How to Recycle Items From Your Wedding Day

Now that your wedding is over you have a garage full of wedding décor and miscellaneous items that you will likely never use again. We’ve come up with a list of things you can do with those items!

Decorations:

Sell: try to make back some of the money you spent! There are lots of brides and engaged couples sticking to a strict budget and this is a great way to help them out. Facebook has a bunch of groups specifically for selling used wedding decor. Facebook Marketplace, Offer Up and Craigslist are also great places to post your items.
Let people borrow: not quite ready to part ways with your decor yet? Loan it out to friends or family who are getting married soon. I love this idea because you get the most out of the items you paid for and your friends and family save money during their planning process.
Donate: if you just want to clean out your supply and don’t care too much about the money, donate your decorations! You can offer them for free to a couple in need through Facebook or other social media sites or you can donate it to a local thrift shop.

Wedding Dress:

Dry Clean & Preserve: if you have room in your closet, you can have your dress cleaned and preserved then put in an airtight box. Your dress won’t yellow as it ages and you can take it out one day to reminisce or pass it on to a family member!
Donate: if you don’t feel the need to hang on to your dress, Brides for a Cause is a great nonprofit organization where other brides can shop for gowns at a much more affordable cost.
Sell: have your dress cleaned and sell it on one of the places we mentioned above! (Facebook Marketplace, Offer Up, Craigslist)

Extra Food:

Rather than throwing out extra food from your wedding, arrange with your caterer to have it donated to a local food shelter or a family in need of a nice meal.

Alternatively, you can plan ahead and bring containers for your guests to take home the leftovers!

Flowers:

Preserve your bouquet: there are a few ways you can hold on to your wedding bouquet forever. Check out this article for ideas!
Give them away: send some flowers home with family and friends! This is a great way to give them a little wedding favor and you don’t have to throw them away.
Donate: stop by your local senior center or hospital and give your flowers to a resident or patient!

Most likely, the decorations and items from your wedding were used lightly for one day– all of these ideas give you a chance to help out another couple or people in need while also being mindful of our planet and the garbage we create.

Stephanie Keegan

I’m an adventure elopement and wedding photographer based in Seattle and the surrounding Pacific Northwest. I focus on capturing love in beautiful places while sharing a passion for the outdoors. Rock climbing, backpacking, hiking – I love it all!