Faye De Lanty ties the knot in ethical wedding ceremony

When it comes to weddings, millions go all out – without sparing as much as a second thought as to where everything comes from and how it might hurt the planet. 

Not the Sydney-based eco stylist, Faye De Lanty, who last weekend enjoyed a ‘mindful ethical wedding’ with her partner, Lee.

After setting out with the aim to enjoy a ‘planet friendly’ ceremony, the eco bride spoke to FEMAIL about her big day.

This came complete with all sorts of gorgeous ethical details, including locally-foraged flowers, handmade confetti made from leaves, bridesmaid dresses dyed with onion skins and a ‘conflict-free’ diamond black ring.

Faye (pictured with bridesmaids, Sarah Burdett and Karen Tso – right) incorporated all sorts of different eco-friendly aspects in her wedding, including dyeing her bridesmaids’ dresses with onion skin

When it came to the confetti, it was made by Faye’s mother – through leaves collected all year from her garden and her travels – she then hole punched them with a butterfly clip to make them look pretty (pictured)

For Faye – who spent more than six months planning her wedding and all of the details – one of the first things she needed to think about was her dress.

On the day, the eco stylist wore a beautiful gown by Lenka Couture – Australia’s first ethically accredited bridal couture designer. 

‘Lenka and I designed my dress from scratch using existing designer dead stock, leftover lace and ethically sourced fabrics to create my one of a kind eco dream dress,’ Faye explained to FEMAIL.

The pair also dreamed up a range of bridesmaid dresses using ‘organic silk satin and natural dye with onion skins’, which helped to give the resulting outfits their beautiful burnt orange colour.

‘I found the Less Stuff More Meaning ethical wedding directory super useful in helping me out with my research,’ Faye said.

She advised others looking for an ethical wedding to head to the destination for ‘great advice, vendors to connect with and fabulous tips’.

For the big day and a shoot which happened just beforehand (pictured), Faye used Lenka Couture – Australia’s first accredited eco-friendly bridal designer 

In her ethical extravaganza, Faye and her partner, Lee, forgot nothing – including her engagement ring – which was a ‘conflict-free dream pear-shaped black diamond’ (pictured)

For help with the outfits, Faye and Lee enlisted the help of close friend and Sydney stylist, Donny Gallela (all pictured)

Next, the thrifty bride turned her hand to thinking about the flowers, confetti and accessories:

‘I had no idea about this, but when I was on a shoot for this Mindfully Wed campaign I discovered that a lot of the wedding flowers and the ones we buy from markets or florists have been flown from overseas,’ Faye said. 

This results in copious chemicals and a huge carbon footprint. 

Instead, Faye looked up Vanessa from Dancing Blossom Studio, who offer bouquets which are foraged, locally grown and even reused.

Her resulting floral arrangements look just as beautiful as any bouquet you’d buy from a high-end florist.

‘When it came to the confetti, my talented mumma was super brilliant,’ Faye said.

‘She is the high priestess of pre-loved and DIY, and she reduced me to happy tears when she told me she’d been collecting leaves all year from her garden and her travels’.

Using a $2 butterfly-shaped hole punch, Faye’s mother made her eco-friendly confetti which breaks down back into the earth afterwards:

‘It pays to think about who you know,’ Faye added. ‘Maybe you have a baker in the mix or someone who can help with the decorations.’ 

‘Lenka and I designed my dress from scratch using existing designer dead stock, leftover lace and ethically sourced fabrics to create my one of a kind eco dream dress,’ Faye said (pictured walking down the aisle with her father, Mick)

She sourced accessories, including her earrings, from the same jeweller she got her engagement ring from, Affinity Diamonds (pictured)

‘I found the Less Stuff More Meaning ethical wedding directory useful,’ Faye said, advising others to head to the destination for ‘great advice, vendors to connect with and fabulous tips’

In her ethical extravaganza, Faye and her partner, Lee, forgot nothing – including her engagement ring – which was a ‘conflict-free dream pear-shaped black diamond’.

