What are you donating after the wedding?

[Sharon Naylor]

Charitable giving is the big thing in registries and also in wedding favors -- such as giving guests the yellow Lance Armstrong bracelets as favors with a mention that you've given to the Lance Armstrong Foundation in lieu of favors.

This 'giving back' mindset has taken off in wedding world, and brides and grooms are finding great ways to donate to causes after the wedding. Some are asking their bridesmaids to donate their dresses to clothing closets for inner-city girls to wear as prom gowns. Some are asking the banquet hall to donate all their leftover food to food pantries or homeless shelters. Some are having their centerpieces brought over to retirement homes.

If you're planning to donate your items after the wedding, let's hear all about it!

[Heather]

The only things I donated went to friends and pashers so they wouldn't have to buy certain things. We rec'd a beautiful platinum cake cutting set and didn't have a wedding cake, so I'm lending that to my friend for her wedding at the end of this month.

I don't know that I like the idea of the bride asking her BMs to donate the dress unless she bought it for them. That's iffy for me.

[555Ann555]

I'd be fine with that idea. Most of them never wear them again anyway

To be honest I can't think of anything that we donated

[syringa]

Unfortunately, health department regulations may not allow leftover food to be donated. The laws are very specific about how long food can be held at room temperature and what types of ingredients must be disposed of, not saved. It is often possible for the bride and groom to take some of the leftovers home if they are willing to assume any possible health risks, but they can't make the decision for the public to expose them to possible illness.

I would also be uncomfortable asking the bridesmaids to donate their dresses unless the dresses were purchased for them. If they bought them, they should decide what to do with them.

[ladedah]

we passed word of mouth for people to take home our centerpieces at the reception....but what didn't get taken I had my mom take to the local nursing home and they put them on thier dining room tables (we had a ton of flowers)...I got a thank you from them..I'm just glad that someone got use from them.

[deputysgurl]

We donated all of our left over paper goods. Since we got married in late march, Graduation was right around the corner for local schools. So all of our paper goods went to my DH former high school.

[wynelle]

Our Centerpieces were sent to AidsAthens, the Red Cross, the Nancy Lynd House (domestic violence), The Nurses Clinic (free healthcare for the medically indigent), Our Daily Bread (soup kitchen) to put in their entry ways/reception desks.

Our altar piece was left at the church for the next day's service.

Our left over food that had not been put out on the tables went to Our Daily Bread for the next day's meal.

[LadyFaile]

not sure if this counts, but one of my FH's brothers is getting married a few months after us so anything we have leftover that they can use will go to them to help out the costs of their wedding.
donating the centrepieces to a retirement home sounds like a good idea but i'm not sure they'd want our beach-themed stuff lol. i'll think on it

[Robyn Lynn]

My centerpieces had fake flowers that sit on the shelf below my mirror in the bathroom now. The plastic flags in them will be used next 4th of July. People did not understand that they could take a centerpiece so maybe only 2 or 3 were taken.

I gave all my left over paper goods to my friend for her niece's wedding in October.

Food went to DH's family, especially his big brother whose fridge was empty Candy was taken out of favors and either went to my work or I ate at home!!!

My MOH wore her own dress.