B2B

kristinrotondo

I think I read a while back that you were asking for wording for your donation-in-lieu-of-favor cards? If I am not crazy, and that was you, can you let me know what you ended up doing? I know I'm super far out yet, but I am starting to slightly panic since I took the holidays off from planning, plus your wedding is fast approaching and I don't want to see you disappear!

Bride_to_be_2011

Was not me  

kristinrotondo

Damn. Any ideas who it was? 

Bride_to_be_2011

No actually, sorry.

Ms.BriarRose

What are you looking for?  Just the wording on the cards? 

We did a donation.

kristinrotondo

Yes, please! Can I hear what you had?

Stacylynn702

I just wrote:

In lieu of favors, a donation has been made in your name to "name of charity" in honor of "name of family member".

Many charities will give you cards with your donation.

kristinrotondo

Thanks! I'm also thinking of doing just one big sign at the escort table. Hmmm

Ms.BriarRose

We did a big sign, and had it at the church and the reception on the escort card table.  It said:

To Our Guests:
As we joyfully celebrate all of God’s gifts today, we
remember and honor those who are hungry for
understanding, compassion, and healing in their lives,
especially our loved ones who live with
autism. Sharing in the love of this day,
we have made a donation in our guests' names
to benefit Autism Delaware,
a non-profit organization that works to educate,
advocate, and raise public awareness on behalf of
individuals and families with autism. We hope our guests
join us with their love, compassion, and
understanding and hope that the donation is able to
make a difference in the lives of those who truly deserve it;
we truly believe that they- loved ones and those unknown alike-
are God's angels on earth.


We changed the last sentence a bit (I didn't save that document), but this gives you an idea of what we did.  We got the rights to the Autism Delaware logo and used that in the middle instead of the words Autism Delaware.  We also put something in our program, as well as said something during our thank you speech.

If you wanted to print cards, you could obviously shorten it down, but IMO, I prefer the sign- and so do guests.  Guests don't want to take a card home with them, and you don't want to a) waste money on something that is going to be thrown away, if it is even looked at, and b) spend the time picking up the ones that are dropped on the floor and such, or be charged for extra trash.

kristinrotondo

My thinking exactly, MBR. Thanks!

Stacylynn702

We did the sign on the escort table, it wasn't huge, just an 8x10.  There was no way I was printing out individual cards for each table or person.  Especially after printing everything else myself, I had had it!  I just printed it on paper that matched the table numbers and framed it.  We did 3 charities so we just listed them in ABC order.

I didn't go too deep into thinking about this.  People are going to notice that you made a donation to a charity and think that it's great.  They're not going to notice if you don't make a big long speech about it.  If you put it on the escort table, I think it should be simple b/c you don't want people crowding around there to read an essay anyway.Also, most people should know why you're donating to whichever charity, so I don't think an explanation is necessary.

caraellen23

We did donation cards as well, we did medium sized tent cards, two per table.  It said:

In lieu of traditional favors, a charitable donation has been made to:

 

The Lupus Foundation of America

 

Supporting life-saving research, education and advocacy

initiatives to bring an end to lupus.

www.lupus.org

 

Thank you for sharing our special day!

Cara & Rob

ETA:  just a few notes about donations.... I work for a nonprofit and we have text that we can send to people who want to do this, along with a company logo (and a cute bride/groom logo).  We've had people print 8x10 signs and do one, we've had people do what we did, a few tent cards per table, and we've had people do them for one per person. 

Also, we chose our charity because DH's mother has lupus, but we didn't want to name names or make it too dramatic, so we kept it brief and just had a short mission statement about the organization.  Its a nice touch, but there is no reason to be in people's faces, or make it about anything bigger than what it is. (in my opinion)

kristinrotondo

Thanks, Cara. Yeah, we're donating but don't want it to be a big to do. I thought an 8x10 at the escort card table would work, but I also like the idea of two littler guys at each table. I have plenty of time to get it sorted out - I just need something to obsess over.

caraellen23

When I get home, I'll send you a few pictures of how they looked on the table once everything was set.  I was really, really happy with them.  They looked nice, but weren't too "in your face".  They were super easy to make too.

kristinrotondo

Thanks!!! This is so helpful. For some reason, I can't stop thinking about this one detail. I guess that's because the only big thing left to do is flowers and I am just avoiding thinking about them at all costs....

Stacylynn702

Wow, I'm impressed!  You still have plenty of time and all you have left is flowers?  Good for you.  I didn't worry about the donation sign til the month of the wedding, and I got married on the 6th lol.  That's great you have so much done!

caraellen23

Donation cards for me were a fun detail that I could bang out and be done with. I think I printed and finished them a few months before the wedding, since it was a detail that wouldn't change. 

Congrats on being so far along!

Stacylynn702

I should explain that the reason we waited so long was b/c we were looking for a charity that supports the military and it was hard to choose.  We finally found one that DH thought would be most fitting as the wedding got closer. 

kristinrotondo

Yeah, I got a LOT done this past summer, since I was off from work and only taking one class. During the school year, I am constantly busy, so I got a head start. Thanks for all your help, as always, ladies!