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April 22, 2021

Happy Earth Day!! It only seems fitting that on a day like today we share some very exciting news about our company. We have been accepted into the Green Wedding Alliance (“GWA”) in Chicago & we’re excited to tell you why and how this came about!

The Green Wedding Alliance is a growing community of environmentally & socially responsible event vendors. We connect with conscious consumers for mindful weddings, commitment ceremonies & social events. The Alliance is a collaborative network of over 40 member vendors who strive to grow & inform others of their responsible business practices.

Many of our original business practices were paper-heavy. We printed every contract and important detail about our weddings and had individual binders for all of our clients. That means for our Full Planning & Design clients, these binders had an absurd amount of printing which we did not think much about. While Covid-19 has caused so much negativity in our industry, it actually opened up a completely different mindset for us. When we were trying to conceptualize re-printing all of our client’s updated contracts with new dates + policies, it dawned on us that we’re in this new generation of technology that can allow us to be fully digital. That is exactly when we started researching completely going green because we were disgusted in the impact our company had on the earth.

As we continued to research about green practices, it reinforced our decision to help the environment. The event industry is a very high waste industry. From leftover food, to unused paper products, to one-time-use “wedding items”, there are so many ways that we can reduce this waste if we just think about it and act on it. We have decided to dedicate a blog each month that explains the various vendor categories and how supported Green vendors can impact the earth. We will share a few interview Q&A from green supporting companies as well.

Furthermore, we are officially implementing a new policy that we ask all of our couples to follow. Our goal is for every wedding and event to make THREE conscious efforts to lower the waste from their wedding. We are giving all of our couples a list of ways they can achieve this. Some examples are below:

• Vendors: Choose a Green vendor! Our biggest push of them all. If our couples are on the fence about two vendors and one happens to be part of the GWA or has a green initiative, that’s a great green-minded decision to make.
• Stationery: Opt to use recycled paper and/or homemade paper
• Programs: If programs are wanted for the ceremony, we ask that you print one program per couple instead of per person.
• Borrowing: Borrow or rent items that we own so it’s one less thing that you have to buy and throw away. These may include card boxes, table numbers, frames, etc.
• Transportation: Carpool to meetings if they have to be in person, or go virtual for meetings that can successfully happen online! This lowers the waste
• Donation: Floral donation is a wonderful thing to consider if you don’t want all of your centerpieces for an event the next day.
• Appetizer Vessels: While most green-forward catering companies will automatically use bamboo or other disposables that are eco-friendly, you may need to ask your catering company what they use. If they use plastic, ask if they can instead use bamboo or glass/ceramic pieces that can be washed and used again.

This list does not even scratch the surface as to all the ways a host can minimize the impact on the world. Follow along each month as we dive deeper into each vendor category, where we can educate you on ways to go green. If every one of our events can make three choices that better the environment, we can make a huge difference.

Happy Earth Day!

-Ohana Events