For Youri and I’s wedding, I wanted to try and make it eco-friendly and “elegant but casual” for our friends and family. My parent’s house was a beautiful location with a stunning lake in the background, and we truly had the best weather for a December wedding. Although it wasn’t eco-perfect, it was a success.

Our hotel provided a shuttle to and from my parent’s house and other guests were encouraged to carpool. We rented the tent, globe lights, white chairs (both for ceremony and reception), linens, tables, dance floor, and drinking glasses from a great rental company- MR Events in Orlando, FL. We chose do compostable plates and cutlery for our buffet as we did not hire a catering service, and the leftovers went straight into containers and into my parent’s fridge at the end of the night.

My mom had bought some battery powered lights for the trees since it is very dark in her backyard, but other than that purchases for decor were very limited and kept minimal. I wanted the night to be focused on having fun and dancing, which it definitely was!