Is your wedding a time to give back? 5 Interesting Ways

For those of you intrigued by The Far Away Wedding I assure you it will be back next week because, truthfully, I have been distracted.  Whether it is a more sustained yoga practice or just a general concern for the state of the world exploring the idea of giving back at your wedding seemed like an intriguing topic.  Not that giving back has to be this really serious thing but rather a reflection about what you care about.

Well, what do you think?  Is your wedding a time to showcase the causes or beliefs that matter to you as a couple?  Should your wedding day be as politically neutral as possible? Is it political to give to a world hunger organization?

For those of you that haven’t given much thought to ways you could give back here is a short list of ideas, some a little more well known than others:

• Donate a Tree for each person in lieu of a favor to offset carbon emissions (www.treesinstead.com) Trees cost $5 each and for $1 extra the trees can be planted in Israel.  Or give an actual tree as a favor by customizing your seed infused paper with a  sweet message. (http://www.customearthpromos.com/)

• Donor’s Choose  (http://www.donorschoose.org/) is an excellent way to donate directly  to classrooms in need.  You and your partner can choose a specific project or ask guests to choose their own.  If education is your passion, this is a powerful way to  make  grassroots changes.

• Kickstarter (http://www.kickstarter.com/) has helped many artistic projects launch o continue.  If the arts, and especially, starting artists brings you inspiration then  Kickstarter is a way for you to bring art to life.  Like Donor’s Choose, you may choose one project to fund or you may allow your guests to choose.  Some of the projects are brilliant and others are down right hilarious.

• If you are interested in a wedding favor that gives back, try Two Degrees Bars (http://twodegreesfood.com/).  Like the TOMS Shoes model, Two Degrees is a one-to-one model, meaning for every bar bought, one nutritional package of ready for use food is donated to a starving child.  They are on a mission to feed 200million-starving children.  You could be part of that triumph.

• PetSmart (http://www.petsmartcharities.org/) is a great resource for finding animal charities.  They offer advice about giving and highlight various animal organizations around the country that are asking for help.

Your wedding is as personal as you and your partner.  If you believe in a cause and feel that your wedding is a good platform for drawing attention to the cause, by all means do what you feel is right.  If you think that your wedding is about you and your partner and do not want anyone to be put off, think about how you might make some of the causes known but optional donation.  Honor yourselves and your beliefs.