Home Brewed Wedding Celebration: Gifts

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Real Green Weddings

Instead of wedding gifts, the couple asked family and friends to make donations to specific causes. To this end, the couple chose not to register for gifts at all. Although some friends and family members showed concern at their lack of a registry (and they received a few horrible gifts as a joke about the dangers of not registering), Jackie and Pete were wary of the mixed messages a registry would send. They even consulted with other couples who had asked for donations in lieu of gifts with little to moderate success for their own weddings. What they learned, besides the idea to forego a registry, was that they also needed to explain to their guests the reason they had selected the charities, and why they support them.

Once they had created a web-based donation registry, they wrote a few sentences about each organization, what it does, and why it was meaningful to them. They included personal stories that signified the importance of each charity. In the end, their efforts were successful. Jackie says, “I don't know if it was our web site or our lack of registering anywhere, or both, but we're very happy that everyone honored our wishes!”