Zero Waste Wedding: Part 1

Soooo, here’s the thing.

For the majority of my previous posts, I was pretty confident about the advice I was giving in terms of zero waste DIY. I would test out the ideas several times and if I had any issues with things, I tried to troubleshoot it.

But when you’re planning your wedding, you don’t really get a lot of trial and error.

But I wanted to write about it as it the process moves along, slowly. And since this is a completely new experience for me, I would seriously appreciate any tips or suggestions.

Not Me.

I suppose the best place to start is engagement rings. Firstly, I didn’t want a wedding band and an engagement ring. I wanted to try to find either an antique ring or a ring made out of recycled metal.

Yeah, I chose my own engagement ring.

Ivo and I have been dating for 7 years and our engagement was more of a discussion about logic than a surprise. That’s what happens when you date a scientist from Boston. And since I’m going to be wearing this ring, hopefully forever, he wanted to make sure it was something I really liked. He’s wicked smaht.

Photo Courtesy: doronmerav.com

So far I have mostly been looking on Etsy. I like supporting small businesses, I can generally request for them to ship in compostable materials, and I think the designs are more unique than what’s available in commercial jewelry stores. I don’t want a diamond ring, and I am mostly looking for a Celtic style ring that has a thin band and small features.

The ring above is a design by Doron Merav. His rings are probably the strongest contender at the moment. His site says he uses 100% recycled gold and conflict-free stones. I just wish I had a way to try it on before buying.

So, I am not sure what the next best steps are. Not in order, anyway.  Location, dress, food… pretty much everything else is still up in the air. So again, if you have any advice, please comment below!

I am hoping to find a used dress, ideally from a marriage that didn’t end it divorce… or murder.

Also I don’t know if you can tell by the featured image (not me) or the ring (haven’t tried on, yet) but I have realized that apparently I want a garden-in-the-woods fairy-esque themed wedding. Hey, we all have our dreams. Embrace them!