Green Bridal Show!

For those of you who think that this "Green" thing is only in the big cities, check it out: Terrapin Restaurant-an eco concious restaurant and caterer in the Hudson Valley-is hosting a "Green Bridal Show!" To check out the details, click HERE. It is going to feature vendors who are eco friendly, and there will be presentations, nibbles, and a glass of champagne...$10 bucks if you just show up, and Fa-Fa-Fa-FREEE if you register online...getting married in the area? Check it out for the love of Pete! And if you aren't...tell your friends. Or just check out Terrapin! Looks pretty cool, no?

More Honeymoon Ideas

I was "e-thumbing" through one of my favorite green blogs today...while eating lunch of course. I would never be reading a blog while I am supposed to be working. During work hours, I am constantly buzzing away; crossing task after task off my busy bee list of things to do to make more money for my boss. But "during lunch," I occasionally take a quick break to read my favorite blogs. One of them is the ever informative www.treehugger.com. I don't know how I even came upon this little postidy post...as often happens when I am reading and clicking, and reading and clicking, but there it was: the worlds top 5 greenest spas...now if that doesn't sound like a nice way to spend a greenlicious honeymoon, I don't know what does. Check it out: greenlicious spas!

Now, Jimmy and I are not really the type of couple that wants to lay in a steam room, and get rub downs with sea weed; but if you are, there is quite a selection here. Looking for adventure? Try the one in Costa Rico, or the one in Japan! If you are looking to stay close, there is a whole section at the end dedicated to "Honorable Mentions" that are stateside...definitely worth a look. And hey, as this wedding thing progresses...we may decide that the only thing that we CAN do on our honeymoon is to lay in a steam room: (This is one of my favorite pictures of us...when we were filming porn in the 70's...I think that I am going to make it my facebook profile pic...;-)
Don't we look GORGEOUS??!!!

Registry Revelations

Ok,

So I said that I would do it, and I have! I registered with the I Do Foundation!
For those of you who don't remember, here's what the I Do Foundation has to say about themselves:
The I Do Foundation was created in 2002 by a group of nonprofit leaders dedicated to developing new avenues of support for charitable organizations. A public foundation based in Washington, D.C., the I Do Foundation works closely with some of the most effective and renowned nonprofit organizations in the country. Together with our corporate and nonprofit partners, the I Do Foundation links engaged couples with a host of charitable giving options at their wedding.

It is our vision that, in time, charitable giving will become an integral part of the culture of weddings and other life events. By incorporating a charitable focus into life celebrations, we help families establish a pattern of giving that will last a lifetime.

I dig it. But can it be that easy? I am a big believer that the only way to effect change on a large scale is to make it easy and idiot proof. So is this registry idiot proof? Pretty much. This is how it goes:

You have to register your wedding with them. (Just like you would with any of the wedding websites: The Wedding Channel, etc, etc.) Once you do that, you pick which of the partners you want to register with. They have a list, and for each partner they show you what % of each purchase will be donated to the charity of your choice. (ie. cooking.com is 10%, Target is 5% and so on...) Then you pick which ones you would like to register with, and you create your registries with each site. Lastly, you go back in, and pick which charity you want to donate to. (They have some to pick from, but you can pick your own. You can even set up a fund to put aside for future giving.) There are a few cons that I would share with you:

1. The list of Partners isn't super long. If you want to register at Macy's, Bloomingdales, or Tiffany's...they aren't on there. To be fair, you can register with them-and even have a link to it on their site. These gifts simply won't generate any money for donations. In cases like this, I would recommend making a list of what you want to register for, and trying to find them on the partnered sites. Then filling in the gaps on a site that isn't a partner. That way you do as much as you can. :-)

2. It can be tedious to do what I mentioned above. I managed to find what I was looking for by using only partnered sites; but it meant that I had to create 4 registries: signing up for each site, then creating the registry info for each site, then adding the items that I want from that site. If you are persnickety like me; you will then find the same thing for different prices, and have to keep going back to compare, and make sure that you have the cheaper one on your registry...my eyes were crossed...I can't lie!

3. Only online purchases generate donations. Some of your guests may want to go to the store...so this will mean that their gift will not generate a donation...even if it is from a partnered site. Kind of a bummer.

Those were the main concerns for me, but there is one MAJOR pro: Up to 10% of the cost of our gifts is going to be donated to Share Our Strength. Share Our Strength is a national organization that I have had the pleasure of working with on several events. The organization devotes all of it's efforts to ending child hunger in the United States. I have been touched not only by their message, but also by the people who are working within the organization everyday to truly find an end to child hunger. I cannot pretend for one second that my having to enter my name and address a few extra times is a reason to not go this route. In fact now that you know about this...if you are registering, frankly, I cannot find one reason for you to not do this...just do it.