Southern Weddings

I just love this idea! My six year old cousin suffers from Juvenile Diabetes and is just about the strongest little guy I’ve ever known. He has had to endure insulin shots on a daily basis for the last year (he was diagnosed when he was five) and has done so in the strongest, most mature way possible. Since we have just passed his one year diagnosis anniversary, his parents are running a number of events locally to raise money for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, with the biggest event being a walk-a-thon on October 18th. Unfortunately my husband and I are in a wedding that weekend and are unable to attend. We will be participating in as many of the littler events as possible, but a donation made to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation on Carson’s behalf would help to fill the gap. Thanks for the opportunity! :)

Believing that there is just a little bit more that we can all do to help those around us, every month I researches non profit charities to donate ten percent of Twisted Crystals proceeds to. Focusing on charities fully devoted to helping women, children, those that are sick, hungry and homeless.We have all had the heart breaking experience of seeing children on the street hungry, cold and scared. As the weather grows colder in our unstable economy this tragically will become more common. There is something we can all do to help, as even the tiniest donation can go so far…This month we will be supporting Cradles to Crayons out of Quincy, MA. A charity that "equips homeless and in-need children with the basic essentials they need to feel safe, warm, ready to learn and to thrive." http://www.CradlesToCrayons.orgThank you for taking the time to do this, whomever you choose will be well deserving.kacey higley

Coincidentally enough, for my wedding we are donating money to charity in lieu of favors. The charity closest to my heart is the Alzheimer’s Association. I saw the effects this devastating disease had on my grandmother for many years, and watched her memory slowly deteriorate. My family would visit her in her Alzheimers nursing home, and we would see many other elderly people with the same disease. It was so sad to think that the people we saw were once teachers, doctors, great people of their generation who couldn’t even recognize their own families. My grandmother passed away in 1999. It was a scary and confusing illness for children to see, but as I get older I have much compassion for the elderly, especially those who share the same disease. I want to do my part to help find a cure and effective treatment for Alzheimers.

The foundation that I am most passionate about is the SEARCH foundation http://www.searchfoundation.org. I am on the board of directors and the current Events Chair planning fundraising events for the foundation. SEARCH helps people within the events industry who are faced with catastrophic loss and illness. We provide funds to individuals regardless of their association affiliations, rank in business or contacts. Their only requirement is to be employed in the special events field. This is such an important cause to those of us who are self employed or employed seasonally and do not have a huge company to fall back on to help with medical bills, insurance premiums and the like. SEARCH gives without asking for anything in return. You do not have to pay the money back, it is not a loan. We have helped people within in the industry who have had cancer, suffered losses from Hurricane Katrina, whose children had died and they could not afford burial services – all variations of catastrophe. SEARCH reaches out to people who would otherwise have no other option for assistance. And the assistance is immediate, typically within days of request. There is no red tape and it is completely anonymous with only one person knowing the identity of the recipient. This ensures that all people can come to SEARCH and not feel embarrassed by their situation but instead find funds to empower themselves to get back on their feet. I have a video link I would like to send to you, but I cannot post it here. If we are in consideration for this amazing gift, please let me know. That way you can see the power the SEARCH foundation has on the events industry. Thank you also for inspiring others to give back to their communities and for providing such amazing content for your readers. I have retweeted your contest as @sparkliatti

I cannot imagine what it would be like, as a child, to be sold as a sex slave. The thought of that nauseates me, and my heart breaks as I think about the girls and boys who are used daily for pleasure and money. it is almost a thought too terrible to think of, but the reality of it still exists, and it’s hard to sit here and not do a thing.the charity remembernhu.org has changed the way i see the world. Nhu was a young girl who was sold as a sex slave at just 12 years old, and the organization "remember nhu" exists to tell her story and others like it, and to ultimately eliminate child sex trafficking in the world today. my close friends have organized local events called "lifted" to raise awareness about remember nhu and this devastating trafficking industry. my heart wants to do so much more, and right now i offer my photos & time as a simple way of raising awareness, financial help, and support to this amazing ministry. i hope my partnership with these lifted events will continue to grow in making an eternal impact in the lives of innocent children. (examples of some photos can be seen here: http://nancyrayphotography.blogspot.com/2009/04/lifted-benefit-concert.html )It is estimated that 2,700 children a day are trafficked into sexual slavery. my mind doesn’t really get that. i have grown up in a loving and safe home. i am now married to a wonderful man and we hope to one day have a family of our own. i take beautiful photographs of loving couples and their weddings all the time…. but i don’t want to close my eyes to the reality of sex trafficking that is going on outside of my safe bubble. i refuse to. i will continue to partner with remembernhu.org and these lifted events because it has changed the way i see the world. twitter: @nancyray

