When Mumbai couple Shasvathi Siva and Karthik Krishnan decided to get married, they opted for a wedding with a difference. They ensured that each of their ceremonies was as eco-friendly and vegan as possible.
Their wedding was animal-friendly, had no flowers, silk, leather and dairy products, and made as little use of plastics as possible. “My family and I have been vegan for almost five years now,” Siva told Mashable. “My husband Karthik's family weren't when we were planning the wedding, but they readily agreed for a vegan wedding. Today, we are all vegan.”
Siva hopes this will show more people that it is possible to have an eco-friendly wedding, if you give it plenty of thought and time to plan. “Where there is a will, there is a way. e need more people to have such weddings. Celebration does not need to involve cruelty, that in itself is an oxymoron,” Siva says. “So please do explore such opportunities, and make it count.”
Here are some glimpses of the wedding.
The wedding did not make any use of flowers, replacing them with cloth. Even the garlands that the bride and groom wore during the ceremony were made of satin.
The couple also made sure that no trees were harmed for their wedding. “Usually for south Indian weddings, two banana trees are felled and placed in front of the wedding hall,” Siva says. “To me, cutting down a tree is not prosperity, so instead we planted two banana trees in the resort six months before the wedding. The trees are alive even today.”
Their wedding swing was made of bamboo and decorated with cloth.
Siva used cruelty-free make up for the wedding. All the products used by her were not tested on animals. She also used organic henna for her hands and feet.
Being animal lovers, Siva and Krishnan made sure that dogs were welcome to the wedding and had a special open space to play around in. “They’re family after all,” Siva says.
The wedding food was completely dairy-free. All the dairy products were replaced with alternatives using soy, almonds and cashews. Instead of milk-based sweets, guests were gifted dry fruits. They also procured special dairy-free ice cream from Delhi. “You don’t need to have dairy to have a delicious meal,” Siva points out.
They also kept the use of plastic to a minimum, by using eco-friendly materials such as these edible spoons. Paper napkins were substituted with recycled newspapers.
They also gifted guest’s organic toiletries and vegan starter kits from PETA.
Finally, they used cute carved coconuts to get their message across to the guests.
Their entire wedding album can be viewed here.