Nearly all caterers will over estimate the amount of food needed at a wedding (after all having too little would be a nightmare, especially after all those glasses of wine!) But the idea of good food going into the bin and then land fill sends a shiver down my spine!  So what can you do about it?

1. Keep it! If you have any organised any post wedding parties while your relatives are in town then any left over food - especially the buffet food - would be perfect. Just ask the caterers to keep it for you.

2. Give it to your guests! Some of your friends and family may have travelled a long way to come to the wedding and maybe a little packed lunch is just what they need for the journey the next day (and to help with any hangovers!) Just leave some tuppleware on the buffet table with a note telling people to help themselves at the end of the night or make an announcement.

3. Ask your venue about their policy with left over food. I know a number of National Trust venues have a good composting policy or use any left over food to feed the pigs on the farm attached to the venue (as long as it isn’t pork of course!) So its worth asking if they do have a policy in place for left over food.

4. Give it away - You may find a local food shelter or charity that will be happy to have the leftovers. But do check first - some may have strict health and safety issues about what they can and can’t take. I do know of a couple who saved all the left over food and distributed it to the homeless people in their city parks themselves to get around this issue - but this won’t suit everyone! If local charities won’t take it, ask around and see if there are any organic farms or pig farmers in the area, who would happy to come and collect any leftover food for either their compost or pigs.

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We recently stayed at York yurts and it was such a glamorous treat that it was hard to believe that you were actually staying in a large tent in a field! The magnificent breakfast was brought to you on a tray to your yurt, so you could have a decadent breakfast in bed. Or lie on the day bed in your yurt or brave the elements and sit outside. For us it was a bit too cold to be outside and the day bed was an obvious option. There is a funky little kitchen/dining area but they also have a menu to choose from, so you need not cook at all! My kind of camping!

There are so many of these luxury camping options, springing up all over the UK and the continent that you can get the boutique hotel feel without the price tag and feel you are being an eco-queen by not flying. Canopy and stars also showcase a great eco pod in Bodmin Moor and domesweetdome have some great ones on the Scottish West Coast, which is one of my favourite areas of Scotland. For more glamping sites see the ukcampsite.

You may decide that glamping is not quite right for your honeymoon, but it still a great way to spend a weekend or holiday without blasting those air miles - or getting caught out by the dreaded ash cloud!

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Well, of course it is! But everyone - young and old loves to throw confetti over the happy couple as they emerge from the church. And it always ends up being one of the couple’s favourite photographs giggling together under the confetti. But once the couple have left, the confetti is still lingering around causing unsightly rubbish and the foil type can choke wildlife.  Because of this lots of venues and churches have banned its use within their ground.

So whats the eco alternative? - rose petals are a great alternative, as they do not harm the environment and are biodegradable. However, they can be expensive. You can also buy eco-confetti, that uses natural dyes and is made form corn starch, so it disintegrates when it gets wet. I love bubbles, and they do look great on photos. Just use an eco washing up liquid and recycle the bottles after wards - easy peasy! Wildflower and bird seeds can sound like a good idea but I have heard that they are a nightmare to get out of your wonderfully coiffured hair-do.  As will all the above do check with your church or venue about their own policy, regarding confetti, but hopefully you can have the fun of the confetti and be eco too!

But where does the tradition come from? Throwing confetti, or rice and grain, is a tradition from pagan times when it was thought to grant fertility.  Also, its an urban myth that rice causes harm to birds - they are quite used to eating it. It will not cause there stomachs to swell up and explode (after all have you ever seen an exploding bird!!)

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Here are a few questions you might want to ask your venue - Does it serve fair-trade tea or coffee? Does it use local suppliers? Is the food organic, especially the meat?  Can they supply organic wines? Do they recycle? Do they have an environmental policy? Remember if you ask and the next couple asks then maybe we can get some venues to change their own policies.

The average meal travels 22,000 miles to reach your plate (source: the live earth) with each ingredient; meat, fish, vegetables, spices, eggs, milk, fruit, grains all being driven or flown from where its grown to where its cooked, burning up fuel on the way. So using local produce can really bring down the carbon footprint of your wedding and supports local businesses.

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I’m delighted to be part of the organisation team for the UK’s 1st Green Wedding Show along with fellow Yorkshire wedding suppliers Olivia Brabbs photography & Weddings & Wellies.  The event will be held on Sunday 19th October 1-4pm in Norristhorpe and is set to blow the traditional wedding fair format out of the water!  The afternoon will
have an action packed timetable including an eco-couture showcase, local produce samples & pints of black sheep, hay rides and organic make-overs - as well as the opportunity to chat with some of Yorkshire’s best green innovators.  The ticket price also includes a fair-trade afternoon tea served on vintage china in one of PapaKata’s amazing teepee tents.  All proceeds from the event will go to Radio Aire’s Cash for Kids Charity so as well as grabbing lots of eco-chic wedding tips you’ll be supporting a fantastic cause in the process.

