Throwing a wedding is a challenge for every couple. The outfits, decorations, menu, attractions have kept many people awake at night. What if additionally, each of these concepts had to pass the cruelty-free criteria?
How to handle vegan food?
Menu – one of the most important aspects of a good wedding. You can give options to your guests which in UK is pretty common anyway. You can also go a step further and offer at least 1 vegan dish for everybody. Plant based snacks are always welcome too!
Wedding cake and hidden gelatine
It seems obvious for a cake to be vegetarian. Traditionally it should be mostly dairy and eggs.
Not everybody knows however, that gelatine is a pretty common ingredient used in cakes. It helps in setting the cream frosting or is used in fruit jellies.
Vegan cakes can be delicious too, but if you’re sticking to a non vegan one – make sure that it’s at least vegetarian. You don’t want no bones in your cake, do ya?
Wedding cakes are often multi tiered. If you have vegan guests or one of you is vegan, make one tier plant based.
Stationary is not just paper
One of the latest trends in wedding stationery is parchment paper. A thin, semi-transparent layer of paper which looks nice, but unfortunately can have animal origin.
Originally, parchment paper was made of leather.
Currently, even if it is not made of skin, it gains its shine and texture thanks to greasing, often with animal fat. Avoid parchment when choosing invitations.
Cashmere, silk, wool and a dilemma
On search for a wedding dress and a suit, we often think about looking phenomenal, we are looking for THIS one and only dress. It probably does not occur to anyone to check the materials from which the dress was made. If you hear the words natural silk or cashmere, stay away.
But don’t worry, that doesn’t mean you won’t get your dream dress. A seamstress will sew whatever you want from the materials you choose. An ethical wedding will be a big step closer.
Here are some wool, cashmere and silk free wedding dress ideas:
Man’s suit
You won’t easily find wool in a wedding dress, but many men’s suits are made of it. There is very little chance that the wool used was delicately trimmed from sheep, alpacas, merinos or other animals. There are alternatives, such as linen or cotton.
More on wool:
Your beautiful face without cruelty
Makeup – following the dress, the second most important aspect of the bride’s appearance. Try to use cruelty-free cosmetics.
If you decide to get your make up done professionally, ask your MUA if they can use ethical cosmetics on you – although they might know this, some of their products are probably cruelty-free.
One more very important thing – eye lashes! Make sure they’re not made of mink fur. Read my post on mink lashes here.
The romantic atmosphere
Candles create a romantic atmosphere – they are perfect for weddings and receptions. Choose the ones made of soy wax.
Paraffin inserts are unhealthy and beeswax candles are not necessarily ethical.
Why? For the same reason as honey – in mass production, many bees are lost in commercial production and you can never be sure where the beeswax in a given candle has come from.
A LOVE themed soy candle you might be interested in
Wedding gifts for guests
In addition to the candles mentioned above, gifts that may affect animals are:
- soaps – make sure that the ingredients or the soaps themselves are not tested on animals
- chocolates – let’s choose those without milk, made of dark chocolate
- fudge – there are many options for plant based fudge. Some of Roly’s fudge is now vegan.
- candy – make sure it’s gelatine free, especially jellies and marshmallow
- honey – for the reasons mentioned above- I do not recommend it
Remember to limit plastic! It is harmful to the environment and looks ugly
Physical use of animals on a wedding day
Every now and then I see carriages with horses or pigeons being used during weddings. Wedding attractions with the ‘participation’ of wild animals or birds is also a thing.
Let’s leave the poor animals alone. If using animals on this day is really, REALLY important to you, make sure that the animals come from places where the owner actually and truly cares for them. I always question the ethics of these things.
Forget about fireworks
Whether the wedding takes place in urban or rural areas, there are always animals around. These can be domestic dogs and cats or wild foxes, roe deer or birds. Fireworks are scary for any animal. In panic, they can get lost, run out onto the road or get a heart attack. If you care about animal’s health, forget about fireworks.
