Couple enjoy low-budget, eco-friendly wedding in the forest

When Chloe and Joshua Stringer-Hall decided to tie the knot, the last thing they wanted was a blowout do.

So they ditched fancy frocks and glossy invitations in favour of a more eco-friendly affair.

And that meant a ceremony in woodland, locally sourced vegan food grown without pesticides, invitations on recycled card, food served on compostable palm leaf plates and farmers’ hay bales for chairs.

The couple, both 25, estimate their wedding, at Woodland Tipis and Yurts near Hereford, set them back £12,000 – well short of the average spend of £17,000. 

Ballet teacher Mrs Stringer-Hall even bought a £50 dress second-hand, as ‘the whole [dress] process is quite bad for the environment’.

Her husband, a communications manager for Network Rail, wore jeans for the ceremony last May and has since ‘upcycled’ them by wearing them to his day job. 

‘Our combined outfits were less than £100,’ he said. 

The couple, from Worcestershire, who met at school and began dating in 2013, are part of a trend for eco-aware millennials looking to celebrate in style while staying true to their green beliefs, according to society bible Tatler.

It said those looking to follow this fashion should use re-plantable flowers – and urged thrifty brides to recycle their wedding dress, dying it a different colour so it can be worn to ‘the opera or a luxe summer garden party’.

For the reception, it said modern couples should ditch imported champagne and stick to British fizz, notably those from Nyetimber, Hattingley Valley and Coates & Seeley. 

Similarly out of fashion are flowers flown in from around the world. Instead, Tatler said, couples are sticking to seasonal floral arrangements and ditching lavish destination weddings.

Rachel Harrison, who runs Green Wedding Consultancy, suggested using seasonal British flowers to reduce air miles.

For a summer wedding, this means roses,

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