Zero waste wedding confetti is used many couples now, as an alternative to plastic, metallic or glitter confetti, sold in plastic tubs. The plural for the Italian for ‘small sweet’, conventional confetti is very polluting, especially if it flies away in the wind, or into the sea for beach weddings. It can then be ingested by marine wildlife.
But priests and vicars don’t like rice, as it’s a slipping hazard – and attracts pigeons! For the same reason, avoid bird seed and coconut flakes. So how do you go about zero waste wedding confetti? Still sweep at the end, biodegradable or not.
Make Your Own Confetti
- One idea that many people use is to take fallen leaves, and then just use a hole punch to make your own DIY confetti. You could even invest in a heart-shaped hole punch, to make nice heart-shaped confetti.
- Or use the hole punch to make confetti from old newspapers (not magazines, as most have toxic dyes). Photographer Margarita Hope has a great post on how to make your own paper confetti from tissue paper, including photos of it being used at a real wedding.
Biodegradable Petal Confetti
This is a great idea, but avoid most versions if pets are at the wedding, as the main flowers used (like delphiniums) are toxic to them.
- Shropshire Petals (above) sells biodegradable petal confetti, wheat sheaves and dried flowers, all handpicked from their farm. Everything is sent in zero waste packaging. Lavender grain is a nice alternative to conventional confetti.
- Dried Petal Company offers delphinium confetti (not near pets). The Real Confetti Company offers rose petal confetti (choose natural version – freeze-dried to last 4 months).
- Botanical Paperworks (US) offers plantable confetti, made from waste paper with embedded seeds. Again not near pets, as the wildflower could be toxic to them, once planted. Use only for pet-free weddings/households.