Advocating, Restoring, and Empowering. These are three values I feel passionate about, especially concerning women! In India alone, there are 2 million women and CHILDREN enslaved in forced prostitution. They live their daily lives in the midst of abuse, terror, and disease. There are many organizations in India that work to rescue these women from this vicious cycle. International Princess Project (www.intlprincess.org) partners with these organizations to give these women HOPE. The women are taught a trade in which they can work with dignity. They learn to sew "PUNJAMMIES," a fancy little word for women’s’ pajama pants. They sew these pants using the fabric of their own country: beautiful and colorful saris. International Princess Project sells these "PUNJAMMIES" and 100% of the money goes back to the girls in India to pay them a fair trade wage, provide them with living expenses, help them start savings accounts, and provides holistic support and restoration. And they also make an amazing product (www.www.punjammies.com) in the process. Then women here in America buy them, tell their friends, and have a chance to be a part of giving HOPE.I personally care about this mission so much because I have been there, I have met these extraordinary women, I have looked into their eyes, and I have seen HOPE. Last November I had the amazing opportunity to join International Princess Project’s staff on a work trip to India. I saw first hand how sewing PUNJAMMIES is changing their lives and giving them dignity. Their stories are all little different, but each girl has one. They give me hope for a world without slavery, abuse, and greed. The mission of International Princess Project is to advocate for women enslaved in prostitution, restore their broken lives, and empower them to live free. I lack the words to rightly express how important this cause is to me, but feel the following video communicates their message so clearly! Please check it out:http://www.intlprincess.org/index.php/ipp/section/C1/

I tweeted about it right when I entered! @brokeassbride – almost forgot to tell ya!Thank you again for running such a beautifully inspired contest :)

This is such a wonderful idea for a contest, and allows us another avenue to give a voice to our causes. I want to apolgize for the lenght of the post it is a cause so near to my heart, and I am so passionate about, that it got a little long winded for a comment post. Swanky Chicks loves to get the word out and share ways that brides can support breast cancer patients through charities like Brides Against Breast Cancer, and The Pink Envelope Project. In August we organized a chairty fundraiser for San Antonio breast cancer patients struggling to make ends meet. I never knew that while encouraging women to support each other through breast cancer charities, I would very soon come to be affected by it so intimately . In April of this year at the very young age of 48 (she was a Young mother!) my mother who is my strength. inspiration, and best friend was diagnosed with breast cancer. We all thought we could face it head on and fight. Two weeks later we were delivered even more devestating news, not only did my mother have breast cancer but it had already advanced to stage four. The weeks that followed were a very difficult time in my life. A stage four breast cancer diagnosis is incurable, and has a five year survival rate of under 20%. I thought, doesn’t early detection prevent this from happening? The sad truth is not for everyone, and not for my mother. She had been having her yearly mamograms as scheduled. We cannot become complacent because there are so many survivors, breast cancer is still a very deadly disease. I admit I was guilty of thinking okay here we go a little chemo, a litte surgery, and boom my mom will be back to normal. In the weeks and months that have followed we have all wrapped our heads around the diagnosis and prepared for a fight! We are not giving up that easily, as my mom likes to say "I don’t have an expiration date stamped on my forhead!" In the month of October SwankyChicks.com will be donating 15% off our proceeds to breast cancer charities. We need to find a cure before we lose even more mothers, daughters, wives, and sisters. We also support our vendors in the fight. Like the Take Note! Designs Cancer charity which provides funding to women struggling to make ends meet while undergoing treatment. Take Note! donates 10% of all sales year round to its charitable project, including our wholesale purchases. If Swanky Chicks were to win this contest, the winning donation would go to Making Memories which is the parent organization of Brides Against Breast Cancer. Making Memories use money raised by Brides Against Breast Cancer to grant wishes to women that have been diagnosed with Stage V breast cancer. They are often able to give these women one last vacation with thier families, a respit from the difficulties of treatment. I can tell you first hand how important a few "cancer free" days are for someone struggling with this disease. For any women fighting all she wants are those days where cancer is not the first and last things on everyones minds.

