When designer/maker Millie and her tree surgeon husband Sam started planning, they decided to make their wedding as eco friendly as possible.

Sam and his dad made the beautiful wooden arch under which they signed their marriage schedule using the timber from an old tree, and Millie and her mum Helen went around their friends gardens foraging the most stunning flowers.

She got her wedding dress from the British Red Cross shop in Stockbridge, and her beautiful shell tiara was made from preloved jewellery in Helen’s shop, Lovage & Lace.

How do I know all this? Millie wrote about it on her blog, where she shared lots of other clever tips to make your wedding more sustainable. As she says, “there are lots of ways you can have a lush wedding without wasting money and resources on things you’ll only use once”. 

Sam and Millie were childhood sweethearts. They met in the art class in Primary Four, where Millie amused herself by winking at Sam, and giving him cheeky grins. Sam’s response was to go bright red, stare at his work and not say a word. 

It wasn’t until Millie’s 22^nd Birthday at an impromptu Halloween party that things finally developed past a conversation! As they wrote, “we weren’t looking for anything serious, and yet here we are, 7 years later, with a dog and a lovely home, being married in front of all of our nearest and dearest.”

Millie’s sister, Becky read us a poem written by Julia, one of her parents’ oldest friends, before we took a moment for quiet contemplation to remember those no longer with us.

Then it was time for the vows, and the exchange of rings, which came from Millie’s Maid of Honour, Caitlin, and Sam’s brother and joint Best Man, Stuart. 

Sam’s dad Bill read ‘the Blessing of the Hands’ as Millie and Sam tied the knot with a length of recycled silk and a length of stout rope.

It’s just short of a year since their wedding day, so it was lovely to read these words that Sam and Millie sent me, along with these great photos taken by their friends, Abbi and Woody.

We honestly loved our day so much and you were such a huge part of it. 

Every single guest has said how incredible the ceremony was and how it’s one of the best they’ve been to. 

Afterwards, lots of them asked where you were because they wanted to chat with you – you were so good!! 

Thank you so much – you made our day amazing! 

Well I think it was everything that you, Sam and your family and friends did that made it amazing, Millie, but I’ll take the compliment! And thank you for sharing your ‘zero-waste’ approach to weddings, which I hope will inspire many other couples to do the same.

As I said when I last saw you, I’ve got a little zero waste project of my own, making all sorts of delicious things from the lemon rinds left over from our morning cup of hot water with honey, ginger and lemon juice. These are my preserved lemons…

This is lemon and ginger marmalade…

And this is sweet and sour Gujarati Lemon Pickle…

I hope that next time you’re in town, you’ll come over and take a few jars away for you and Sam.

And if any of my other followers likes the idea, I hope they’ll drop me a line!