The menu at your reception is one of the most important parts of your day – after the ceremony, of course – and it’s also one of the biggest parts of your budget. But did you know that it can be one of the places where you can help the environment? Here are some tips on how to go green with your wedding menu, creating a delicious lineup that all of your guests will love…and rave about far after the wedding.

•Find a catering hall that specializes in or includes organic foods. Besides being a blessing for the earth, these food choices are much healthier for your guests.

•Have fewer meat items on your menu. The meat-processing industry emits a lot of toxins and uses a lot of energy, so limit the amount of meat on your cocktail party, stations and entrée lists and use less-processed foods.

•Talk to your caterer about using seafoods that are organic and low in mercury. Caterers know which seafoods are locally-caught as well.

•Use more locally-grown foods, instead of food items that have to be shipped a long way. You’ll support local growers and lessen the impact on the environment.

•Use foods that are in-season, also to prevent having to buy from overseas.

•Include organic wines and champagnes on your bar list, as well as vintages from local wineries, if you have them near you. Again, you cut down on shipping emissions.

•Include an organic salad course, or replace the appetizer course with a healthy salad to cut down your budget as well.

•Go for a tasting with your caterer so that you can try their vegetarian options, their ethnic options, and the organic versions of foods you’ve requested. You may find that you don’t like how they make crabcakes, so you’ll go with a different choice that you’ve experienced at the tasting.

•Schedule this tasting for the same season as your wedding, such as the start of spring if you’ll have a spring wedding, or a year in advance of your summer wedding. This allows you to taste the types of foods the chef will prepare, at its freshest.

•Ask your caterer if he or she buys foods from sources that give a percent of their income to charity. Many suppliers have connections with environmental causes, and they make it a practice to donate 10% of their proceeds to the replenishing of food crops or the planting of trees.

•Ask about the site’s plans to donate all of the leftover food from your wedding to a food pantry, a homeless shelter or a women’s shelter. Many banquet halls and hotels have established relationships with local charities and churches that enable them to avoid food waste, help the hungry, and turn your big day into a benefit for a supportive charity in the community.

•Ask the chef to display food on ice trays, rather than on plastic trays or Styrofoam-based presentation trays. The more non-recyclable items you can remove from your wedding plans, the better. And ice trays are unique décor items that keep cheeses and seafoods at healthier temperatures to eat, especially at outdoor weddings.

•For desserts, use organic chocolates and sauces.

•At informal receptions, specify that no plastic serving utensils are to be used. Use your own and borrow sets from friends so that fewer items need to be thrown out after the party.