Dear Reader,
My fiance and I have a bit of an extra wedding planning challenge: location. We live on the West Coast, but our family is scattered across the country. Some of them are relatively close, some are in the next state over, some are on the East Coast, and some are in various parts of the Midwest. Rather than make everyone come to us, we have chosen to have the wedding in the Chicago area, which is where I grew up and where the majority of people who live in the same time zone reside. (Future Mother-in-Law helped make this choice easy; years before the engagement, she made it clear that she would be happy to attend our wedding wherever it was, just as long it happened.)
There are a couple sustainability-related reasons for this choice. First, reducing everyone's miles traveled means a smaller carbon footprint for our wedding overall: less travel means less fuel burned to move people around the country. Unfortunately, there must be some family members who travel, but having the wedding in the middle(ish) of the country helps keep travel to a minimum.
Once we figured out where in the world or wedding would be, the choice of venue was easy. We will start our married lives together somewhere that I have loved since childhood: Brookfield Zoo.
My fiance and I have a bit of an extra wedding planning challenge: location. We live on the West Coast, but our family is scattered across the country. Some of them are relatively close, some are in the next state over, some are on the East Coast, and some are in various parts of the Midwest. Rather than make everyone come to us, we have chosen to have the wedding in the Chicago area, which is where I grew up and where the majority of people who live in the same time zone reside. (Future Mother-in-Law helped make this choice easy; years before the engagement, she made it clear that she would be happy to attend our wedding wherever it was, just as long it happened.)
There are a couple sustainability-related reasons for this choice. First, reducing everyone's miles traveled means a smaller carbon footprint for our wedding overall: less travel means less fuel burned to move people around the country. Unfortunately, there must be some family members who travel, but having the wedding in the middle(ish) of the country helps keep travel to a minimum.
Once we figured out where in the world or wedding would be, the choice of venue was easy. We will start our married lives together somewhere that I have loved since childhood: Brookfield Zoo.
The fiance and I love visiting the zoos where we live, and my family has a rich history with Brookfield. My parents have been members there since before I was born, and I was a member for most of my life until I moved west. Family legend has it that this is where my father's parents fell in love, and in recent years we've enjoyed bringing the whole family to the zoo for Christmas.
Beyond having these fond memories, the fiance and I are inspired by Brookfield's beauty and commitment to conservation every time we visit. From their website:
"The Chicago Zoological Society has a long and continuing tradition of protecting, conserving, and managing threatened and endangered species. We have taken a leading role in evaluating threats to species survival and developing effective, long-term conservation programs through the Center for the Science of Animal Welfare to counter these threats."
As we saw in a previous post, the venue is almost half of the cost of the entire wedding ($13,385 on average, according to theknot.com). We are happy knowing that this major financial commitment is going towards an organization that we really believe in.
Let's talk about how Brookfield measures up against the Four Pillars of Sustainability:
I had the pleasure of a trip home recently, and my parents and I were able to visit the zoo and get a tour from the events planner with whom I have been communicating. (Unfortunately, the fiance was unable to join me on this trip due to work obligations.) We were pretty sure we wanted the zoo before the visit, but after seeing it through the eyes of a bride I am positive that this is where I want to get married. I'm so glad that I have found a fiance who shares my passion, and he's as excited as I am.
Thank you for reading. As always, if you have any questions or would like to hear about a particular topic, just let me know.
Beyond having these fond memories, the fiance and I are inspired by Brookfield's beauty and commitment to conservation every time we visit. From their website:
"The Chicago Zoological Society has a long and continuing tradition of protecting, conserving, and managing threatened and endangered species. We have taken a leading role in evaluating threats to species survival and developing effective, long-term conservation programs through the Center for the Science of Animal Welfare to counter these threats."
As we saw in a previous post, the venue is almost half of the cost of the entire wedding ($13,385 on average, according to theknot.com). We are happy knowing that this major financial commitment is going towards an organization that we really believe in.
Let's talk about how Brookfield measures up against the Four Pillars of Sustainability:
- Environmental Sustainability: As previously mentioned, Brookfield is an excellent organization in terms of conservation, and the fiance and I think it's wonderful that we get to contribute to that by having our wedding there. However, I'm not entirely sure how environmentally friendly the wedding itself will be; I haven't seen anything particularly wasteful in the wedding planning materials, but as far as I can tell sustainability hasn't been a focus for their events. This probably warrants a post in and of itself, but I'm encouraged that the wedding planner seems willing to work with us to try and make the event as environmentally friendly as possible. Having the ceremony and reception at the same location does cut down on the carbon footprint due to transportation, so that's nice.
- Economic Sustainability: From what I have found, Brookfield is priced comparably to other nearby venues. It's not a cheap option--if you're looking for a site with minimal impact on your budget, this won't be it. The fiance and I are trying to minimize unnecessary costs in our wedding, and we've decided that this one isn't unnecessary. The quality of the event (including location and menu), along with supporting a great organization, make Brookfield worth the cost to us.
- Social Sustainability: It's hard to say how the zoo does in terms of social sustainability; I would guess they probably have a net positive impact. They're a large organization which provides employment for (I'm guessing) hundreds of people, and as far as I'm aware their labor practices don't infringe on anyone's human rights. I'm not sure that all of their products (food and souvenirs, for example) are necessarily fair trade or otherwise ethically sourced, but I intend to work with the zoo's events planner to learn more about this. I do know that some zoos incorporate sustainability into their offerings; for example, a zoo near us includes fair trade, environmentally-friendly coffee in their beverage options.
- Acceptability: This is an incredibly acceptable venue for us. All of the menu options look great, the locations are gorgeous, and I know our guests will be very excited. A+!
I had the pleasure of a trip home recently, and my parents and I were able to visit the zoo and get a tour from the events planner with whom I have been communicating. (Unfortunately, the fiance was unable to join me on this trip due to work obligations.) We were pretty sure we wanted the zoo before the visit, but after seeing it through the eyes of a bride I am positive that this is where I want to get married. I'm so glad that I have found a fiance who shares my passion, and he's as excited as I am.
Thank you for reading. As always, if you have any questions or would like to hear about a particular topic, just let me know.