Charitable Weddings
Weddings are wonderful celebrations, but they also tend to produce quite a bit of garbage and waste. Our couples have been asking how they can give back - here are some ideas Nora shared on KTPV’s MORE Good Day Oregon!
Repurpose flowers
Consider bringing The Bloom Project on board, or have your florist pick up, clean up and redliever your florals to a retirement center, nursing home, hospital or anywhere you would like to spread some joy. Make sure you call beforehand to set up a delivery, and confirm that florals will be accepted.
Donate Food
Caterers always cook up more food than is necessary for your event—the last thing they want is to run out or for guests to stay hungry! Instead of throwing it all away, plan to donate the edible and safe leftovers to a soup kitchen or homeless shelter. Urban Gleaners and Replate are great Northwest non-profits to facilitate the process.
Charity Registry
Many couples getting married today already have a home set up with upgraded linens, appliances and so on. They don’t necessarily want or need gifts, however their guests still want to give! The perfect way to help your community and keep your guests happy is to offer up a charity registry. Sites like Gifster and MyRegistry are great resources, and allow you to choose non-profits to support that are close to your heart and carry special meaning for you. In addition, consider nixing a take home favor for guests, and instead donate to that special charity.
Donate your Dress
Your wedding dress is likely the most expensive piece of clothing you will ever purchase, and sadly it will likely only be worn once. Share the wealth! Donate your gown to not only let someone else feel beautiful on their day, but also to help a good cause. Brides for a Cause donates substantial amounts of money to women-focused non-profits and NICU Helping Hands will repurpose gowns to help families going through heartache.
Plan a volunteer event
Who says your weekend of wedding events can’t do some good! Plan a volunteer day with your nearest and dearest to serve at a soup kitchen, run a race for a cause, plant trees, or build houses. It will only strengthen your relationships. and give everyone more reason to celebrate.