Creating kinder weddings for people and the planet
What is Kinder Weddings all about?
Weddings have the reputation of being stressful, costly, and extractive, for both vendors and for couples and families. In popular media, we often see examples of weddings that cost the earth - in more ways than one! But, these important milestone moments in our lives don’t have to be like that.
The wedding industry on Vancouver Island and the surrounding Gulf Islands is an incredible community of vendors. From sourcing locally and celebrating seasonal ingredients to supporting sustainable tourism, vendors all over the island are taking steps to ensure that the wedding industry is a kind place for both people and the planet. Kinder Weddings is all about uniting, connecting, and supporting those efforts so that we can work together to make a difference.
Let’s talk about the environmental footprint of weddings for a moment. Did you know that one single wedding can have the same footprint as an individual’s entire day-to-day life for 4-5 years? On Vancouver Island and the surrounding islands, there were approximately 4500 weddings in 2023 alone. That means that weddings are creating an enormous impact on the local environment, one celebration at a time. By making small changes, vendors and couples can significantly reduce our impact and preserve the natural environment that makes Vancouver Island such a beautiful place to celebrate.
But sustainability goes far beyond a carbon footprint - it’s also about ensuring that our businesses are sustaining themselves, that our industry is resilient, and that we’re prioritizing our health and happiness. Kinder Weddings is here to support all of that, and we’re so excited to be working toward an industry that everyone on Vancouver Island is proud of.
Our Mission:
To inspire sustainable celebrations on Vancouver Island through connection, education, and support for wedding professionals.
Our Story
Kinder Weddings started as a docu-series called Sustainable Wed, started by Chelsea and Bryan of Paper Heart Films with funding from Telus Storyhive in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic. The first season of the series soon turned into a second, then a third and a fourth, and through the process, Chelsea and Bryan realised that couples and vendors alike needed resources, support, and community in order to move the local wedding industry toward more sustainable practices. In 2024, they participated in The Synergy Foundation’s Circular Economy Incubator Program in order to create this community and resource hub in a way that meets the wedding industry’s needs.
Our Values
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We want to learn from everyone’s experiences and listen to the wisdom around us in order to share and celebrate in an informed way.
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We can change the wedding industry by working collaboratively as vendors. We come from a place of empathy and support and don’t call out or put down other vendors.
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Everyone has a different starting line, and we encourage wedding vendors and couples to start where they’re at rather than striving for perfection (and burning out).
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Weddings are cultural and personal celebrations that everyone should be able to participate in equally regardless of race, gender, ethnicity, orientation, or budget.
Who are we?
Chelsea and Bryan of Paper Heart Films are a Canadian wife-and-husband team who specialise in documentary-style files. Based in Victoria, BC (Canada), the duo have been creating wedding films for over a decade and have won multiple awards for the work, including an Industry Achievement award in 2023 for their continued work supporting, educating, and advocating for the wedding industry in Canada. In 2021, they launched a project called “Sustainably Wed”, a docu-series funded by Telus and available on Telus Optik TV. Over four seasons, the series explores how vendors and couples alike can create and celebrate weddings in a more sustainable, meaningful way and has been featured by The New York Times. As the first certified home-based business in BC’s Green Business Collective and the 2023 Eco-Star Award Community Leader Award winner, Chelsea and Bryan work to model the kind of green business practices they want to see in the rest of the industry.
Meet Chelsea
Before starting Paper Heart Films, Chelsea completed her Bachelor of Commerce Degree specializing in Entrepreneurship. She worked for years in the non-profit sector, especially in donor outreach and fundraising. She has worked for organizations ranging from global charities to local art galleries, and as a videographer has worked with lots of local businesses to help them tell their story.
Meet Bryan
Bryan worked as an Instructional Designer before becoming a videographer, helping teachers and educators develop lessons, courses, and activities using online technologies. He also worked as a Service Designer, helping government organizations launch new services and redevelop old ones.