WEDDING

Follow These Tips to Have a More Sustainable Engagement

Like many couples, you may be thinking about minimizing your environmental footprint to leave a more hospitable planet for future generations. Thankfully, there are several ways to make your engagement celebrations more eco-friendly.

Buy an Ethically Sourced Ring from a Local Business

Whether you’re interested in buying a custom engagement ring, wedding band or redesigning an old family heirloom for your partner, it’s advisable to buy from a boutique local business that handcrafts rings rather than a luxury retailer that mass-produces generic rings.

Those luxury retailers will have much larger environmental footprints.

Use the services of a jeweller that offers ethically sourced, sustainable materials. Visit Alexisgallery.com to learn about a jeweller that painstakingly handcrafts custom engagement rings with sustainable materials such as ethically sourced diamonds and lab-grown diamonds.

An ethically sourced diamond that follows the highest international standards is mined without the exploitation of labour or the environment. Alternatively, you can choose a lab-grown diamond for an even more eco-friendly option. While lab-grown diamonds have the same appearance, hardness, durability and beauty as mined diamonds, they have a smaller environmental footprint because mining isn’t involved in their creation.

There are more advantages to buying a custom engagement ring from such a business. You and your partner will have a say at every stage as you collaborate throughout the design process and develop the perfect engagement ring. Moreover, you’ll get the best customer service from experts that love crafting jewellery.

Plan an Environmentally Friendly Engagement Party

There are many good reasons to have an engagement party. Not only is it a nice way to celebrate one of the most monumental occasions in your life, but it also gives your family and friends an opportunity to get to know your partner’s family and friends. With the relationships between the two families strengthening, you’re more likely to have a memorable and smooth wedding several months down the road.

Choose a Venue That’s Close to Home

While destination venues may look fun, they’re not the most eco-friendly choice for your engagement party. Reaching them by car or plane can have a negative impact on the environment. To minimize your carbon footprint, select a closer location. You can have a memorable yet eco-friendly engagement party by selecting a nearby beach, restaurant, art gallery, museum, wine cellar, or home as your venue.

Pick a Sustainable Menu

Whether you are preparing the food in-house or hiring a catering company, you can plan a more sustainable menu by choosing local, organic, and seasonal foods. To go the extra mile, select vegetarian or vegan options that are cost-effective. Likewise, ask for your dessert selection to be prepared with community-sourced ingredients and seasonal fruit.

Rethink Your Flower Arrangements

Similarly, you may opt to decorate the venue with living plants instead of cut flowers for a more eco-friendly engagement party. If you can’t do without flowers, then pick ones that are grown within your community. And after the party is over, consider donating them instead of tossing them in the bin.

While having a more sustainable engagement can seem challenging, the effort is certainly worthwhile. Some options, like custom engagement rings featuring ethically sourced or lab-grown diamonds, are good for the environment, and they look stunning, too.