For further information and ticket sales please visit our website or email hello@lovelygrenweddings.co.uk.

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When you think of a honeymoon, what do you think of? A safari in Africa, the deserted beaches of the Maldives or a boutique European city break? Traditionally the honeymoon was a bridal tour - going to visit all those people who couldn’t come to the wedding, now we see it as a holiday of a lifetime - which is not a bad thing but does this have to include a long haul carbon emitting flight?

There are so many fantastic holidays in the UK that range from full on boutique glamour, to rustic eco-lodges, to an activity or volunteering holiday. My last holiday was in Edinburgh - a beautiful and atmospheric city - and we stayed in a great small boutique hotel. But would I want to spend my honeymoon there? Is the expectations of others that makes us go abroad, or do we all want to relax and be waiting on after the stress of the wedding organising?

After all isn’t the real reason to have a honeymoon about spending time together and we could really do that anywhere in the world - your thoughts are much appreciated.

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Image:Olivia Brabbs

Okay, so I know that everyone has a dream in their head about how their wedding day will be. And I’m pretty sure that rain doesn’t come into it! But don’t despair with the weather forecast looking less than sunny, here are a few tips on how to make a rainy wedding day your dream day:

1. You can’t control the weather - so don’t let it rule your day. Just be prepared for a bit of rain and enjoy it. Be like a kid - run in the rain, have your photos in the rain and smile throughout it all. It may not be how you pictured it but you’ll have great fun!

2. Any photographer will tell you that bright sunny days are a nightmare to shoot in and those strong shadows just aren’t flattering. Rainy days have a beautiful soft light all of their own which will really flatter you in the photos! And those dramatic clouds in the sky will look great in those big sweeping wedding shots.

3. Umbrellas are no longer a fashion faux pas. Just get yourself a fabulous wedding brolly. Plumo are doing some great pagoda shaped umbrellas that i just love - at £20 you can’t go wrong! Storm in a tea cup do beautiful bella wedding umbrellas in four different colours, a bit pricier but well worth a look. Or go for a fashion look, I love this picture of the polka dot brolly bride with the see through umbrella so you can see the bride! They have similiar ones at brollies galore. And with the weather the way it is at the moment it will be a great sustainable purchase!

4. Rainy weddings are lucky! I don’t who said it but who cares. If it rains just keep thinking hey, this is so lucky!

So enjoy your wedding day even if the sun refuses to shine, you still will!

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Leah Wood’s marriage to Jack McDonald caused a bit of a media frenzy with all its A-list celebrity guests. I’m not usually into celebrity weddings but I was really interested to find out that Leah Wood’s dress was vintage 1930’s, and it really does look like a one off unusual design. The detailing on the top of the dress is really beautiful and I love the slits in the sleeve.

The dress code for the wedding was vintage, which is a great idea. And the theme for the wedding was A Midsummer Night’s Dream. I know themed weddings aren’t for everyone but I love them, especially colour themes - making everyone come in red and black or green and purple - I think it makes the photographs look fab!

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Organising a wedding is a big task, especially co-ordinating everyone and all your wedding suppliers. And then your wedding dress isn’t ready at your fitting and those relatives from Australia turn up unannounced and then the dog eats your bouquet! A lot of things can get you stressed. Here is a really simple technique to keep you calm and collected throughout. Firstly clear your mind by concentrating on your breathing. Start taking deep breaths and counting to 7 on an in breath and 11 on an out breath. The trick to make sure your out breath is longer than the in breath. Do this for a couple of minutes and you will begin to feel more relaxed. Then you can get things into perspective - things may go wrong but the focus of the day is on you as a couple so don’t let something small get in the way of your enjoyment! And if that fails open a bottle of wine!

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I love Elderflowers and my grandad used to make the most amazing Elderflower wine. Like most traditional English Fruit Wines it was quite sweet and you drank it in sherry-type glasses rather than wine glasses. I think this was mainly to do with the strength of the stuff! He made all types of fruit wines, using whatever was left over on the farm, from rhubarb to pear.

I was reminded of this when watching Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall make elderflower champagne on River Cottage Spring last night - how fab would it be to toast your marriage with a completely authentic english drink. And at this time of year elderflowers are everywhere, the picture above was taken of some growing wild in our local park, so just think of that low carbon footprint! I’m going to try and make some, I’ll let you know how it goes, it looks pretty simple (famous last words!) but having never made wine before it could all go horribly wrong! If you are feeling brave there is the recipe on rivercottage.net but I’m going to follow the recipe on a blog called www.catstripe.co.uk It could be a great thing to do with friends and family before the wedding and think how proud everyone would feel to be drinking their own wine at your wedding reception - although you would have to okay this with the wedding venue. It might be good to have a contingency plan just in case! For sellers of fruit wines in the UK see:

www.yorkshirecountrywines.co.uk www.thesussexwinecompany.co.uk or www.pennardorganicwines.co.uk

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