| EMBRACING SUSTAINABILITY | With Daisy Works
Top Tips on creating a more eco friendly wedding with your wedding flowers
We can be forgiven for wanting to float off into our dream world of idyllically beautiful weddings and not considering the environmental impact of our decisions for that one day. However, what if we told you that you could have your “green” cake and eat it; a sustainable wedding with all the latest trends. Sounds good, right? Fiona from Daisy Works, focuses on creating beautiful and environmentally friendly florals so who better to tell us more.
Fiona says; “At Daisy Works our flower farm is our life, and our holistic approach means that we try our hardest to look after and maintain our diverse wildlife, so that we are custodians of the land we are privileged to take care of, not just to exploit it to make as much money as possible. We are rewarded every day with a beautiful flower scape, humming with life. Stunning florals often feature in weddings, and as with everything, there are lots of options available to you, with varying degrees of sustainability. Aside from the style choices, sustainable options make very little difference to the aesthetic; you may not even realise the differences as it’s not obvious to the eye.If following the growing trend to choose weddings that are less wasteful on every level strikes a chord with you, then here are some tips for you when choosing your wedding florals.
Buy Local!
Locally-grown and British-grown flowers mean that your flowers haven’t stacked up thousands of air miles to get to you, and often are grown without chemicals at all, or at least are grown under our strict legislation.
Avoid the dreaded plastic!
In particular, the use of floral foam, which is toxic to make, and toxic to use, it’s practically a single-use plastic, after which it ends up in landfill, where it breaks down eventually into micro plastics which pollute the planet. There are now established foam free floristry techniques which many florists are adopting.
Beware green washing in the floral and floristry industries!
It’s rife and there’s currently an awareness campaign you can find on Instagram @greenwashtheflowerswhere you can find out what to look out for.
What can you do,
to help create a more sustainable wedding ?
1 - Choose a sustainable florist who opts to use mainly or exclusively British-grown or locally grown flowers to reduce air miles and chemical contamination. If you’re planning to DYI, then also check your supplier. You can find this in Flowers from the Farmdirectory;www.flowersfromthefarm.co.uk
2 - Ask if floral foam is used by your florist and if you are doing DIY florals then find a local supplier, ask their advice or go on a workshop for sustainable floristry to learn foam free techniques (again check out Flowers from the Farm)
3 - Choose naturally sun-bleached flowers and natural colours rather than chemically bleached or dyed flowers.
4 - Use natural fabrics and textiles instead of man-made acrylics for your ribbons and table decorations; I recommend Acorn Silks. Also, use natural jute twine instead of plastic cable ties in any construction.
5 - Use edible and local flowers with provenance on your wedding cake to make sure they are chemical free and non-toxic.
6 - Consider re-purposing flowers throughout your wedding to reduce waste (which obviously makes financial sense too!);the church flowers come with you to the venue, and your bridesmaids bouquets form part of the wedding breakfast display.
7 - Ask your florist what happens to the flowers after your wedding? At Daisy Works were turn to collect re-usable items like vases and string and we will re-pack your flowers so that you(or your family) can take them home to enjoy before putting in the compost. We sometime stake flowers to our local hospice on request.
Get In Touch
www.daisyworks.co.uk | e: contact@daisyworks.co.uk | t: 07976 722 627
Photos by Coral and Stone Photography