We are thankful that we have a job doing something that we truly love. But more than that, we want to make a difference in the world. This is why we donate a portion of every wedding that we book to help the ‘Invisible Children" of Northern Uganda. Invisible Children is an organization that received its start from an inspiring film that was produced, directed, and filmed by three young men who wanted to travel to Northern Uganda. They had no story planned and limited movie-making experience. After several days of searching for a story, they found it within the children who lived on the streets.Over the past years, Northern Uganda has been experiencing a war between the Ugandan government and a rebel army known as the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA). The LRA increased its army size by abducting small children. They then would torture, brainwash, and train these children to become killing machines.Being the dove is a symbol of peace, and weddings are a symbol of love, it only makes sense for us to use Dove Wedding Photography as a means to help end this war and reestablish the lives of the Ugandan children.We would love to be able to donate even more funding to help this cause, and to hopefully bring more awareness to the plight of the children in Northern Uganda.

We would like to highlight a non-profit very near and dear to our hearts. David’s youngest sister, Ann, was diagnosed with breast cancer at age 38. As a way to help her through her ordeal , David documented her journey with his camera, and Linda and Ann teamed up together to make a documentary film. The film, The Breast Cancer Diaries was formed as a non-profit with profits going toward free screenings of what turned into a very inspiring, humorous and uplifting documentary film. What began as a hit documentary film quickly turned into a cause. We have now launched Project Pink, a non-profit devoted to giving help and hope to young women with breast cancer. With the mantra that "swag bags" should not just be for movie stars walking the red carpet on Oscar night, we are pairing with cancer centers, key members of our very dear wedding community, and college sororities to donate hot pink "swag bags" to young women going through chemotherapy. Each Project Pink swag bag will have a DVD of The Breast Cancer Diaries; a hot pink diary and pen; a pink pashmina and other items donated by corporate sponsors. We will also be auctioning off Designer Project Pink swag bags designed by nationally known designers, many from the wedding industry. All proceeds will go to Project Pink and our outreach and support campaign.On October 1st to mark Breast Cancer Awareness month we will launch a new site: http://www.projectpinkdiary.comIn the meantime, a clip of The Breast Cancer Diaries can be viewed at http://www.thebreastcancerdiaries.comHere is a summary of The Breast Cancer Diaries: "For ten years, Ann Murray Paige covered the news—but for the biggest story of her life she turned the camera on herself. When Murray-Paige, a formal local news reporter and anchor, is diagnosed with breast cancer at the age of 38, she sets up a diary camera in her bedroom. Ann’s video diaries—raw and true—offer an intimate chronicle of a young mother’s nine month journey with breast cancer, punctuated with humor, poignancy and romance.Along the way, Ann—with characteristic wit—challenges everything from drive-through mastectomies to how American society all too often degines a woman by her breasts.The Breast Cancer Diaries is a chronicle of illness met with attitude, sumbolized by the “Cancer Sucks” button that Ann pins on her shirt. Throughout it all there is humor: from a hospital flashing scene, to a young son’s attempt to heal his mother with a whoopee cushion. Director Linda Pattillo, herself an award-winning former network news correspondent (ABC NEWS and CNN), spent 15 years covering wars across the globe. In The Diaries, she covers a far more intimate and personal battle—that of a young woman and mother fighting for her life."For a film synopsis and some of the rave reviews:http://www.davidmurrayweddings.com/TheBreastCancerDiaries_ProjectPink.jpgThank you for considering Project Pink and The Breast Cancer Diaries !Love,Linda and DavidDavid Murray Weddings