Weddings are a lavish affair in the subcontinent with most families leaving no stone unturned for the perfect wedding. These grand weddings not only leave pockets empty but are also very damaging to Mother Earth given how much waste they produce.
Read more – Indian wedding leaves behind 4000 kgs of garbage
Bollywood star Dia Mirza, who is known to be one of the most committed champions of sustainability, decided to go against the norm when she tied the knot earlier this year, using her fame and influence to bring about a positive change. The model, actor and producer, whose environment-friendly efforts have also been recognised by the United Nations, opted for a sustainable wedding not only with her bridal look (an heirloom-worthy Benarasi sari) but also with the design and decor of the venue.
Talking to Brut India, Mirza shared how she planned her zero-waste wedding and gave tips on how you can plan yours too.
Handmade Gifts
“People love to give gifts to announce their weddings and stuff so even with that, we made sure we had handcrafted woven baskets, made by artisans and we sent everybody a plant,” shared Dia.
Local Decor
“All our decor, which was primarily the use of wasted twigs and woods and locally-grown flowers,” said Dia. “I think when we think of big events for weddings, we tend to use exotic flowers from all over the world, there’s obviously the carbon footprint of transport, etc.”
Sharing how to make the decor sustainable, Mirza said: “Making it sustainable, would entail going local and it also makes it just easily accessible, earthy and beautiful. And we wanted a very earthy wedding. All the decor elements were natural and locally available. A lot of them were recyclable and were obviously on hire so they would get recycled again.
No Food Waste
“We chose to keep the ceremony and the wedding extremely intimate and private,” said Dia. “That ensured that we had good control on numbers. We knew exactly who ate what. We ensured we knew exactly how many vegetarians and non-vegetarians were attending the wedding. We made sure we did food plating accordingly. And of course, we ensured that there was absolutely no food waste.”
Sustainable Fashion
“We tend to make garments that we can only wear once and never wear again and it’s most unfortunate,” lamented Dia.
She shared: “The last time around, I auctioned my clothes and this time around, I made sure I got a garment that I could reuse, wear again and again, and actually pass on, as a very wearable and beautiful item of clothing.”
“So I choose a sari. Even my husband chose an outfit that he could continue wearing through life and wouldn’t have to just wear it on that one day and hang it up in the cupboard and never touch it again,” shared the actor.
No Plastic
“There were no plastic straws, there was no plastic cutlery, there was no plastic bottles, or water on those horrible, dreadful little bottles that people serve water in,” said Dia. “We, in fact, bore an additional cost on water, because we chose glass bottles which are more expensive than plastic bottles but we said we’d rather do that and reduce cost on something else and create all that plastic waste which was so unnecessary.”
“So, we’re very proud at the end of that day and that evening because we succeeded in creating a completely sustainable event,” she added.
Dia chose to get married in her home garden, which is close to her heart. It’s also the home of her favourite mango tree, which became the highlight of the evening.
Using elements of the venue as part of the decor is a great eco-friendly decor idea.
Dia tied the knot with Mumbai-based businessman Vaibhav Rekhi in an intimate ceremony on February 15. The couple is also expecting their first child together.
