Eco-Friendly Gift Ideas for the Bride Who Loves Flowers

Calling all cottagecore, boho brides and flower childs tying the knot! We’re all about wedding sustainability and eco-friendly gift ideas are just one small way to reduce the impact your big day will have on the planet. The challenges of COVID-19 brought out ingenuity in Raquel and Rebecca of R. Love Floral, whose blooming idea is a total game-changer! Earthy Girl Gifts by R. Love Floral is a line of self-care products and presents made from reimagined, recycled and repurposed natural materials. We’d love to know more about these hand-crafted creations, so we asked these floral pros for the inside scoop. They explain Earthy Girl Gifts, the creation process, plus where the concept came from, down below. Read on!

 You use the phrase “reimagined, recycled and repurposed” – what exactly does that mean?

This means that you take what is existing in wedding waste and repurpose it into something beautiful that can be recycled and made into something new. 

What are some ways I can be sustainable with my wedding flowers?

Sustainability with your flowers can come in many forms on your wedding day. First, you can choose to be more minimal and meaningful in your wedding floral designs. Choose arrangements and installations that have an impact but can be repurposed from the ceremony to reception space. You can also use living plants as part of your wedding décor. Gift them to friends and family after the wedding or plant them in your own garden to keep your wedding day flowers for years to come. Choose flowers that are in season, and bonus points if you can get locally grown and sourced flowers to reduce your carbon footprint even further. Most people don’t know that flowers are shipped overseas on planes and driven hundreds of miles in trucks to get to your wedding day. Using a local florist who sources from small, local farms will surely make a sustainable impact on your big day! Don’t forget you can recycle or reuse your wedding day flowers for brunch the next day. Have a party after the wedding and deconstruct them to make into smaller bouquets for family or leave around town to brighten someone’s day. Better yet, let R. Love Floral turn your wedding day flowers into eco-friendly gifts and keepsakes. 

How does R. Love Floral repurpose/reuse their wedding florals?

R. Love Floral has created custom eco-friendly, recycled and handmade gifts using leftover wedding flowers, paper and even wax from candles that would otherwise end up in the landfill. What once started as a beautiful handmade card set has grown into a whole Earthy Girl Gift line. We have created and curated the perfect gift box that can be given to the mother of the bride, grandmothers, sisters or bridesmaids. Once your wedding is over you can save a few floral arrangements and ship to us to preserve as gifts and keepsakes.

Tell us about the eco-friendly gifts R. Love Floral creates?

Our first Earthy Girl Gift was the floral paper card set. Rebecca, Raquel’s mother, created her own formula using recycled paper from the studio and dried florals that otherwise would have been trashed. It was pure magic and a hit with our brides. After that, the ideas started rolling and we now create bookmarks, floral sachets, floral and Epsom salt bath teas, wax ornaments, gift tags, votive candles, smudge sticks, custom linen sprays and dried/pressed floral art. The ideas are endless, so if you have a special request to preserve your wedding flowers, just send us a note! We can also repurpose your bridal shower flowers before the wedding – and how fun would it be to have custom thank you cards from your flowers!

How customizable are Earthy Girl Gifts?

Earthy Girl Gifts are 100% customizable! Choose flowers, colors, and fragrances for any Earthy Girl Gift. Shop our line of in-stock handmade products or send us your event/wedding blooms and let us create one-of-a-kind gifts and keepsakes for you and your loved ones!

Where did this idea come from?

Once upon a time, a wedding florist dreamt of more. As she cut and styled her blooms, the thought of these pretty petals living out their gorgeous glory for that one special day broke her heart. Raquel, who grew up in her mother’s garden, studied botany in college and developed a deep and passionate love for flowers. Almost a decade later, she sought a solution to the heartbreak – a way to preserve the petals and recycle those roses. Handing her mother, a lifelong artist, a box of dried petals, she asked a question. “Mom, do you think you can make paper from these petals?” “Sure, I’ll give it a try.” Excited for a creative challenge and curious about the process, she researched the paper-making process and began developing her own recipes. A few months later Becca felt like she had something to show her daughter. Raquel, who loved the floral cards immediately began gifting them to her brides and fellow vendors. They knew they had something good and proof of concept.  Fast forward to the pandemic, R. Love Floral decided to pivot as many small businesses did in the wedding industry in 2020 and voila. Earthy Girls Gifts was born!  Earthy Girls Gifts is the brainchild of Raquel and her mother Rebecca, the maker behind each handmade gift. Together their mission is to repurpose and reimagine wedding and event flowers. 

Connect with vendor R. Love Floral via her vendor profile here, or shop Earthy Girl Gifts here. Cheers!