Sustainable & Low Waste Wedding Keepsakes
For many couples, their wedding is one of the most important days of their lives. In recognizing this, many couples decide to curate wedding keepsakes to reminisce back on their day. These can range from wedding photos to wedding themed décor to preserving certain wedding elements.
Here are the most low waste and sustainable options when it comes to wedding keepsakes:
- Minimize the total number of keepsakes. Not only do many people receive keepsakes as gifts, but many couples intentionally purchase keepsakes as well. As your planning your wedding, keep a list of keepsake ideas. Then, determine which items you think you will truly enjoy and keep forever; aim for a handful (or less) items. For example, you may like the idea of getting Mr. & Mr. signs or pillowcases, but how long will you keep these for? If the answer is forever, do it. If the answer is a few years, it’s probably a good item to skip. Be deeply intentional with each item and you’ll find you spend less money and waste less.
- Consider reusing existing wedding items for keepsakes. A common keepsake are/is wedding dress(es). Many people think they will keep the dress for a child or to gaze upon every year. Be realistic — is/are the dress(es) truly timeless? Are you committed to paying for the dress restoration and upkeep fees? How will you feel if your child doesn’t like your dress?
- Purchase sustainable versions of the keepsakes you’d like. For example, you could work with an artist to draw a wedding portrait or work with a local seller who personalizes ornaments.
Something that is becoming more popular is cutting up a wedding dress or wedding veil for wall décor, banners, ornaments, and more. Dresses and veils can be worn many times before they need to be upcycled; to me it seems incredibly wasteful to cut up a dress or veil that was worn once (or even a few times). Only if you purchased a dress or veil secondhand, and in poor condition, would I say upcycling the materials maybe makes sense. And, even then, you should consider the life of the upcycled version before DIYing; will you keep this forever?
What are some cool, recycled keepsakes?
- Pressed, dried, or faux flowers from your wedding displays/bouquets
- A vase, candle, or other table décor from your reception centerpieces
- Signs, boxes, or photo displays used to decorate your venue
- Wedding attire/accessories including: any apparel you or your partner wore that you intend to wear again (ties, shoes, suits, dresses, etc.) and any jewelry you or your partner wore that you intend to wear again (earrings, necklaces, watches, hair accessories, etc.).
- 100% recycled paper photo albums. If you read my post on Eco-Friendly & Low Waste Wedding Invites, Save the Dates, RSVP Cards, & Thank You Notes you may remember Paper Culture. In addition to 100% post-consumer recycled paper invitations, they also sell 100% post consumer recycled photo albums.
- Vows or wedding readings printed on 100% recycled paper.
- Photos printed on 100% post consumer recycled paper, like these from Paper Culture.
What are some new, sustainably made keepsakes?
- Signs or a keepsake box made from reclaimed wood
- Handmade and local pottery items like ornaments, mugs, and etched wall hangings
- Personalized artwork printed on 100% recycled paper
How do I find sustainably made keepsakes?
- Etsy
- Search for recycled or reclaimed versions of the keepsakes you’re interested in. For example, Artifact Uprising has a reclaimed wood keepsake box.
My Story
Like many people, I’ve found value in collecting some wedding keepsakes from our day. For me, the most important keepsake was high quality photography. My partner and I had very few photos together and even fewer nice photos, prior to our wedding. So paying for high quality photography was incredibly important to me. So important, that photography cost 40%+ of our wedding budget. Really.
My partner and I did not share our vows out loud during our ceremony. Instead, we exchanged vows through letters, which we silently read during our ceremony. These vows, handwritten on paper, are a natural keepsake for us; they will continue to remind us of our commitment to each other and the love we share.
Although I loved my dress, my shoes, my veil, and my bridal jewelry, I decided to only keep my bridal earrings. I hope to wear these in the future, but, as they are pretty fancy for normal outings, I may decide to sell them in the future. My partner wore a suit he already owned for our wedding, so he will keep the suit. He did purchase a new bowtie for our wedding, which he will continue to wear in the future.
As I made my bridal bouquet from salvaged book paper, I knew I would keep it after the wedding. It currently sits within a vintage brass vase on my desk (see the photo above).
In the future, I would like to print some wedding photos or a wedding album. My initial instinct was to print many photos, but with time I’ve naturally reduced how many prints I want. I will likely ponder this purchase for a few more months before committing to certain photos and the number of photos.
Like this post?
Check out the other posts in my sustainable wedding series such as Read This Before You Purchase Engagement/Wedding Rings, Zero Waste & Sustainable Engagement/Wedding Rings, Read This Before You Purchase Wedding Invites, Save the Dates, RSVP Cards, and Thank You Notes, Eco-Friendly & Low Waste Wedding Invites, Save the Dates, RSVP Cards, & Thank You Notes, How To Create a Low-Waste and Sustainable Wedding Registry, What You Need to Know About Eco-Friendly and Low Waste Wedding Venues BEFORE You Select a Venue, and How To Make Your Wedding Venue Low Waste & Eco-Friendly.
None of the links in this post are affiliate links; I have received no incentive to include brands or companies in this post.
