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Catering to Green Brides
From F&B to flowers, these tips can help hotels score more weddings business.
Friday, September 23, 2011
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Each year in the United States, roughly 2.3 million couples get married, which breaks down to more than 6,000 weddings each day. With today’s brides more eco-aware than ever, help secure your share of the wedding business by adopting practices that appeal to environmentally conscious clients. Kate Harrison, founder of greenbrideguide.com and author of The Green Bride Guide, gives her tips on unexpected, eco-friendly policies that can differentiate your hotel from competitors and help you score more wedding business.
Eco-Friendly Food: Fresh is Best
Local food is fresher and tastes better! Build relationships with your local farms, and arrange an on-site visit for your brides with you or a member of your team. Use this time to meet with the farmers to plan a fresh, seasonal wedding menu. From meats and fish to produce and cheese, natural, locally grown foods help reduce your carbon footprint and showcase your region’s best staples.
Eco-Friendly Drink: Green Spirits
On the beverage side, look into winemakers and spirit producers that use organic liquors or biodynamic wines in their menus. Also, a personalized beer is an out-of-the-box way for a bride and groom to put their own spin on the event. Connect with your local breweries and arrange for your clients to create a custom brew specific to the occasion, incorporating seasonal fruits and flavors.
Eco-Friendly Transportation: Drive Green
If the couple is planning to have the wedding ceremony at a nearby place of worship before heading to your hotel for the reception, offer to supply transportation for guests to and from the ceremony. This option takes an item off of the bride’s to-do list, makes it easy on guests who don’t know the area, and lessens pollution. Plus, not having to supply direction cards to guests cuts back on paper waste.
Eco-Friendly Cake: Unique and Chic
The wedding cake is a staple of any marriage celebration. It not only supplies a sweet way for a husband and wife to start their new lives together, but it often serves as a showpiece during the event. Instead of traditional plastic toppers and inedible, wasteful decoration, suggest embellishing the cake with organic, local, seasonal fruits and flowers. Caterers looking to increase their eco-appeal would also be smart to take advantage of the current cupcake craze in lieu of a classic cake. Serving cupcakes is an easy way to make a smaller dessert that people will enjoy. And, since you can make the exact amount that you need to accommodate the party’s guests (plus a few extra, just in case), cupcakes can yield less waste than a traditional cake.
Eco-Friendly Favors: Re-Invent What You Have
Weddings – even green weddings – are bound to have excess. When it comes to wedding favors, give your brides choices that are not only easy and inexpensive, but also have a positive impact on the environment. Offer to have your staff disassemble the table centerpieces at the end of the party and turn them into smaller bouquets to hand out as guests leave. Or, if your couple opts for a dessert buffet, supply recyclable bags or boxes in which guests can take home some extra sweets. There’s nothing better than leftover cookies and cake for breakfast after a night of celebrating.
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