More Meaning is the wedding directory taking the Eco Ethical world by storm. But what makes an Eco Ethical wedding? And how can like-minded businesses help you have a mindful wedding?
Sandra Henri, Photographer and Founder of the directory is working to create new wedding traditions. In Sandras wise words; DIY weddings have been around for years, but an Eco-Ethical Wedding takes this one step further, asking how can we minimise our impact on the earth, and how can we give back to our greater community? In essence an Eco-Ethical Wedding becomes a celebration of the love two people share between each other and all humans. Less Stuff more Meaning is a collection of vendors in both Australia and Aotearoa (New Zealand).
It's also a space to see real Eco Ethical Weddings, find vendors and gather tips. You can even use their new Wedding Footprint Calculator to calculate the carbon footprint of your wedding and enable you to offset or reduce your impact.
Just for you, the Less Stuff More Meaning vendors from Aotearoa have put together a business showcase below, including their own tips for having a more mindful wedding.
Florist
Renee Harris from One Poppy Wedding Flowers
One Poppy provides luxurious florals with a conscience using gorgeous local and seasonal blooms that will suit your style and your space . Sustainable and ethically-sourced with a 'no floral foam' policy, all of our green waste is composted and we make careful choices about what goes into the mechanics of your floral arrangements. Utilising arrangements for both ceremony and reception and also repurposing them after the event is highly encouraged - make the most of those designer blooms! I do believe that every little bit does count, and I have a lot of respect for anyone trying to make a difference.
Renee's Tip:
Choose locally grown and seasonal flowers. This means less mileage, less preservatives (and often less packaging) all while supporting our precious local growers. Ask your florist what local blooms are in season around your wedding date that suit your colour palette, venue space and individual style. Have fun!
Wedding Planner
Jodie Munro from Emerald and Ebony:
Marriage is an adventure. Kick it off in style with a jaw-dropping, eco-friendly wedding inspired by New Zealand’s natural beauty. Every bit as magical as you dreamed — without the carbon footprint. Whatever your story, I want to help you plan the eco-friendly, nature-inspired wedding of your dreams! Love is love and I celebrate couples of all ages, genders, cultures, and sexual orientations. I can't wait to meet you!
Jodie's Tip:
Choose a venue that speaks for itself. If you love your venue just the way it is, you'll save so much time, money and unnecessary waste on decor. It's win-win!
Venue
Sarah Watkins from Pukaha National Wildlife Centre:
Are you passionate about conservation and our natural wildlife? Would you like your wedding or elopement to contribute positively to our forest ecosystem instead of landfills? Pūkaha National Wildlife Centre in the beautiful Tararua/Wairarapa is the wedding venue you have dreamed of. You and your closest friends and family can celebrate your marriage in our stunning Redwood grove surrounded by native forest and bird song. All proceeds from your wedding fee contributes to our forest restoration and conservation projects, including the hatching and raising of chicks for release in reserves around New Zealand. Pūkaha is an intimate, boutique venue that maintains the safety and welfare of the wildlife in the reserve. We have a maximum capacity of 60 people (including wedding party). Pūkaha is a picturesque two-hour drive north of Wellington, with a variety of wedding party and guest accommodation less than 30 minutes away.
Sarah's Tip:
Consider including a charity donation of some sort in your wedding, as a way of giving back. You could hold your wedding at a venue run by a charity; encourage guests to make a donation to your favourite charity in lieu of gifts; or make a donation instead of favours.
Pop Up Weddings and Celebrant
Kerry Sorensen-Tyrer from EcoWed:
Welcome to EcoWed - Intimate weddings for the earth friendly couple - Based in Auckland NZ. We understand that some couples wish to have a small wedding celebration - and that is why we created EcoWed. We will provide the Celebrant, Planning and hosting on the day, Photographer, venue, bubbles and we will help you with optional extras too. Let us help you create a beautiful wedding celebration that is unique, one where you can focus on the love of your life. This allows you to save time and money, and to reduce your stress and footprint. We aim to reduce wedding waste, support local businesses and all of our partners share our ethos. We offer you 3 stunning Auckland venues that are privately owned, for your 2 hour celebration, with up to 10 guests. If you're wanting something a little larger, we can create a bespoke package just for you. Remember EcoWed is about More LOVE and Less STUFF, so you can celebrate your love without compromising on what is most important to you.
Kerry's Tip:
When planning your wedding, write a list of ESSENTIAL and OPTIONAL. This could be confronting but will help you find what is most important. The only ESSENTIAL things at a wedding are: - The couple - The celebrant - The paperwork - 2 witnesses Everything else is OPTIONAL (PS - don't get me wrong - optional is awesome..... but think carefully what you choose).
Photographer
Lara Boddington from Soul Sisters Photography:
Hi, I'm Lara! I was born and raised in Zimbabwe and believe the vibrant culture of my motherland has fostered a yearning for colour and connection in all I do. I am inspired and intrigued by diversity, art, our beautiful planet and peoples unique stories! I feel blessed to now call New Zealand home. Our multi-cultural society has given me the opportunity to witness love stories that defy cultural, religious, racial and gender stereotypes, and I am humbled to have been a part of these.
