Sustainable Food at a Wedding, Is It Doable?

Photo by thebittenword.com

For years I’ve been a supporter of the sustainable food movement. As a farmer’s daughter, I find it to be very important to eat food grown by local producers. I’m not only supporting my local economy, but also local farm families. This is such an important topic to me that I want to incorporate it into my wedding meals. Here’s how we’re doing it.

Getting started

Before we even met with caterers, I asked my mom to find out if local farmers produce some of the types of ingredients I knew we’d need: potatoes, vegetables, greens, chicken. I come from a cattle buying and raising family, so I knew there would be no shortage of beef!

After that, along with our parents, Matt and I began working with our caterers to develop menus full of fresh and locally grown produce, things like: roast beef from cattle raised by my dad and his family, green beans, potatoes and sweet corn from local farmers, local chicken and homemade egg noodles (my dad loves our caterers chicken & noodles), and homegrown spinach. We’re also considering asking a local BBQ champion to prepare the meat for our rehearsal dinner as a way to feature local BBQ masters.

How to develop your own sustainable wedding meal

If you’re trying to develop your own fresh, locally produced wedding meal, remember that rather than you dictating the menu, it will be the availability of produce that dictates the meal. Also, some caterers are not open to this technique. When you meet with your caterer ask if he or she is open to the idea and if he or she knows what produce will be available at the time of your wedding. Many brides and grooms who go this route get creative by playing matchmaker between caterer and farmer if their caterer does not already have relationships with local farmers. Also, if you’re planning a late fall, winter or early spring wedding in a colder climate, you may have limited options.

Finding a sustainable caterer

Start by looking up local caterers’ websites to see if they offer sustainable or organic meal options. You can also talk to local farmers to see if they’ve worked with any sustainable caterers. Look for an association in your area that promotes local or organic restaurants and caterers. Here are some caterers who are open to using local, seasonal produce:

Organic caterers (in the UK)

Daniel Gourmet Kosher Catering, Inc. (on the US East coast)

The Atrium at Montgomery Park (in Portland, OR)

Catering Consciously (in Denver, CO)

Attitude on Food (in Omaha, NE)

The challenges

It is challenging to include only local produce into all of our wedding meals. We won’t be able to use local ingredients in every dish, but we’re incorporating them into as many as we can. And while the area I’m from is a farm community, most of the produce grown there is actually shipped out to be used in processed goods or is used to feed cattle. This makes it a bit challenging to find enough local producers for our wedding dish ingredients.

You will inevitably face challenges, as well, but you don’t have to go all out with finding local products for every aspect of your wedding. Choose just one and let your guests know about it so they can appreciate it.

The payoff

The thing I’m loving about this small town, country wedding is my ability to showcase the traditions, products and scenery of the area. Although I don’t live there anymore, I still have pride in the community and have the urge to promote the best aspects of it to out-of-towners and locals, alike.

When planning your own wedding, you might want to consider doing the same. What local flavor can you showcase in your wedding? Is there a local vineyard that’s well-known in the area or a local farmer who is willing to provide fresh, healthy produce for your meals? It may seem like a daunting task, but if you have the time and passion to seek out local flare for your wedding, it will make it all the more special for your guests.

The Hunt for Creative, Casual Place Settings

After deciding to have my wedding reception in a tent, one of the first things I concluded was that I did not want to use plastic or paper dinnerware. I don’t like the trash, I don’t like the waste and I don’t like flimsy plates! Real china is definitely more my style. I’ll admit, using plates and cups that I don’t have to transport from the tent to a nearby kitchen for cleaning would be much easier, but they won’t be nearly as pretty or environmentally friendly.

Finding our China and Stemware

I knew that I could rent plates from a number of vendors, but I wasn’t happy with the styles I was seeing. The place settings offered to me were OK, but they weren’t anything special. And I realized that if they were too matchy or elegant looking then my casual theme would go out the door. I’d heard of brides shopping for vintage decorations at auctions  and thrift stores, so I decided to explore that idea. I’m very lucky to have a great aunt whose weekend hobby is “garage saling.” I was thrilled when she agreed to embark on the journey of collecting 300 plates and glasses for our event!

That was five months ago. At this point we’re up to more than 200 unique and vintage plates, an uncounted amount of silverware and around 100 glasses. Here are a few of my favorites, so far.

The Plan

My plan is to have my wedding designer create unique and individual place settings at each and every table the day of the wedding. Our guests will enter the tent to simple table cloths; vases and mason jars filled with flowers grown by my family members; and colorful, vintage place settings — no two will be exactly alike.

After the wedding, we’ll keep some of the plates for my sisters’ future weddings, use the ones we like in our own house, and sell the rest online or at garage sales or consignment shops.

Where to Find Your Own

If you’re interested in creating unique, vintage place settings for your own wedding, there are plenty of places to find china and stemware. I’d start with the following:

• Local garage sales
• Consignment shops
• Antique stores
• Thrift stores
• Etsy
• Anthropologie
• eBay

Finding your own stemware and plates will not only make your wedding more unique, but it will also create a lovely vintage atmosphere for your guests.

Discover Your Venue

Where do you look for a casual wedding location? Simple, all around you!

Photo by Moodeous Photography

My favorite story of how a wedding location was discovered is in — what happens to also be my favorite TV show — Sex and the City. Miranda discovers the spot for her garden wedding while walking home with her fiance Steve, arms loaded with plastic grocery bags.

I don’t want to make a big entrance. I don’t want everyone staring at me. I just want it to feel like us, not like one of those millions of cookie cutter weddings I’ve had to suffer through. How do we do that?

As they talk about where to have their non-corny wedding, one of the bags breaks and Steve steps on a clump of freshly chewed gum.

This is so us. We are pathetic. You see? We’re bag people not boat people. We should just get married right here in this mess!

Then she looks up to see a simple garden that’s the perfect spot for what Carrie has coined a wedding for a “friend who hates weddings.” Not surprisingly, according to this 2004 article from The Villager, Miranda’s impromptu wedding boosted the number of wedding’s hosted at the beautiful and affordable Jefferson Market Garden in New York City.

Where do you spend your time?

Photo by Adam Welch Photography

You, too, can plan your wedding in a more simple and informal setting. Think about where you and your groom like to spend your time. Do you have a favorite restaurant or city building? Did you have a romantic evening on a boardwalk, beach, quaint walking trail or city park? Perhaps your backyard is big enough to contain a small number of your closest friends and family.

Casual doesn’t have to mean small.

If you’re going casual, you don’t have to limit the number of guests. Choose to have your event in a big white tent  or on the grounds of a large estate. You can choose to throw your wedding in a banquet hall at your favorite sports complex or local college. You can even throw a wedding in the great hall of a museum or library, but choose to keep the decor and attire simple and chic rather than austere.

Religious Requirements

If you’re like me and are required by your religion to marry in a place of worship, choose a simple church or one with special significance to you and your family, and keep the reception casual.

Whatever you decide, choose a place that has special significance to both you and your groom.