Every couple tying the knot wants their marriage to be memorable. This typically gives rise to ostentatious celebrations and towering expenses. Our way of making it special was a shade uncommon. It did involve money but for a different purpose. Our marriage celebrations consisted of a handful of donations. Nothing more, nothing less. [More on the wedding with snaps].
To be more concrete, the minimum amount chosen for our cumulative contribution was 1 lakh (parents’ contribution of 50k excluded). Since this contribution was attached to the marriage, it had to be over and above other/regular donations. We comfortably surpassed that milestone in about a year. Here are some of the groups/projects/activists that we donated to.
- Maitri: Solar water pump in rural Maharashtra
- Sirugu: Educating beggars’ (and other poor) kids in TN
- Arzoo: Educating disadvantaged kids in Ahmedabad
- AET: An orphanage in Bangalore
- Friends of Children: Funding + mentoring promising students (B’lore)
- MKSS (Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan): RTI in rural Rajasthan
- Maitri: Rural development in hilly regions of Maharashtra
- Shramik Seva Dal: Wholesome education in the outskirts of Mumbai
- Asha Trust: Rural development coupled with human values (UP)
PS 1: These groups have been adequately verified for genuineness. Almost all of them were found through the NGO people we work with. Contrary to the general belief, all the NGOs we have come across thus far are genuine.
PS 2: Some other organizations that we know to be genuine, are Ananya, Suyam, AID, Asha, BHUMI, CRY and AshaKiran.
Filed under: General Musings | Tagged: celebration, donation, marriage, NGO
[...] We feel that the galactic sums of money spent after today’s flamboyant marriages should be diverted to better causes. This prompted us to celebrate our wedding through a set of modest donations (Details). [...]
Even when we were not part of the physical wedding, we donot feel left out, but connected in our thoughts. i feel like we were there, to wish you all th best.
Sejal and your decision is so beautiful. Wishing you all the best in life. kamayani
[...] Divert the marriage money to community development. In plain words, keep the wedding simple and support NGOs/social work from the money saved [Yes, this has to be over and above your other/regular donations, if any] [More]. [...]
Wish we have more people like you. More importantly, we have such cases highlighted so that it becomes ‘mainstream’ in years to come. Kudos to you guys!
[...] Since it’s an era of theme weddings, we couldn’t help but find ourselves one. Our theme was diverting the marriage money to charity. In keeping with this theme, ours was a simple wedding wherein only immediate relatives were invited; every one else was intimated. So, I request you not to map my closeness with you to your not getting invited to the wedding. The other half of our theme (charity) is best described here. [...]