A Non-Profit Wedding?

We're in a recession. How many times have you heard that in the last 12 months? People are repairing their cars instead of trading them in; remodeling their homes instead of moving; and not surprisingly, scaling down their weddings (except the wedding cakes of course; read the post below). It's a time of going green, which is becoming more about simplifying our lives than our impact on the environment.

So I, The Professional Wedding Guest, am proposing a most outlandish idea: A non-profit wedding.

Hear me out.

Maybe you and your fiance have a pet cause - whether it be rehabing old houses; rescuing animals; advocating cancer research; or recycling styrofoam peanuts. Whatever it may be - however obscure or broad the cause - how about turning your wedding into a fundraiser?

Anyone who has ever planned or attended a fundraiser knows the drill. You ask for donations, which may be in the form of cash or in-kind goods and services. In return, you give the donor publicity. You can even ask the help of the non-profit-of-choice to make some calls on your behalf. With some out-of-the-box thinking, you might be able to get aspects of your wedding donated. Think wedding gown, catering hall, flowers, tuxedoes. The list is endless. And instead of a DJ, you get a local radio station to sponsor the event, with a live broadcast. The station plays the music, live at your wedding, with a few minutes every hour devoted to promoting the cause and the generous donors.

The upside - you are doing something huge for a good cause, not to mention getting a free or close to free wedding. The downside - all the wedding gifts (translation: cash) you would have been receiving, will instead go to the charity of choice. But without the usual wedding expenses, you will not have 5 years of credit-card bills to pay off - nor will you have to honeymoon in Lincoln Nebraska, the only place you can afford to go.

It will also inspire a world of creativity you never knew lied dormant inside of you. Wedding tee-shirts for every guest with the logo of all the major donors. Publicity in the form of a feature news story rather than a 2-paragraph wedding announcement in the back of the Life section of your local paper.

Crazy idea at first. But the more you think about it...the more you like it. Right now you're saying to yourself, "You know...we could use the news footage to edit a wedding video..."

Professional Wedding Guests will have something to talk about for years, and you will have a lasting memory that will go well beyond Aunt Sally making a fool of herself or the ring bearer tripping over his shoe laces. Just think about it.

****You can still enter the Year of Chocolate Contest - submit your comments to that post below.*******