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Wedding favors are a great addition to any wedding & are always gratefully received by the guests. For your wedding favors you are probably thinking about edible cookies, chocolates, scented candles or chrome bottle stoppers. There is little doubt that the wedding favor industry has exploded in recent years & the choice available to brides now is wide & varied.
Every bride wants their wedding favors to be memorable. A perfect little gift which will convey the gratitude of the happy couple to their guests for joining them on such a special day. But have you considered making your wedding favors something even more memorable by way of donations to your favorite charity or good cause?
Charitable doses by way of wedding favors is a growing trend among many couples. Donations can be made to a wide choice of charities & can be easily done online. Most couples then print out little notes telling their guests that instead of a physical wedding favor they have chosen to donate the money to charity instead & will let them know exactly which charity they have donated too. They may also present these with a few choice chocolates or candies in a small box.
But before you decide to hand over your favors budget to any good cause that comes your way, here are a few hints & tips to help you decide who to donate to & other important matters to consider first.
Do Your Research
It is always a good idea to research charities & causes before you hand over your hard earned cash. Many charitable organizations will have different approaches to how they accept & then allocate the money donated which you should be aware of first. To learn more about them check them out online.
Make sure that you will receive an official receipt for the donation you wish to make as you may need it for tax purposes. If the charity can not offer you this then look elsewhere to avoid any problems with the law further down the line. With all the stress of the wedding planning, the last thing you need is to get into bother over your wedding favors.
Donation Ideas
A good starting point is to work out what kind of charity you want to help. This could be an international group, such as the Red Cross or something more local such as your local Salvation Army Group. You may want to donate to health related charities such as The American Cancer Society, a children's fund or an animal shelter. If you can not agree on just one charity to donate to then split the money between two, choosing one each.
Most charities will have websites were you can make secure online donations via your credit card. Or the sites will tell you where the nearest center is for you to make your donation in person.
Look for charities that can offer something in return for your pledge, such as the National Arbor Day Foundation who will plant trees in the names of all your guests. Imagine your guests delight when you inform them that their wedding favor is in the form of a tree planed in their name!
If a member of your family or either of you personally has been affected by illness or personal tragedy then either you will want to donate to a related charity or maybe to a hospital ward that helped through that time.
Think about who your pledges will go to long & hard. Make it a personal choice & one which has some meaning to you, for whatever reason. If there is no particular reason by which you can choose a charity then pick something which is close to your heart & which you feel strongly about. Sometimes an animal rights group like PETA or maybe a crisis fund set up to help disaster victims.
Another alternative, which can give you & your guests the best of both worlds is to buy your wedding favors from organizations which either are charities or which will donate some of their profits to charity. Oxfam has a wide range of ethnic goods included fair trade items which would make wonderful wedding favors or purchase your wedding favors from Ebay, just look for charitable donation sign next to a listing showing that a percentage of the bid price will go to the sellers chosen charity.
These are just a few ideas for donating to charity instead of giving out wedding favors & no doubt you will come up with some good causes of your own to support.
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Source by Mae Andrea
