Paying It Forward with your Wedding??

You have spent a lot of time deciding exactly what arrangements you want your wedding party to carry. Each bouquet is stunning and matches the center pieces on the tables at the reception as well as the flowers used during the ceremony. Not only do you have time invested, you spent a large portion of your wedding budget on flowers for this one day in your life. At the end of the evening what happens to all these beautiful

arrangements?

One possibility is to contact Repeat Roses . This national organization works with local wedding couples to provide joy and beauty to others. The founder, Jennifer Grove, witnessed beautiful flowers being thrown away after only a few hours of use and wanted to find a way to share them. The program works by finding volunteers to collect flowers from weddings and other large social events and then connecting them with local nursing homes, hospice units, hospitals and others who will benefit from having a spot of joy in their lives.

There are three parties to the Repeat Roses program; the wedding couple who donates their flowers, the engaged couple who collects the flowers and refreshes them and delivers them, and finally the organization who receives the beautiful arrangements. The goal is that the engaged couple then donates their flowers after their wedding so that the cycle continues.

The organization’s website has complete registration information, collection and refreshing directions. They make it as easy as possible to pay it forward.

What better way to start your marriage can there be, than to be of service to our larger community and providing beauty to those most in need of it? This gives each couple an opportunity to talk and explore what it means to be a part of the larger world and how they will contribute to the well being of society.

Ask your planner or florist about getting involved in this exciting way to work together as a couple.