Donating

I'm always looking for new ways to support charities that matter to me. When we registered for our wedding 3% of all purchases that were made by our guests online went to The Human Society of the United States. I discovered afterwards that we had donated close to $500, which made me very happy. So, thank you to all my friends that purchased registry gifts online. I try and purchase registry gifts online for this very reason, there are close to 50 charities that the couple can choose to donate 3% of all purchased items to.
This is the season of giving, not receiving, I truly believe that. I'm fortunate that my office is a Marine Toys for Tots Foundation collection center. I try to bring in at least two presents for the children every year - a boy and a girl. You can find awesome gifts that do not cost a lot of money. I could not imagine a poor, innocent, child waking up to no Christmas. Imagine how different these children's lives could be from simply receiving a toy on Christmas.
Two years ago my husband and I had an opportunity to adopt two children to sponsor for Christmas through The Salvation Army: Angel Giving Tree rather than buy presents for each other that holiday season. We adopted a girl that wanted educational toys (I cried when I read that) and a little boy that loved all things Spiderman and all he wanted was a Spiderman Bed Comforter (we got him all things Spiderman). My husband and I went to town at Target - we were even given their shoe and clothing size to buy them some much needed new clothing. We will be going to JC Penny again to be a child's angel again this year. I encourage all of you to do the same or form a group with a couple friends and do it, the rewards of giving are so much more awesome then receiving.
Finally, this is my newest most favorite way of giving this season and throughout the entire year. If you drink Coca-Cola Products you might be aware of My Coke Rewards. Codes can be found on every coke product sold and you take these codes, log them in, and receive points. You can take these points and donate them to a cause or school of your choice. I'm going to do some research on which school I would like to support and will keep all of you posted, but if you drink Coca Cola products please sign up to do the same. It takes a matter of minutes to log the codes.
There are many ways to give. You can give of your time, FANTASTIC! You can even give your hair, which I'm proud to admit that my sister has done two or three times now for Locks of Love. Post some comments about what all of you plan to do this season and this year to help those that are less fortunate. I'm always looking for new ideas and I hope that I've given some good ones for all of you. Happy Thanksgiving!

Wedding Welcome Out of Town Gift Bags

When we got married all of our out of town guests stayed at the resort near to where we held our wedding. We were lunatics that planned a summertime wedding in South Florida. About two weeks prior to the big day, my mother-in-law and I began brainstorming how and what to put in our welcome bags. Both of us did a lot of research online and polling of our friends and what they did and took into consideration the place and time of year of the event. Hopefully, this will come in handy for any other future brides out there looking to make a similar bag for their own event.
Luckily, we only had to make 20 bags, one bag for each guest room. Each of the bags were from Pier 1 Imports and were reusable shopping bags in a black and white damask pattern. We were fortunate enough to have the help of my mother-in-law's talented best friend to jazz the bags up. He took a class several years ago at Michael's to learn the art of bow making. I cannot tell you have beautiful the bags turned out because of this acquired skill of his. We also made beautiful welcome cards, which we placed inside of matching envelopes, personalized to each guest's room information and affixed with a ribbon to the handle of the bag.
Inside the bags were:
- 2 bottles of Smart Water
- 1 Seda France Travel Candle with Personalized Wedding Matchbook
- 1 Travel Sunscreen & After Sun Travel Lotion
- 1 Pack of Gum
- 1 Pack of Colgate Wisp Mini-Brush
- 1 Set of 6 Gourmet Cookies
- 1 Bag of Mixed Nuts
- 1 Bag of Cracked Pepper Pretzels
We got really positive feedback from our guests on the bags and we saw that many people used them when they would go down to the pool as a beach bag and for extra items that they were taking home from their weekend in Florida. It was stressful to get this project organized and together last minute before the wedding, but the outcome and the extra special touch it added to the weekend was really one of my favorite moments. Did you do out of town guest bags or do you plan on doing them for your own wedding? Let me know.