Most weddings today aren’t cheap, so the last thing you want to do is just get rid of everything you used to make your big day happen. Whether you want to keep something out of sentimentality or you just want to make the most of it, here’s how to recycle and reuse your favourite wedding details.
Food
From the wedding feast to the wedding cake, it’s likely that you’ll have leftovers from your wedding day. You can take these to a food bank or, particularly with the cake, save it and finish it another time. For example, you can create tasty cake pops by rolling a little bit of cake into a ball and sticking that onto a stick. Coat that in icing or chocolate and embellish with scatters of crushed candy or coloured sugar. Furthermore, any chocolate you have left over from your wedding can be melted down and put into moulds like ice trays. Once dry, these make great little thank you treats for your guests or you can stick them in a freezer until Christmas or Easter.
Decor and Accessories
A question all couples will have to face after the wedding is what they’ll do with all of the decor and accessories they used through the ceremony and reception. You’ll probably have loads left over that you love and want to do something with.
- For vases or birdcages that you used on your reception tables, consider integrating them in your home or garden, or give them with flowers to your friends and family as birthday gifts.
- Save your cake stand for when you’re entertaining guests; it will work perfectly for another cake on upcoming birthdays, Christmas, or even your one-year anniversary.
- Leftover candles are great to keep in your home. They’ll come in really handy if you simply want to relax in the bath or if you want to plan a romantic candlelit evening. Also, if the candles from your wedding are all burned low, you can melt them down into new ones—consider pretty and creative options like mason jars and teacups.
- Leftover lights, garlands, and bunting can be saved as gorgeous Christmas or birthday decorations.
Flowers
Reuse your flowers around your own home or give them to your guests. Alternatively, get creative and dry out the petals; use them as confetti in birthday cards or as confetti for your one-year anniversary. Furthermore, many brides decide to preserve their bouquet as a special memento of the big day.
Outfits
Some of the biggest accessories you’ll have left over after your wedding are the wedding dress and wedding suit. The groom’s suit can easily be saved and worn again on formal occasions, but it’s a bit more difficult to do that with a wedding dress unless you opted for a multi-way dress that you can wear in multiple styles. If your wedding dress is just a one-time-wear for you however, and you don’t want it to sit in the wardrobe for years to come, consider selling it to another bride, or donating it, or using little pieces of it to create something new. For example, see if you can remove some of the pretty lace detailing and save it so that you can sew it onto any future baby’s blankets.
You’ll also be able to keep your shoes—there’s no harm in wearing then again as they are, but if you want something different you can potentially dye them a different colour. Send them to be professionally dyed, or do it yourself. When dying your shoes yourself, make sure you follow the instructions on the dye. Top tip: stuff your shoes with newspaper while dying so they keep their shape, and once you’ve dyed them make sure you spray them with a water repellent spray to stop colour running out in any wet weather.
