Planning your dream wedding is often a chaotic mix of crab cakes, swing bands, seating charts, and Swarovski crystals. It is easy to develop bridal tunnel vision and forget that the pressing world issues have nothing to do with your choice of bouquet flowers. The good news is that there are some very easy ways for you and your fiancé to be a little bit more socially consciousness and give back during every step of the wedding process.

Make a Food Donation

Today’s weddings are a food lover’s paradise. From those mini quiches at the cocktail hour to the trout almondine entrée, there is bound to be a lot of leftovers. Instead of letting the extra food go to waste, you can donate it to a food rescue agency in your area. Go online or make an inquiry to your catering hall. They might already work with a local agency.

Share the Beauty of your Flowers

It would be a shame to toss your beautiful and pricey pink peony and champagne rose centerpieces into the garbage. Instead, share your beautiful floral centerpieces with a local nursing home or assisted living facility. Your beautiful flowers will brighten up their halls and bring much joy to those who are so often forgotten.

C is for China…and for Charity

These days as you register for your China and cookware you can also support your favorite charity. Registry sites like WeddingChannel.com and the Idofoundation.org have made it effortless to incorporate charitable giving into the registry process. When you create a registry on Wedding Channel you can be a part of their charity donation program. This program means that Wedding Channel will make a donation to your charity of choice every time someone uses their site to purchase you a gift from one of your registries.

Wedding Channel also allows you to create a charity registry. This registry is an opportunity for your guests to make a donation to your favorite charity in lieu or in addition to the traditional type of gift. The I Do Foundation offers similar registry programs. If you register with their retail partners, they will donate 10% back of your gift purchases to your favorite charity. You can also start a charity registry through their site as well.

Favors with Heart

Since no one needs to lose another filling on a Jordan almond or receive another votive, incorporate charitable giving into your wedding favors. With your fiancé, choose a charity that you both are passionate about and then make a donation on behalf of the two of you and your guests. At the wedding, you can notify your guests of your donation on their behalf by placing a pretty printed card at each table setting. This is especially meaningful to your guests if you have given to a charity that has personal meaning to people at the wedding. Go on to the website of your favorite charity and you will be sure to find out how to make a donation.

Donate your Dresses

Even though you probably love your wedding dress as much as your new hubby, there is a slim chance you will ever wear it again. Instead of allowing it to collect dust in your mother’s basement closet, you can donate it to raise funds for the charity of your choice. You can send your dress to the I Do Foundation, a public foundation that works with non-profits and corporations to help engaged couples bring charitable giving into their wedding process, and they will sell your dress through one of their consignment partners.

A whopping 20% of the sale proceeds will go to the charity of your choice and the rest will go to helping the I Do Foundation continue their ongoing work to bring charity to the wedding process. If you can’t bear to part with your dress, maybe you can encourage your bridesmaids to donate theirs. Organizations like The Glass Slipper Project www.glassslipperproject.org and The Priceless Gown Project www.thepricelessgownproject.org take donations of new and slightly used bridesmaid and prom dresses and give them to underprivileged girls who cannot afford to go to their proms.

Make a Date to Volunteer

Instead of spending another Saturday at the mall, while your groom-to-be zones out on the couch watching college football, make a date to volunteer. Find a common cause, whether it is your local animal shelter, nursing home, or recycling plant, and donate some time together. Volunteering as a couple is not only a productive way to spend some quality time, but it also helps instill the tradition of charity and good will into your relationship. These values will benefit your relationship and will hopefully turn into a tradition that can be passed along to your children when you have your own family down the road.