An antidote to bridezilla has got to be the wedding that gives back. Here are some of the best ways to serve up a conscientious wedding.
Do you want to register for charitable donations?
Purchases can make an impact, so you want to give this some thought and ask yourself how do you want to give back? Do you want to support a specific charity or a specific cause? Then ask for donations to be made accordingly in your name. Some will be wonderful enough to notify you that this has been done. If some charity or cause won’t, maybe ask people to make a donation in your name and then let you know. It isn’t completely necessary, except that you might really want to write thank you notes for the donation.
Do you want to register for charitable purchases?
Some items give back to a specific community like items from Globe In, which features artisan items that help support villages around the world. Then there are organizations like Sudara, which sell items that help provide training and jobs for women in impoverished circumstances.
So check you conscience and do some research and find what you want to target and how.
How do you register for conscientious gifts all in one place?
That seems like the most difficult thing to do, especially when it comes to keeping track of who purchased what. How do you keep from duplicate items being purchased? You can use a universal wedding registry which will enable you to list any item from any website on the internet such as My Registry. My Registry does not make money from purchases and the service is free;. Websites like this one make money through retail affiliations and partnerships. You still get to register any website and any item you want. The idea is that providing a universal registry is good money and good sense for everyone from small mom and pops to large retailers. It’s been such a successful venture, that it has spurred competition for universal registries since 2005.
With a universal registry, you can target multiple companies that give back and multiple charities you want money donated to.
Can you gift your flowers to a nursing home?
The easiest thing to do might be to give your flowers to some community that might enjoy them, like those in a nursing home. Your flowers can brighten their foyers or other places aged residents go to in order to get some fresh air and views of blue skies. I would, however, call ahead first and find out if your flowers would be welcome and what would be the best way to deliver them.
Can you give leftovers to a food bank?
Giving your leftovers to fight hunger has been offered up on some websites, but this doesn’t really work. Unless you want to box up your buffet and immediately hand out boxed meals to the homeless, you can ask people to give unopened, non-perishables to a local food bank.
I’m sorry, but giving food that was leftover from your buffet isn’t really realistic or sanitary in my opinion unless you want to put on some gloves and a hairnet. And as much as giving food is great, even the unopened, nonperishable variety, I just think it is like with clothes and other things people donate; charities get bogged down with creamed corn and out-of-date technology. Giving money is the best, most preferred way, not because the people working at the charity want to go on a tropical vacation with it, but because they can purchase with tax exemption status discounted goods that there is a demand for, unlike creamed corn, molding old text books, or your old VCR or CD player.
And don’t feel too terrible about food being throw out, because there are people working to reduce that problem, and your guests can help their efforts: Feeding America
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