INTERACTIVE IDEAS Bring some fun to your fundraising efforts! Get nearest and dearest involved with a charity raffle or silent auction. Offer themed prizes such as dinner cooked by the newlyweds or a souvenir from your honeymoon, with all proceeds going to your charity. If you’ve opted for a photo booth, raise some awareness for your charity by asking guests to share their snaps on social media with the charity’s hashtag. Let them know that for every one posted, you’ll donate a set amount. Alternatively, you could request a small donation for every printout taken home. Get your DJ on board too and ask guests to sponsor a song request. For example, pop a pound in the charity jar and request your song! Bust some moves on the dance floor in honour of a great cause. BACK TO NATURE If the natural world is where your passion lies, consider planting a tree in honour of your nuptials. Not only are you contributing to environmental preservation, but it also symbolises your love taking root, growing strong, and enduring. Some venues will offer this as part of their package, allowing you to plant a tree among their grounds. But if this isn’t possible, there are other ways to embrace this opportunity. The Woodland Trust (shop. woodlandtrust.org.uk) offers you the opportunity to dedicate a tree to your marriage in your chosen woodland for £20 or from £250 for a quarter-acre area of woodland upwards. You can even make your dedication extra special with a bench or marker post and personalised plaque, from £1,500 to £3,500. The National Trust (nationaltrust.org. uk/support-us/plant-a-tree) offers something similar for a minimum suggested one-off donation of £10 or for a monthly subscription. AFTER THE EVENT Your opportunities for support aren’t over after the big day – there’s more you can do to help. Donate your wedding flowers to a local care home once you’re finished with them. This will brighten up the residents’ day and you’re minimising wastage. It’s usually inevitable that there’ll be some food leftovers following a big celebration, so look into how you can put this to good use. Can you donate meals to a local food bank or homeless charity to ensure it’s put to great use? Finally, consider donating your wedding attire to a charity shop allowing them to raise much needed funds by selling it on. Oxfam (onlineshop.oxfam.org.uk) and British Red Cross (redcross.org.uk) both have wedding dress shops you can donate to. Alternatively, there are organisations such as Brides Do Good (bridesdogood.com) who partner with brides and brands to curate a collection of designer gowns, donating a third of profits to charity projects working to end child marriage. shop.mind.org.uk sueryder.org shop shop.alzheimers.org.uk shop.alzheimers.org.uk shop.mind.org.uk shop.cancerresearchuk.org FEATURE 79
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