Donation instead of Favours?!

[b2b 2010]

Action Cancer will provide placecards and pins (£1 each), pins blue or pink. i was thinking of doing this and then maybe wee mini roll of love hearts wrapped inside everyones napkins!
had also thought of putting a note with love hearts with a wee joke bout bride/groom, kinda like what you get in a cracker... things like 'guess who cried so hard one their first day of school there mum had to come and get them', bride/groom?? h2b mite think its a bit naff, i can get carried away!!

[kefjo]

Just adding my two cents as well! H2B and I are also doing donations instead of favours - to MarriagEquality for the Canadian wedding (because we both believe that everyone in Ireland should have the right to get married!) and to our respective workplaces over here.

Out of curiousity (and speaking as a charity worker) - when deciding to donate to charity instead of wedding favours, what would you girls look for from the charity? Place cards? Some sort of small token like keyrings or pins? Fridge magnets?

I'm asking because we're hoping to offer "special occasions" donations in the future, so I'd love to hear what kind of suggestions you girls have!

[bride2b2011]

hi girls just to let u know the mariekeating.ie site do gifts that u buy eg. handbog holders,pens,key ringsetc online and de money goes to the charity and for the children if there is any the unicef.ie site do pressies for kids eg. colours,teddy etc and it is the same as marie keating. i plan on doing this as i am giving to charity and the guests get the gifts to show the donation. hope it helps some of you.

[scdp]

kefjo i thnk the fridge magnets or keyrings are good.

[EngagedJuly09]

scdp

Maybe it could depend on donation per guest what you give

Even place cards can work so you have something from the charity that shows that you donated to them

[punky]

sorry for all your losses but those who have gone will def be there in spirit and i think a donation
to a charity is a really lovely and thoughtful idea that i have considered myself. thank god i havn't
lost anybody but i was just thinking of all the hard work that is done by these charities.

[bride2be1]

sorry to hear all your stories girls i think a donation 2 charity is a better idea than candles etc we r giving 2 the MSPCA

[BeckyjustBecky]

We wernt actually looking for anything in return from the charity (kinda defeats the purpose of donation) We were just going to put a small scroll on each table saying

" A donation has been made by MR & MRS Joe Bogg, on your behalf to the Gary Kelly Centre"
Or something of the sort!

Would we need something a bit more?!

[086mummybear]

I think the pins and things are a lovely idea, but the scrolls or even making your own place cards and writing your message inside them would be fine. To get the pins and things you usually have to give a minimum of €2 per guest, which, depending on how many people you're having could end up very costly.
A part of me thinks a charity asking for a minimum donation per person is ridiculous. It's very starange for a charity to turn down €100 because you can only afford that ammount for your 100 guests, imo.

[kefjo]

It is kind of strange alright, mummybear. Speaking from my own charity's point of view, we'd be delighted with whatever anyone cared to donate! Every little helps, after all!

But thanks for your opinions, girls! I'll have to get on to designing our "special occasions" information. We'd be well able for printing our own place cards... so I'll probably start with that!

[NowaMrs]

My aunt made a donation to McMillian ( I think thats what it was called) it's for Breast Cancer and they gave her the little pins to put on the tables

[hugbear]

i think the marie keating foundation do really nice favors...

[grogmg]

Was at a wedding last year and had given a donation to the Cystic fibrosis Ireland and they got keyrings, another wedding I was at gave a donation to two charities that were close to both families and left a note on each table. It depends wither you want your guests to have something to take with them or just the knowledge that a donation was made on their behalf.

[bride2be1]

I think wee scrolls ties with a ribbon the colour of the BM dresses is enough..

[brideoffrankenstein76]

Given the times we are living in, myself and hubby to be are thinking of making a donation to vincent de paul instead of favours. maybe the money will pay for heating for a family for a little part of winter or clothe a couple of kids for school in september. Is anybody else thinking about v de p and I wonder if they give place cards or something. Think putting it on the bottom of the menu is a good idea if you have nothing else to show for your donation.