Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

The green bride

Rhiannon Harries
Sunday 15 June 2008 00:00 BST
Comments
Emma and Ian ruled out their dream wedding abroad and instead opted fo the Yorkshire Dales
Emma and Ian ruled out their dream wedding abroad and instead opted fo the Yorkshire Dales (Zagni Photography)

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Consultant Emma Harvey, 39, married Ian Newbold, 37, an IT specialist, in July last year

People imagine a "green" wedding to be some kind of New Age affair, but ours proved that you can stick to your principles without sacrificing your plans fora lovely, traditional day.

I work in sustainability, helping businesses "green up", so it's important to practise what I preach.

I knew a lot about what we could do but I went to a specialist green wedding planner, who gave me lots more ideas.

Transport is the biggest issue, so we ruled out our dream wedding abroad. Luckily we have the beautiful Yorkshire Dales on our doorstep; we founda small hotel there and had some teepees put up in the field next to it.

My husband came up with the idea of setting up our "wedding website", where we encouraged guests to communicate about car-pooling. We also saved paper by putting information on thererather than sending it out.

On the day, we used local suppliers for everything from the meat to the beer, and had fair-trade wines and chocolates.

I'm not a white-meringue wedding dress type of girl, so I deliberately chose oneI could wear again at parties.

We tried not to ram the whole green thing down people's throats. We chose things we really liked that were also green or ethical – it didn't feel at all as though it was a compromise.

GreenUnion helped to organize Emma and Ian's wedding. Visit www.greenunion.co.uk

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in