How we deliberate a inexperienced wedding ceremony in Singapore

As somebody deeply aware about how we have to scale back our influence on the setting, I launched into the mission to create our wedding ceremony with a minimal carbon footprint. With a little bit of creativity and plenty of assist from God, we made our inexperienced wedding ceremony in Singapore a actuality. As we speak, I’m excited to share how we managed to plan a sustainable wedding ceremony and encourage others to do the identical.

We had our The Starry Evening themed wedding ceremony at The Armenian Apostolic Church of St. Gregory the Illuminator, also referred to as The Armenian Church, the primary ever church planted in Singapore. Positioned at 60 Hill Avenue, it’s a central location for a lot of and conveniently positioned close to Metropolis Corridor and Clarke Quay MRT Station. We opted for a backyard lunch reception on the premises, beneath an open air tent which comfortably accommodated 180 company.

Organising lunch exterior an F&B institution actually meant higher logistics administration and better prices, and we didn’t use a marriage planner with a purpose to get monetary savings. Nonetheless as a complete we tried to maintain the day’s proceedings as minimal as potential by omitting practices we deemed pointless. Such because the “gatecrash”, flower youngsters, confetti, bridal automotive, groomsmen and bridesmaids. We did have a easy tea ceremony on the premises earlier than the church wedding ceremony although.

In complete we spent just below $35,000 (together with apparel, hair and make up), which is a bit on the excessive finish contemplating the variety of company and the way church weddings are sometimes cheaper to organise. However renting a nationwide monument comes at a price, nevertheless it was the tentage and furnishings that had been the most important price, adopted by meals. There was additionally a final minute add-on of flooring as a result of muddy grounds, which set us again round $3,200, however one should at all times count on the sudden when organising occasions open air.

Our key issues:

This wedding ceremony was not about us, as a substitute it was in regards to the folks in our lives we wished to thank and have a good time. We wished a energetic ambiance and to honour God by means of the complete course of. These had been the important thing issues of the day:

A church wedding ceremony and lunch reception in the identical venue so it was handy for everyoneThe meals needed to be scrumptious regardless that it was a buffetThe worship music needed to be fantasticEveryone needed to be comfy, really feel seen, be effectively fed, and have funGreat ambiance

My key environmental targets:

To start with, we agreed we’d attempt to be lower out something we discovered extreme, resembling confetti, which might additionally require cleansing up, and a bridal automotive, so we’d not want flowers for this function. We did make an exception for the church, which is the home of God’s afterall, so we sought to decorate up the pews and the rostrum on the entrance, the place the pastor and officiant of our wedding ceremony would preach from. Aside from a minimalist method, these are the targets we centered on for a inexperienced wedding ceremony in Singapore:

Near zero meals wasteGenerate as little trash as possibleUse as little vitality as possibleAny single used gadgets need to be recyclable, compostable, from a sustainable supply (ideally no plastics) and/or could be repurposedDecor to double up as wedding ceremony favours, are non-obligatory for company to maintain, and could be taken residence and additional loved

Here’s a checklist of musicians and distributors we labored with for the marriage:

Nanyang Inc – They work completely with The Armenian Church for tentage and infrastructure. From them, we rented tentage, chairs, tables with skirting, coolers, lighting, followers with carpeted flooring. They had been responsive {and professional}, and made certain the whole lot went easily.Friday’s Backyard – Clare and her crew had been extraordinary! They delivered above and past what I used to be anticipating, the company additionally commented how lovely the floral shows had been. From them I ordered a bridal bouquet, hand corsages, boutonnières, aisle and podium flowers for the church.Ten Butter Fingers – Jenny baked us strawberry cupcakes, lemon drizzle minis and a 3-tiered pandan chiffon cake as our wedding ceremony cake. Because the lunch was held open air, a cream cake wouldn’t have fared effectively beneath these circumstances. So a pandan chiffon cake it was, and boy was it scrumptious! I even ordered it on a separate event – one cake every for my mother-in-law and myself – after the marriage as a result of it’s that good.The Shepherd’s Pie – Our favorite shepherd’s pie! They kindly blessed us with a number of trays in numerous flavours and it proved to be so well-liked, there was barely any left!Mr Biryani – That is my husband’s favorite biryani. We ordered just a few flavours, together with mutton, rooster and prawn, and this was snapped up in double fast time. The boss got here right down to serve the meals as a result of he enjoys this type of hospitality, what a pleasant private contact!Chilli Manis – We catered from two separate menus – Peranakan Jewel and Flavours of Asia (principally peranakan meals). This was additionally extremely popular and we might extremely suggest.Shinpuru – Consuming from disposable plates was a no-no, so we opted for reusable plates, bowls, cups and cutlery. The service was improbable and I’d positively suggest utilizing them to your occasions!Musicians – The crew included Miss Lou (singer), Daniel Chia (keyboardist), Isaac Ong (singer), Adele Wong (singer), Levan Wee (singer and groom!), Valerie Yeo (harpist), Grace Notes (cellist and violinist).Aesta Make-up – This got here beneficial from a buddy. The make up artists we had had been fabulous, in complete we had 3. One for my mom, one for myself and we had been pleasantly shocked when Esta herself got here right down to do my husband’s hair and make up. I used to be happy with the top end result, I obtained so many compliments for my closing look, which was achieved by the beautiful Jaclyn Tan.Photographers – The great photographers from the occasion had been Ang Wei Ming and Joshua Pwee. Wei Ming is Levan’s colleague and Joshua got here beneficial by him.Videographers – Our proficient videographers had been Isaac Tan and Xie Ming Feng, each are colleagues of Levan on the Thirst Collective. We requested they shoot footage however not put collectively the marriage reel for us as we might be doing it ourselves.BQueens – I’d extremely suggest this bridal boutique! They’ve a variety of robes and I discovered the charges inexpensive. I paid $800 to hire my robe and was more than happy with the service total.Gardant Farmboy – We gave away crops as wedding ceremony favours, and all basil seedlings had been grown by Tony of Gardant Farmboy, who’s a daily face at markets like Gardener’s Day Out.Unpossible Kitchen – This well being meals firm is run by buddy of mine who sadly was unable to attend the marriage. As a type of goodwill, she contributed a number of packing containers of gluten-free natural edamame and black bean pasta and noodles as items for company.

