Weddings entail congratulations and congratulate twice over we must our young neighbours Sanya Budhiraja & Rahil Kalra who celebrated their marriage in February in an eco-conscious wedding that commemorated not just their love for each other but also for the planet and its beings.
The wedding was consciously planned by Sanya & Rahil to reflect their deep empathy for animals, their consciousness to not take-away but add to Earth’s bountiful ecosystems and at the same time celebrate and enjoy a precious day of their lives with their loved ones.
The wedding was planned as a day event with a select number of guests which was the first step in ensuring reduced consumption. The wedding Venue was a verdant farmhouse in salubrious February weather.
The couple chose to use décor, which was not single use such as jute, glass & pottery. Using chalkboards instead of single use signboards, wicker-wood chairs instead of the usual tent-house fare were some of the many thoughtful ways in which they put sustainability first.
The menu was vegan (plant based). The surplus food was donated to Robin Hood Army, an NGO that feeds the underprivileged.
True to a mindful celebration, the consciousness did not stop at the function. The couple enrolled the help of their friend Ripu Daman to help make the events greener. The flowers used in the function were donated to a social enterprise Nirmalaya which uses them for making incense sticks and Holi colours.
The ceremony itself was conducted by a female priest and vegan replacements to animal products like ghee and honey used in traditional celebrations were instituted.
The wedding day of Sanya – Rahil was a small step together for a couple but a giant one for the community; their green eco-conscious beautiful wedding showed how a celebration with sustainability at its core can be as gorgeous (more gorgeous) than its consumerist counterpart.
Like the couple says, “The biggest lesson we learned while planning our wedding was that it is possible to have that fun wedding you want while being more mindful about the waste you generate.”
Let’s congratulate this young couple showing us the way!
by Roli Shukul Thapar (9566043006)
