Green Weddings: Going Green with the Gift Registry
By Mireya Navarro, WedNet Specialist Blogger on Green Wedding, Author of “Green Wedding: Planning Your Eco-friendly Celebration”, http://www.mireyanavarro.com
I loved the March 15 Sunday Styles article in the New York Times about wedding gifts. As the economy gets worse, guests are re-thinking the wedding present. Is it necessary at all? The Times article presents a variety of opinions on the subject – “The only event for which a present is absolutely required is the bridal shower”…”Go to a small, unknown antiques shop and buy something very inexpensive,” then write a note saying it’s 100 years old and it came from Vienna!
Green weddings present two alternatives that may suit your guests’ taste much better than lying or forgoing the present: the practical registry and the philanthropic registry.
It shouldn’t come as a surprise that brides and grooms committed to rooting out waste in their lifestyles have extended their distaste for excess to their wedding presents. Why suggest luxuries like a porcelain gravy boat from Tiffany if what you really need is help renovating your new home?
Why not turn over the gift-fest to a charity or environmental organization?
For eco-friendly registry options try:
- A subscription for a regular fresh-produce basket from a community-supported farm
- A subscription to a green living magazine
- Do you want to help rehabilitate prisoners, support literacy programs or stop global warming?
Send your guests to the websites of your favorite organizations or to portals for charitable giving like JustGive.org.