How we deliberate a Inexperienced Marriage ceremony in Singapore

For each vendor and product, we thought of how we may undertake eco parts with out breaking the financial institution. Listed here are the areas the place we labored on making a inexperienced wedding ceremony in Singapore.

1. Ditching Single-Use for Sustainability

One of many first steps in the direction of making a greener wedding ceremony was to keep away from disposable gadgets. We collaborated with Shinpuru, an organization recognized for leasing its crockery and cutlery, in addition to dishwashing companies. From them we rented reusable melamine cups, plates, bowls and stainless-steel cutlery. Not solely did this considerably scale back waste, nevertheless it additionally added a extra distinguished really feel in comparison with paper or plastic plates and different tableware. Sure it did drive up the price since we paid simply over $1500. This value consists of labour for 3 folks to help with clearing meals from plates at a chosen cleansing station.

2. Blooming with Sustainable Decor

As a substitute of choosing the standard lower flowers for desk decor, we selected potted crops. They not solely regarded contemporary and exquisite however may be reused or given a house after the marriage. The choice helped us keep away from imported flowers from exterior of Southeast Asia, thus decreasing the carbon footprint related to transportation. This was additionally an inexpensive possibility in comparison with floral preparations. For the numbering of tables, our signage was made utilizing paper and bamboo satay sticks that I already had mendacity round at residence, making it each a cost-effective and eco resolution. It may be simply positioned contained in the soil of the potted crops.

3. Meals Waste? Not On Our Watch

Meals waste is a large contributor to carbon emissions globally, so it was imperitive to us to keep away from this as a part of having a inexperienced wedding ceremony in Singapore. We lowered potential meals waste from our occasion by offering eco-friendly, plastic-free takeout containers from Biopak for our company. Any leftovers might be simply taken residence, loved later, and nothing received wasted. We inspired our company to remove the meals, and we’re proud to report that to our understanding, there was barely any meals leftover and our households took residence the remainder. The containers had been made utilizing sugar cane pulp. Whereas much less hardy than plastics, it’s residence compostable so folks can decide to take action if they need.

4. Embracing the Open air

Our love for nature guided us to have an out of doors, backyard wedding ceremony. We arrange a big tent and used followers and air coolers as a substitute of air-conditioning, considerably decreasing vitality consumption. It helped that there was a pure breeze that day, with low humidity. One factor we learnt is to not have air coolers located close to a stall serving papadums as a result of it saved blowing off folks’s plates as they walked by, and we had an space with numerous crushed papadums on the ground.

5. The Aware Buffet

As a substitute of a standard sit-down banquet, we opted for a buffet. Our caterers principally offered their meals in stainless-steel meals trays or reusable containers. We additionally knowledgeable them to not deliver disposable plates and cutlery since we had already organised to have reusable plates and tableware.

6. Considerate Marriage ceremony Favours

Marriage ceremony favours are a beautiful custom, however usually they consist of things that is probably not used or appreciated. We determined to offer our company crops, which additionally doubled as decor in our wedding ceremony venue. Not solely had been they a novel and fairly long-lasting souvenir, however they may be used to beautify our company’ properties.

7. Sacred Blooms

We had lower flowers within the church, sourced from a florist dedicated to inexperienced values. Friday’s Backyard didn’t disappoint, Clare understood that I didn’t need any oasis / floral foam, and as a substitute used a reusable container and plastic tubes which I returned to her on a later date. To make it further particular, she included floral parts harvested from my mum or dad’s backyard. What Clare and her crew achieved was spectacular! It was essential to us to beautify the home of God in a manner that revered His creation and so they completely knocked it out of the park. I’d extremely suggest them!

8. Round Trend Decisions

I selected to hire a robe for the ceremony, guaranteeing that the costume might be used and appreciated by others sooner or later. For the lunch reception, I wished to put on one thing comfy as a result of the reality is, it’s too tough to make use of the bathroom within the wedding ceremony robe! I wore a pre-loved costume that was already in my wardrobe, one which I swapped from The Trend Pulpit. These decisions weren’t simply economical, but additionally a testomony to my perception in sustainability and minimalism, as a result of we must always solely use what we want. Making round style decisions is actually a step in the appropriate course when planning to have a inexperienced wedding ceremony in Singapore.

9. Going Digital with Angpaos

Historically, giving purple packets is a major a part of our tradition. Whereas we had an angpao field that was upcycled utilizing a cardboard field and lovingly embellished with The Starry Evening wrapping paper by our buddy Pamela (see above), we gave the choice for our company to offer purple packets electronically. It was a simple and efficient method to scale back paper utilization and waste. On the wedding ceremony registration desk, we had a standee with a QR code linked to our joint checking account for individuals who most well-liked to reward us an angpao electronically.

We’re proud to share that our wedding ceremony was not solely a celebration of our love but additionally of our shared dedication to the setting and God’s creation. It’s a small step in the direction of a extra sustainable future, and we hope to encourage extra {couples} to think about inexperienced choices when planning their massive day.

Keep in mind, each small effort counts, and collectively we are able to make a world of distinction!

I hope you discovered this publish about planning a inexperienced wedding ceremony in Singapore helpful!

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Primary picture by Joshua Pwee