Laras Tip:
Consider asking to recieve your wedding photos via digital gallery. Often USBs, Boxes and prints are sourced from overseas so their carbon footprint is huge. They then need to post these out to you too! You could ask your photographer for local suppliers for printing and framing too.
Venue
George Vodanovich from Little Wilderness:
Little Wilderness is a family run off-grid events venue in Kumeu that focusses on hosting low-impact yet elgant events for people that share our eco-ethical princples. Back when we got married, our wedding was DIY. After the marquee, portaloos and other required add-ons it got quite expensive. We were interested to see if we could create a venue that had basic facilities and yet could provide a beautiful and functional setting for other couples for their special day. Our whole ethos for planting and resource management is loosely based on principles of permaculture so the venue had to follow suit. A portion of all events go towards the ongoing regeneration and curation of our property so that it remains a magical greenspace for future generations to enjoy.
Georges Tip:
Think of your event as a collection of inputs and outputs. instead of buying everything brand new try renting, reusing, repurposing and recycling - there are some great forums online for inspiration. As you will see from LSMM there are many talented vendors that are eco-ethicaly minded. For example food trucks that opt to use compostable food service items and venues that offer compost bins as well as recycling and rubbish for your event. We find that sometimes if we give a few tips to our clients on how to approach a low-impact event right from the start of planning they often run with it! We are always learning and have a few tips here on our website too.https://littlewilderness.co.nz/blog/how-to-reduce-the-carbon-footprint-of-your-next-event
Photographers
Pia and Anaru Church from Songbirds Photography
Hi lovers! We are Anaru & Pia - husband and wife, best friends, lovers of love and suckers for simple & deep moments. We revel in emotion and love nothing more than to journey with awesome couples on the lead up to their best day yet. Photography is our art but deep down, we're in the friendship business. We love the unique stories, expressions of culture, relationships, laughter and moments of emotion that weddings bring and are obsessed in celebrating with couples wherever love calls. However different, wild or simple the adventure is, count us in! We’d love to journey with you to make this the best experience yet and look back at your photographs with a big YAY in years to come! Love, Songbirds.
Pia and Anaru's Tip:
Welcoming in the digital age! Look for a photographer who handles all their planning online (contracts, forms) as well as delivering your photos in an online gallery. Having your favourite photos framed up on your wall is the most amazing way to remember those memories on the daily (we don't want those memories sitting in a dark place in the internet after all but we also don't want thousands of loose prints or all your albums collecting dust in the attic!). Choose your favourites and print with a local printer who offers recycled photo/art paper or vegetable based inks. Most photographers will have lots of printing options so ask for their green range!
Catering
Amy Klitscher from the
The Sustainable Food Co.
The Sustainable Food Co. is turning a new leaf on the way, the how, and the why Kiwis eat. We are absolutely committed to creating delicious, healthy plant-based food that is sustainable for both you AND the planet, and most of all we love creating it for you to enjoy. Offering a 100% plant-based menu, and contributing absolutely zero-waste to landfill throughout the entire process from sourcing to serving, you and your guests can eat with a good conscience knowing your catering ticks all the right boxes!
Amys Tip:
Put a lot of care and attention into meal portion sizes, and if needed donate leftover food to a local organisation foing great things such as FoodPrint, Auckland City Mission, FairFood NZ, or your local food bank. Offering a plant-based menu helps enormously too ~ by instantly reducing GHG emmissions, reducing water usage, reducing land-usage, and reducing the impact on our streams, lakes and waterways. I'm positive this adds another layer of deliciousness to your food!
Venue, Accomodation, Celebrant
Andrea Dahl from Manaaki Mai
'Manaaki whenua, manaaki tangata, haere whakamua' Care for the land, care for the people, look to the future. As kaitiaki (guardians) of Manaaki Mai our vision is to protect the land, stream and endemic species whilst regenerating the native bush. We warmly welcome you to share our piece of paradise for your small intimate, eco-friendly wedding or elopement. Part of your ceremony will include planting a native tree to contribute positively to our conservation and regeneration efforts. We work hard to go local with everything we provide and our packages ensure you need nothing other than 1. Marriage licence, 2. Your beloved and 3. Wedding rings - That's it! We also offer 2 accomodation options including an off the grid, rustic hut, nestled in the bush with a romantic outdoor bath. It doesn't get much better than this!
Andrea's Tip:
This day is about the two of you, your commitment to each other and the celebration of your love for each other. It doesn't need to meet expectations of others or break the bank. Your contribution to the protection and regeneration of our environment is a wonderful way to start your future as a married couple.
Talk to us!
We're stronger together! If you're planning a mindful wedding or have already had the pleasure of having one, we'd love to hear from you! Contact us here with tips, hacks and advice on what went well (and what didn't quite work out as planned!) We'll include them in part two of the blog.
Be part of the movement.
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