Do you already have everything you need for your home?  Do you have a passion for giving or volunteering?  Then maybe instead of doing a traditional wedding registry you should do a charitable wedding registry or charitable favors!  This idea seems to be gaining popularity, so there are several websites that provide this service so you don’t have to take care of anything other than registering and picking your charity!

“IMPACT Favors promotes nonprofit organizations at weddings and events by utilizing IMPACT Favor cards to ignite a ripple effect of awareness and donations.”  This is a charitable favors wedding, meaning that instead of spending money on favors that possibly will never be used, you purchase favor cards after making a donation to the organization of your choice ($50 for 100 cards).  These favor cards are placed at each table setting, and the hope is that your guests will make donations as well!  The organizations you can chose from (as of May 6, 2015) are: Angelman Syndrome Foundation, Safe Families for Children, Wish Upon A Wedding, and Pathways to Independence.  There are no fees taken or added to donations.

“I Do Foundation helps engaged couples celebrate generously by making charity a part of their wedding.  I Do Foundation has two primary goals: 1) Help couples raise donations for a charity of their choice; 2) Change the culture of the bridal industry so that charity becomes an accepted and expected part of weddings.”  Like IMPACT Favors, you make a donation to a selected charity through the I Do Foundation, and I Do provides you with place cards for each table setting (you can purchase the cards through The Knot Shop starting at $19.95 or you can print them yourself with a template that is emailed to you).  I Do Foundation also has selected charities in the following areas: Children, Youth, and Families, Community Development, Education, Environment, Health, and Social Justice. There is an 8% fee that is added to a guest’s donation when they make a donation online.

Truffles For a Cause is a way to donate AND give to your guests: you can make a donation or pay a portion per truffle, and get a favor card as well as a truffle for each guest.  You can find a list of the charities to chose from here (you can even pick two different charities).  Their pricing can be a bit tricky, as each option (DIY, DIY boxed, caramel, foil, etc.) is different and each option has three payment options: you can make your own donation in addition to the cost of the truffles, you can donate a portion of the cost of each truffle, or you can make no donation at all (which defeats the purpose, in my opinion, hehe).

Want to go beyond wedding favors?  Check out this list from Bridal Guide and see how many little details of your wedding can be reused or re-thought, from donating your flowers to a local nursing home/hospital, to involving your bridal party in a volunteer event and more!

Hopefully I’ll be able to add some more resources to this post in the future!  Do you have a website that you used for your wedding?  Let us know in the comments!