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Ethical Weddings A

Is Green the new white - when it comes to tying the knot?

dmittedly in the past fair trade, ethical or eco-friendly purchases may not have been quite to the standards of the style conscious Bride – after all who wants to walk down the aisle in a hemp dress?

Modern ethical weddings come in all shapes and sizes and add to the meaning and joy of your big day – for you and everyone involved. Green weddings have exploded over the last several years and today almost half of couples use at least one green product or service at their wedding.

We don’t know about you, but we love the thought that a purchase we make, can make a difference to the life of someone else. Whether it’s supporting a charity, providing a sustainable income, or helping to protect the environment, the feel good factor of a great purchase increases dramatically. If you decide to contribute some of your spending to a good cause, why not choose one of your expenses, whether it’s flowers, favours, or the cake, and donate the fee to a charity of your choice... An elegant way to add a personal, and charitable touch to your wedding.

Simple Tips to make your big day that little bit greener

It’s hard not to feel guilty sometimes, planning your big day, when you’re spending all this money on yourself. Our advice don’t feel guilty, you’re creating a once in a lifetime celebration of your relationship and treating your guests to a spectacular day! However there are a few small things every bride can do to make a difference:

*Save a tree when you RSVP!

Get people to RSVP by email (and phone) make it a bit more special by creating a special email address just for the wedding for example: wedding. RSVP @hotmail.co.uk

*Petal Perfection

After the ceremony is over and you make your first steps out of the wedding venue as a married couple, being showered in throwing confetti by your friends and family definitely makes a perfect picture.

Why not try biodegradable confetti on your wedding day? Natural look beautiful as well as being environmentally friendly. Provide your guests with filled confetti cones ready for them to throw as you walk out and make it a ceremony to remember See www.shropshirepetals.com for more details

*Gifts that keep giving

Instead of traditional favours, give guests the gift of giving! By using charity favours. If you’re getting married, you’re probably considering getting wedding favours to give to your guests at the reception.

Instead of just buying trinkets, why not make a donation to a charity and have them create the personalised favour cards? On the cards it will usually note that a donation to charity has been made on the guest’s behalf, which is a great way to help a charity on your special wedding day.

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*Check Potential Venues

Be nosey! Ask your potential venues what they are doing to minimise waste, conserve water and reduce energy use. Even if they are not doing much now, your questions could be the push they need.

*Donate your Dress

Wedding dresses carry sentimental value long past your wedding day. However, they are usually worn only once and put away in a closet for decades. If you are ready to part with your wedding dress (to a deserving cause) then there are a number of ways to do so. You can donate to charity, donate to those planning a wedding or donate to an organization that will reuse the wedding dress in a creative way.

One very deserving organisation is The Wishing Well Foundation launched in 2012 by Naomi Thomas with the sole purpose of organising and funding weddings for couples affected by terminal or life-limiting illness. There are many men and women in the UK living with life limiting conditions or terminal illnesses who long to marry their special partner in life.

The Wedding Wishing Well Foundation believe that few things in life can be more important or rewarding, than giving such a person a chance to have their dream wedding day, with all the excitement, love and happiness that brings.

As we are fully aware that time can be precious, we are able to organise the arrangements against the clock where required.

If you are thinking of donating your dress after your big day or more information please contact: info@weddingwishingwell.org. uk or visit their website www.weddingwishingwell.org.uk Registered Charity 1155409

*Charity Gift Lists

Gift list etiquette can be both confusing and conflicting - partly because gift lists are a phenomenon from a time when couples lived apart until they were married and the average bride was more likely to be in as

much as ten years younger than today where Britain’s ‘average’ bride in her late twenties or early thirties.

We spoke to reader Rachel Jones 28 from Cornwall, who’s is marrying in a beach ceremony in her hometown in July.

“My fiancée and I initially thought that we would put any generously contributed funds to good use. To be fair we do really need to replace the sofa, the kitchen is a bit dated and tatty, and we would obviously LOVE a 5 star all inclusive honeymoon to somewhere really exotic! I started to scour the internet with the intention of investigating poems to politely ask for contributions!”

Whist Rachel was scouring the internet she ‘stumbled’ upon the idea of giving the much needed funds to Charity.

“We’ve lived together for a couple of years and luckily already have pretty much all we really actually need (there’s certainly a whole lotta stuff that we want though” laughs Jones WEDDINGS & SERVICES | 2

Venues “We decided to pick three worthy causes that our guests can donate to (anonymously). It just struck us both a fantastic idea, we will have a wonderful day and can look back on the day in years to come knowing we had the best day of our lives AND actually helped make a difference to someone else’s. That to us is really special”

*Set up a fundraising page

Fundraising pages are a great resource making giving and raising money for charity simple, social and rewarding many people pick the best-known sites JustGiving or Virgin Money Giving to host their page. But its worth doing your homework, as they’re not the best payers. The amount your charity gets can vary vastly depending on which website you pick - this site-by-site guide helps you decide where to set your fundraising page up.

The best we could find was “Givey “ who give a whopping £12.50 per charity donation with Gift Aid The company describes itself as a ‘social donation platform’. It makes its money from its business arm, meaning it’s free for charities and fundraisers. unlike other sites, it doesn’t charge transaction fees on donations, meaning that 100% of your donation reaches your chosen charity. It’s also free for charities to register and set up a page too. Currently 8,000 are registered. Seven of the top 10 UK Charities are included, the only downside is that Oxfam, Cancer Research & the NSPCC aren’t. Charities listed include both big organisations and a range of smaller, local charities.

For more information visit: www.givey.com

Put a ring on it -

When buying, interrogate jewellers about where their diamonds come from – the UN defines conflict or ‘blood’ diamonds as those that ‘originate from areas controlled by forces or factions opposed to legitimate internationally recognised governments, and are used to fund military action in opposition to those governments, or in contravention of the decisions of the Security Council’.

Fairtrade and Fair mined gold standards has made it possible for millions of impoverished miners around the world to get a fair price for their gold, and for ethical consumers to support them.

*Donating? Don’t forget to Gift Aid

If you are making a donation to a registered charity and you’re a UK taxpayer, you can Gift Aid your donation and enable the charity to reclaim at least 25% tax paid. Using Gift Aid makes your charitable giving more valuable to the charity and is highly recommended.

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