3 Eco Friendly Ways to Make Wedding Decorations

Weddings are fantastic occasions.  Lots of celebrations, family and friends and decorations make them a wonderful time. But how can you help to cut the costs both financially and environmentally? One way is by getting crafting and upcycling!

Upcycling to make your own (or a friend's) wedding decorations is great for a number of reasons: 1. It's eco friendly; 2. it saves money; and 3. you can make it much more personal and meaningful for the happy couple. Here are my 3 favourite ways to craft for the big day.

1. Upcycled table confetti

Confetti looks great to decorate a table and to help it match in with the colours of the wedding.  You can easily make your own using paper punches in a favourite shape and an old book, map or sheet of music.  Does the happy couple have a favourite book? Is there a special place they've been too - or maybe are going to on honeymoon? What's a significant piece of music in their lives? Use these as a starting point to make it really personal.  And as it's made of paper, it's recyclable too!

This confetti is made from maps of Devon and Cornwall.

2.  Upcycled wedding favour bags

It's easy to make a little favour bag from the same type of papers as the table confetti.  I found the best way to make them the first time was by taking apart a little favour bag and using it as a template, which you can then adapt when you've tried them a few times. Again, it's a great opportunity to really personalise the celebrations. Do make sure the paper is thick enough though.

This favour bag is made with a blank page from the back of a book, ribbon from a gift and an upcycled  paper rose (see my 'how to...' page for details).

3. Empty glass food jar flower holders

Save some jars from foods such as mustard, mayonnaise and jam, give them a good wash and use them to put flowers in as table decorations.  You can tie ribbon around them too for an extra touch.  I always save ribbon from parcels, presents and even hanging loops from tops I buy so these could be used to go with the upcycling theme; they won't all match, but if they're in the same colour or pattern family they'll give a nice eclectic look.

These two mustard jars are decorated with ribbon saved from other places.

These are just 3 ways to make some eco friendly decorations.  There are loads of others too and if you're interested you can find lots of ideas by googling, looking on Pinterest or letting your own imagination run free!