‘Weddings Without Compromise’ by RSA House

This trend reflects a growing awareness of the importance of sustainability and a desire to make a positive impact on the planet. Sustainable weddings can be just as beautiful and memorable as traditional weddings, and couples can feel good about minimising their impact on the environment while celebrating their love. One venue helping their couples to have a more sustainable celebration is RSA House in London. The team here recently hosted an event to chat all things sustainable and to announce the launch of their ‘Weddings Without Compromise’ packages.

We have RSA House’s resident Wedding Executive, Amanda Azarian, here to tell us about the eco efforts at this Central London wedding venue.

Amanda says…

It is no surprise that the events industry and weddings in particular generate a huge amount of waste each year. In fact, The Sustainable Wedding Alliance, estimates that this averages nearly 1/3 of a metric tonne of solid waste produced and 14.5 tonnes of carbon dioxide emitted per wedding.

Couples and professionals alike must play their part in creating a more sustainable industry and as one of Central London’s most versatile and unique wedding venues, The Royal Society of Arts (RSA House), is doing just that.

RSA House is home to the Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce, a social change organisation that believes in a world that is resilient, rebalanced and regenerative, therefore sustainability has always been a key focus for us. But even more so this year, as we continue to grow the weddings aspect of our venue, we believe that we have a responsibility to encourage our couples to do what they can to reduce the carbon footprint of their wedding and to help protect the planet for future generations.

Last week, RSA House welcomed some of the UK’s top wedding industry professionals to ‘Weddings Without Compromise’ – an afternoon designed to showcase how weddings can be more sustainable. The event highlighted that a couple could have their dream wedding without compromising the planet to make it happen. One of the key messages delivered throughout the day was that working with suppliers who share the same values and are equally driven to contribute towards a greener more equitable future for people and planet matters. Each supplier that RSA House worked with for the event puts sustainable and ethical practices at the forefront of their business and is actively taking steps towards a greener future.

As guests walked through the doors of RSA’s beautiful Georgian town house, they were greeted with local English sparkling wine sourced by Ellis Wines and the smooth sounds of live jazz by Black Tie Jazz, a Blank Canvas entertainment band. They also feasted on delectable plant-based canapés designed by in-house Executive Chef Darren Archer from our catering partner, Company of Cooks.

A delectable plant-based lunch paired with the finest organic wines, again designed and prepared by Chef Darren Archer and sourced by Ellis Wines, were served in the iconic Great Room. The room was beautifully adorned with florals by Hayford & Rhodes, a tablescape complete with linens and tableware from Well Dressed Tables, and sustainable, plantable stationery from Laura Likes.

After being served tea and coffee from Union Coffee + Hope & Glory Tea, the guests were treated to an insightful panel discussion on how beautiful weddings come to life without compromising the planet or vision. The panel included Zeleka Nadine Hall (Founder of The Wedding Day Coordinators), Michelle Miles (Founder of The Sustainable Wedding Alliance), Clare Clark (Head of Sustainability at CH&CO) and Simon Powys Maurice (Business Development Manager at Ellis Wines).

The panellists offered a wealth of information, with a few of their top tips being:

• Go plant-based – Clare Clark
• Look for catering companies with certifications from an independent party who have verified the company’s data to avoid greenwashing – Clare Clark
• Your digital footprint matters when it comes to reducing your carbon footprint. If the internet were a country, it would be the 7^th largest carbon emissions emitter in the world.  Start thinking about what you put on the internet and into the cloud and ensure that your website and emails are being hosted on servers using renewable energy – Michelle Miles
• There are just as good sustainable wines as there are not sustainable wines, so there is no reason to not choose sustainable – Simon Powys Maurice
• Encourage couples to consolidate their suppliers. Look for companies that offer variety instead of using multiple suppliers for one element of the wedding – Zeleka Nadine Hall

After the panel discussion, guests moved down to the exposed brick subterranean Vaults, where cocktails from Edmunds paired with a show-stopping Eton mess smash dessert table awaited them, along with soothing DJ sounds from Velvet Entertainment’s resident DJ Lindy Layton and luxury furniture and production from Velvet Living and Velvet Entertainment.

Weddings held at RSA House provide a vital source of income for the RSA charity, as 100% of the profits that come in from all weddings and events held at the House are directed straight back to the charity which is committed to delivering social impact and creating an equitable and greener society for all.