Wedding Ethics

Last term, I posted about a "Catholicism and Economics" reading group I've been attending at the Chaplaincy. I joined the group hoping to get a better handle on my own buying decisions. I know that statement seems a bit pretentious, so please let my try to explain.

In a Capitalist market, I, as a consumer, have many buying choices. But with those choices comes a certain responsibility. If, for example, I buy clothes only from stores that mass produce, I'm contributing to the downfall of local enterprise. If I buy milk in a plastic jug, I'm telling milk farmers that biodegradable materials aren't important to me. And so forth...

Ultimately, I've deduced that responsible buying means never putting price at the top of my list of priorities. When I buy something, it ought to be the best value, not the cheapest product available. A hand-made skirt from Etsy might cost more, but it will probably last longer than one from Target--and it was made by a small-scale producer working in an environment where she could take a sense of pride and accomplishment in her work, rather than mass-produced in an impersonal factory.

But knowing price can't be my highest priority is only the first step. I have to decide what does matter to me. What labels do I look for? Sustainable? Hand-made? Local? Organic? Fair trade? On top of that, how much can I cut down on my consumption--period--regardless of a products "localness" of "sustainability"? Suddenly moral buying decisions become more complicated than I ever anticipated them being.

These are the sorts of questions Adam and I have increasingly been asking ourselves about the way we spend our money. It's difficult, but we're trying to take buying decisions seriously. In a Capitalist market, its the best way we have to tell producers what's important to us. The way we spend our money ought to reflect what we find important. That's why we've tried to take those kinds of factors into consideration when planning our wedding.

"Ethical weddings" have come into vogue in the past few years. Dozens of websites, like EthicalWeddings.com, offer brides thousands of suggestions from serving a vegan/organic brownie wedding cake to packing your entire bridal party onto a London bus to save on CO2 emissions. The massive lists suggestions is alarming... and guilt-inducing. In the end, I think it's important for me to accept that the buying decisions I make for my wedding, and my life, are never going to perfectly reflect my values. There's just no realistic way to always choose the "most ethical" product in a market with this many choices. Still, I'm happy with the little ways we've been able to incorporate ethical buying decisions into our wedding:

• We hired a local, small-scale caterer and baker. Our caterer is a friend of my mom's. I'm very excited to be working with someone with whom we have a personal relationship.
  
• We chose to have fewer flowers, and flowers which are not difficult to find. By cutting the number of flowers, we saved a lot of money. We were also able to get flowers that are seasonal, which cuts down on CO2 emissions racked up in shipping plants.
  
• We are having our invitations hand-made by an Etsy artisan. As a bonus, she's also using paper from sustainable forests. You can read more about our invitations here.
  
• I bought a dress from a small, local store. Again, going local has been a good move. The shop attendants at Natalie's Bridal have been incredibly helpful. They're even communicating with me over the internet about my veil.
• And we've stayed in budget! Adam and I really wanted to stay in budget as a sign of respect and gratitude to my parents for paying for our celebration.
  

Can you think of other ways we could make our wedding a little better?