The best day of your life can be guilt-free with a bit of planning. The average wedding emits 14.5 tons of CO2, which is substantially more than the 12 tons emitted by the average person during a whole year.

But making key decisions now will mean you won’t be costing the earth when you pledge your vows. 

Live in the present
Toasters and wine racks are so last season dahling, when it comes to wedding gifts. Many people are getting married later – the average age is now 36 for a man and 33 for a woman – which means most couples have already been co-habiting and have all the household goodies they need.

Green up: Spread your wedding love and ask guests for charitable gifts – Oxfam Unwrapped (www.oxfamunwrapped.com) will provide essentials for people in Third World countries including goats, cows, tree saplings and books for schools, for example.

Alternatively, you can find green sites where gifts are ethically made. Companies such as Natural Collection (www.naturalcollection.com) have a range of green wedding gifts such as beauty products, clothes and household items, all of which are environmentally friendly and fair trade.

Inviting invites
Paper and card involves cutting down trees and sending your wedding invites out ups your carbon emissions, as each one has to be delivered.

Green up: Make your own invites (or if you aren’t artistically minded, ask a willing friend). There are computer packages that will make it much easier, but just ensure they are printed on recycled paper. To be even greener don’t send out any invites, but just email guests or ask them to download their invitation from the internet. They can reply via email or even use the dog and bone (phone) and speak to you!

Dress up
The dress is key to the day and every woman, of course, wants to look her best. But while the designer dress costing thousands may look fantastic, most are made in the Far East, where labour exploitation is prevalent. Polyester, which is the main material used in most wedding dresses, is made from petrochemicals too, which is non-biodegradable and involves intensive use of energy and water in its production. Add in the air miles and consequent carbon dioxide emissions when the dress is transported to the UK and you are looking at a big green no-no.

Green up: Find dressmakers who use only organic and fair trade products and materials. Alternatively, recycle and look for a vintage wedding dress or buy secondhand. Try eBay, or go to www.oxfam.org.uk for a list of Oxfam shops that have their own bridal departments.

Right place, right time
Your guests will more than likely be driving to your wedding, which is quite enough carbon emissions for one day.

Green up: Consider how you are going to get to the venue. If it’s close enough, you could walk to the wedding, or find ways of travelling that cut down on fuel use– a horse and carriage for example.Guests travelling between venues is what will hike up your carbon footprint on the day, so make sure the ceremony and the reception venues are as near as possible to each other (or ideally in the same building). Some churches have the facility to have the reception in the same place as the ceremony, or in the church hall next door. And civil ceremonies are usually held in the same venue too, which means people won’t have to drive to different locations. If they do have to shift between two places, provide transport such as a bus, so your guests don’t all drive separately.

Bloom and grow
Tropical and unusual exotic flowers will rack up thousands of air miles and most countries do not have pesticide rulings like we do here, especially if they are from Latin America or Africa.

Green up: Keep it simple and use flowers from your own or friends’ gardens. Or you could source seasonal flowers from a local organic grower, who can probably even grow you flowers to order for your big day. Avoid using wasteful cut flowers as your centrepiece – potted plants will look just as stylish and your guests can take them away and plant them in their garden afterwards.

Eat, drink and be merrier
You want your wedding meal to be delicious, sumptuous and enjoyed by everyone, but that doesn’t mean the ingredients have to come from overseas.

Green up: Always think local when it comes to the food for your wedding breakfast, so pick caterers who use organic and locally sourced ingredients. If any of your guests are prolific fruit and veg growers then ask them if they would be willing to provide a course or two and recompense them with a credit on the menu and a large (eco-friendly) gift! If there is any food left over then instead of throwing it out, donate it to a local homeless shelter. Think organic when it comes to wine – sourcing should be no problem because it’s becoming big business in the UK. You may even have a local brewery or wine grower who would be more than willing to provide some barrels or bottles.

Get away from it all
Everyone wants their dream holiday when it comes to their honeymoon, but that doesn’t necessarily mean flying thousands of miles away, which won’t help
the planet at all.

Green up: If you want peace and quiet, a remote holiday cottage in Britain could be a consideration. If you’re looking for great nightlife and fantastic restaurants, take the train to Paris. If you want sun, sea and sand, consider going on a specific ‘green holiday’ for all the fun without the excess carbon. And, if you’re looking for something active in beautiful surroundings, a couple of weeks in the Scottish highlands will tick all the boxes. A honeymoon is about starting your new life together and where you are is just a backdrop.

Pictures: getty images