How to find eco-friendly confetti for you wedding or handfasting

You want confetti, but not sure whether it is appropriate for an eco-friendly wedding?

Confetti makes fabulous photos. So while it can be a bit of a minefield finding eco-friendly wedding confetti, I think it is worth putting in the work.

Let me help you find eco-friendly confetti for your eco-friendly wedding!

There are various ways in which you can make sure that your confetti is environmentally friendly and avoid using potentially valuable resources.

So as long as you know what confetti is ok, you can find it or you can make your own totally eco-friendly confetti.

Let’s first of all look at the downright environmentally harmful options, and why we want to avoid them.

Types of confetti to avoid at your green wedding

1. Plastic

Please don’t use this stuff! If you use it outdoors, it just goes into nature and breaks down into microplastics or gets eaten by wildlife (or the neighbours’ pets), who get ill or even die from it.
Even used indoors and swept up etc, you have just created bags full of single use plastic waste. The pieces are too small to be recycled.

2. Metallic confetti

So that’s another one that goes straight into landfill if swept up, that is. Otherwise it will just poisons the environment.

3. Glitter

Same as metallic confetti, it is usually made from a coated plastic.
The pieces of glitter are even smaller than standard confetti meaning you won’t have a chance in hell to sweep it up and dispose of it responsibly.

4. Coated Paper Confetti

Confetti made from laminated or coated paper is not biodegradable. The coating is usually plastic, so it is basically still just plastic confetti.

Check the description carefully, and as a rule of thumb: if it doesn’t explicitly say that it is biodegradable, then it isn’t.

5. Seeded Paper Confetti

Sounds beautiful, but check with the venue! And I am pretty sure they will say no.

The dream of the sea of flowers will create a nightmare of weeds for your venue.
Even worse, your confetti could introduce plants that will compete with the local flora and over time tip the balance of nature at the venue.

So only use this type of confetti if you know exactly which seeds are included and that your venue is ok with this.

6. Rice instead of Confetti

Where I was growing up, it was a thing to throw uncooked rice over the couple as soon as they came out of the ceremony.
It didn’t even look good in photos. But “It brings good luck.” I was told.

This tradition has disappeared now. And good riddance to it, because it was bad luck for the local wildlife.

Once all the humans had moved on to the reception venue, birds would sweep in and have a nice big meal of all that rice.

But birds cannot digest uncooked rice, and because it is not a native plant, they had no opportunity to learn that. And now they have a whole stomach full of it, meaning their last meal, the one that is going to kill them, was the wedding confetti.

So yes, it might be genuinely biodegradable, but for the sake of the wildlife: please don’t throw rice!

Ideas for Environmentally friendly wedding confetti

1. Biodegradable Paper Confetti

Greenwashing is everywhere, so check if the paper has been bleached or dyed. Rice paper confetti is a greener option than bleached paper confetti if you want white confetti.

If you want coloured confetti, check that the dyes used are natural and non-toxic, too.

2. Dried Flower Confetti

It might be. As long as it hasn’t been treated with chemicals to protect the colour or protect it from soaking up moisture from the air, it’s ok.

3. Home Made Autumn Leaf Confetti

Something to be aware of: By now, everyone in the UK has heard of ash dieback, a fungal infection that kills ash trees. So if a leaf or the tree does not look healthy, do not use these leaves for your confetti. You might be spreading an illness or parasite if you do.

And maybe avoid ash leaves completely, for the time being.

I would have loved to show you photos how to recognise an ash tree, but all the ash trees around here have been felled because they had ash dieback, so here is a link to the Woodland Trust’s Ash ID page instead.

4. Recycled Paper Confetti

Is it paper that already has gone through the recycling plant and is non toxic? Then it’s fine. Non-toxic, biodegradable, recycled.

Or does it mean you take a whole punch to some old gift wrapping? Then it might not be.

Did you know that most of the gift wrapping paper we buy in the shops is not recyclable? Wrapping paper is often laminated, dyed or contains metal foil detail, all of which render it non-recyclable. This often means that it also is not biodegradable and not non-toxic.

How about other waste paper?
Many of the leaflets you receive are laminated, so they contain plastic which makes them a no for confetti.
Or think of the chippies no longer using newspapers to wrap our dinner…

If you want to make confetti from waste paper, make sure not to use bleached paper, laminated paper, or any paper with dyes that might be toxic to wildlife and nature?

So what is the best eco-friendly confetti?

Having confetti or not at your eco-friendly wedding is a question of taste as much as the dress.

I would highly recommend having confetti!

Confetti photos get everyone excited. They get honest, proper and big smiles.

Confetti photos are simply fun!

Which type of confetti you prefer is also a question of taste.

So here is just a quick summary of what too look for when shopping (or collecting materials for) confetti:

• Is it biodegradable (not laminated or foiled)
• Is it non-toxic (no added chemicals or harmful dyes)
• Is it unbleached (if paper confetti)
• It’s not rice
• And if collecting your own leaves or petals: do the plants look healthy

If you can answer all of these questions with yes, then congratulations. You have found your perfect eco-friendly wedding confetti.

Before you go off and buy, or create work for yourself, confirm with your venue that they allow confetti in general and the type you want to use in particular.

How to get the perfect confetti photo with eco-friendly confetti

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Bright blessings,

Sustainable Wedding Photography from the
Handfasting And Pagan Wedding Photographer UK and EU