‘I worked with Affinity Diamonds, who searched for months for the perfect ring,’ Faye said.

While the stone came from New York, Faye said they sent it to her and then ended up working on it in their ‘small, local workshop’.

‘It was wonderful to sit with their designer, Colleen, and sketch what was in my mind,’ Faye said. ‘She even suggested adding in Lee’s birth stone peridot, hidden underneath my diamond’.

Faye said she was so impressed with Affinity Diamonds that they also helped with her wedding day earrings, as well as her bridesmaids’ accessories. 

Instead of spending large amounts of money on expensive wedding cars, Faye (pictured with her father) took Ubers and lifts with friends 

The flower bouquets (pictured) were locally foraged from Dancing Blossom Studio – they were also later donated to a local hospital 

‘Lee wore amazing Spanish vintage boots which cost just $30, and a beautiful embroidered white shirt – both found at the Salvos store,’ Fay added (pictured with Faye)

When it came to the wedding and reception itself, Faye incorporated a few money-saving tricks, which not only benefitted her hip pocket, but also proved kind to the planet:

‘The eco styling was by Little Lane Events,’ she said. ‘Everything which we used at the ceremony was also reused in displays at the reception.’

aye had her hair and make up done by Liv Lundelius , who used products which were friendly to Faye’s skin, the planet and animals

Faye also used second-hand furniture at her rustic beach chic wedding, fresh tropical fruit and ‘at my request, no straws!’.

‘We donated any leftover food to Oz Harvest,’ she said. ‘And sent the flowers to the local hospital.’

Meanwhile, the bride and groom used Ubers and friends with nice cars instead of expensive wedding cars to get to and from the destination.

‘Lee wore amazing Spanish vintage boots which cost just $30, and a beautiful embroidered white shirt – both found at the Salvos store,’ Fay added.

‘My sweet stylist friend, Donny Gallela helped me to find everything.’

Lee added a traditional Polynesian wreath handmade by one of his mother’s close friends in New Zealand; he also wore traditional Polynesian braids in his hair. 

Finally, Faye had her hair and make up done by Liv Lundelius, who used products which were friendly to Faye’s skin, the planet and animals. 

The motto for the flowers used in the ceremony was #GrownNotFlown – Faye explained that her home-dyed bridesmaid dresses went down a treat (all pictured)

Faye shared her tips for hosting an eco-friendly wedding with FEMAIL, which include checking out thrift stores and renting items (pictured with Lee on a pre-wedding shoot)

Elsewhere, Faye said it’s all about thinking about how your friends and family can help you – whether it’s baking, decorating or driving you to the venue (pictured on pre-wedding shoot)

Faye shared her tips for hosting an eco-friendly wedding with FEMAIL, which include checking out thrift stores and renting items:

Any leftover food was donated to Oz Harvest

‘You’ll be amazed what you can find at thrift stores,’ she said. ‘Plus onion skin dyeing costs nothing and is completely friendly to the planet too.

‘It also adds a one of a kind colour and quirk which no one else will have.’ 

Elsewhere, Faye said it’s all about thinking about how your friends and family can help you – whether it’s with baking, decorating or driving you to the venue.

‘I would also suggest having a wishing well over gifts,’ she said.

‘Our wishing well will pay a big chunk of our honeymoon off – and that’s far better than a bunch of kitchen appliances; experiences over things!’.

Finally, the eco stylist said it pays to think about ‘how you can have less stuff and add more meaning to your day’:

‘Doing this significantly reduced the stress of planning a wedding. Plus everyone loved all the details – like the onion-dyed dresses and individual parts.

‘Go to thrift stores for styling elements which give your wedding a one-of-a-kind touch. Do more yourself and you’ll cut costs too.’

To read more from Faye De Lanty, please visit her website here.