Kindness...making it a trend!

This is about a bride inspired after reading this article about the greatest trend in weddings: Kindness

http://www.superweddings.com/article-kindness_wedding_trend.html

After reading this article, I started thinking "is there anything about my wedding that is purely kind to someone else in need."  What can I do?  Here are a few suggestions from the article.

"Here are some ideas on how you can make kindness a part of your wedding:

• In place of traditional wedding favors, make a donation to a worthwhile cause in each guest’s name. At the reception, present each guest with a small nicely printed card explaining that this has been done.

• Suggest that instead of wedding gifts, guests make a contribution to either a charity of your choosing, or a cause that is important to them. Pop star Christina Aguilera did this when she wed last December and requested that guests make donations to Hurricane Katrina victims rather than giving wedding presents. Even comic strip characters are taking a shine to this trend; the popular comic strip character Cathy also did this last year when she asked her guests (and readers of the strip) to make a donation to a particular California shelter for homeless animals!

• Some gift registry services will donate a percentage of all gifts purchased through their service to the charity of your choice – look for one that offers this.

• Make arrangements to donate food left over from the reception to a local soup kitchen or homeless shelter.

• Donate flower arrangements to local hospices or nursing homes following the wedding.

• After the wedding, donate your used wedding supplies and accessories –or even your wedding dress - to Goodwill (Goodwill Industries International) or another charitable organization that collects used goods.

• Or, like Ms. Jolie, shop Goodwill stores (Goodwill Industries International) in your area for your wedding gown and related accessories."

In addition to some of the above, this is what I think we'll do:

In addition to our favors,  the bride and groom will donate an hour of service for each guests in their honor...take pics and post it on a website as we volunteer for our friends and family to access.  We'll volunteer at a hospital, animal shelter, community garden, soup kitchen, or wherever our hearts desire at that moment.  We can have fun doing it and feel good doing it knowing it's an act of kindness!

Hopefully, this will be a trend that continues to get popular as years go by!