Are you planning to embark on your honeymoon armed with a giant vase full of your leftover wedding flower arrangements? What, that’s unlikely you say? If you’re flying, that means that you will need to be able to cram them all into a 3-ounce test-tube sized water receptacle and zip that into a teeny baggie for security purposes. If you can do that, kudos for being conservative with your resources but I don’t think they’ll show up very well in your photos.
On the other hand, if you’re a member of the vast majority who doesn’t know what to do with those lovely blooms after they’ve enhanced your celebration, consider donating them to brighten the days of sick or elderly members of your community. Check with local hospitals, nursing homes and assisted living centers in your wedding area to see if they will accept your donation, and also find out how they would like the flowers to be delivered. It’s possible that they will send somebody to the reception facility to pick them up, which would make the task especially easy to accomplish…just make sure they don’t schedule the pickup before you’ve said your I Do’s! Otherwise, you could delegate the responsibility to a friend or family member who will be available after your wedding day to help.
Check out the following websites for some guidance in your search for a facility in your area:
You can also donate the leftover food from your reception to a local food rescue group that will bring it to a local shelter or soup kitchen that day. They will send delegates to march into your reception and demand of each of your guests: “Hey, you gonna finish that?” before yanking their plates out from under them and emptying the gourmet fare into a giant doggy bag. I kid. I think. Anyhoo, unlike food banks, who cannot accept perishable items, food rescue groups will be able to put your leftovers (that haven’t been served, of course) to good use. See the I Do Foundation’s tips page for more information on donating your leftover reception grub.
You can also get in touch with a community soup kitchen to find out about local food rescue groups. Or contact the Second Harvest Organization, which is an extensive network of food rescue programs.
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