The organic caterer’s been booked, the dress made from recycled lace has been bought, the email invitations are out. Dreaming of starting off your new life, with that special someone, on the right green foot?

It is estimated that a typical wedding generates 50-60 tons of CO2. And much of that comes from travel – getting your guests to the wedding hall, from whatever far-flung corners of the world they may be living.

Maybe you want to offset the travel of your guests, or the air travel for your honeymoon?

You might be thinking about it, but before you buy offsets, we suggest you check out a number of online green wedding guides. There are factors you can take into consideration before you buy offsets. Green Wedding Guide is a great start, Green Union also has a helpful guide, as does our personal favorite, David Suzuki’s website.

When you are ready to buy, you don’t need to look for a provider that works specifically with weddings. The above guides offer tools to help you calculate your carbon, and from there, you can buy offsets from any one of the providers that we list on our site. We’ve listed providers that allow you to make online purchases.

If you are looking for more romantic options, you can shop around a bit as some of the more PR-savvy providers offer special offset packages for your big day.

One of them is the Carbon Neutral Company and their $70, MarryMe Package, which includes two planted trees, a hand made colour certificate, and colour map of chosen forest location. The company also lets guests register with the site, and plant trees along with, or instead of giving wedding gifts.

There are always lots of creative solutions, too, when registering for wedding gifts. We had a high-school teacher who asked her guests to buy top soil for the new home. This way, she and her husband could plant a forest of trees and together, and watch them grow over a lifetime. Sometimes the simple and most practical solutions are best.