The Certified Wedding Philanthropist

What do you get for the bride and groom who already have everything? Many Certified Wedding Planners are helping clients celebrate their nuptials with the art of giving while receiving. Keeping charity in mind, there are numerous ways to design a wedding plan that appeals to the better angels of our nature.

Cards for Causes allows a couple to create customized wedding stationery that promotes their favorite charity and donates 20% of the purchase toward that cause. Recipients are alerted to the donation and encouraged to make a contribution of their own.

When setting up a gift registry, organizations such as Just Give, the I Do Foundation, Global Giving, and Changing the Present provide options that either encourage guests to donate directly to a choice of more than a million charities, donate a portion of a gift’s purchase price toward the couple’s chosen beneficiary, or provide gifts that are sent directly to a cause in the couple’s name.

One unique gift registry, Ten Thousand Villages, features Fair Trade products handcrafted by fairly paid artisans in thirty-two countries around the world. Some couples choose to request donations to benefit a local charity. A couple in Washington, D.C. created a perpetual scholarship fund for the groom’s alma mater and requested their guests make donations that benefit disadvantaged children.

For goods and services for the ceremony and reception, consider attending a show such as the Get Hitched, Give Hope event taking place in Seattle this evening. Coordinated by six wedding industry professionals, including wedding and event planners as well as wedding vendors, the event requires participating vendors to donate an item or service to be auctioned or raffled during the show to benefit Brides Against Breast Cancer.

After the “Day Of” events are complete, there are many options for continuing the spirit of giving. Brides Against Breast Cancer is holding a charity wedding gown sale in Los Angeles at the end of the month, with similar events taking place throughout the year around the country. Other options include contributing leftover reception food to a local soup kitchen or homeless shelter, delivering the wedding flowers to a local hospital to brighten patient’s spirits, and donating the wedding gown and other attire to a local thrift store, the Salvation Army, or an organization like the Princess Project.

Many charitable organizations provide wedding favor signs to be used as table place cards to inform guests of donations made in their name and describe the significance of the charity to the couple. If the favored charity is local or does not provide a favor sign service, many stationery companies allow you to create your own donation cards and envelopes.

After the main events, the new husband and wife can continue their philanthropic journey by turning their honeymoon into a life changing event. The travel service i-to-i.com arranges trips overseas to meet new people, get immersed in a new culture, and make a difference abroad. Destinations include Africa, Asia, South America, and Australia where celebrating wedded bliss can be coupled with working with local children or wildlife and helping a local community or environment.

Wedding related charity allows the joy of the “Day Of” to reverberate into the future. The simple act of helping others while enjoying their good fortune can multiply the blessings of your client’s union and help set their marriage on the path of goodness and hope.