Decorations/Centerpieces/Favors
Inviting people, wearing clothes, and serving food are each
essential elements of a simcha. Things like decorations and favors
are entirely optional, but can be key in setting a mood. This is an
area where there’s lots of room to make great environmental choices
and still put your creative stamp on the party.
Flowers
Let’s start with cut flowers. It takes lots of resources to grow
the flowers, fertilize them, care for them while they grow and then
transport them (often over great distances) just so that they can
sit on tables and look pretty for a few hours. We’re not
underestimating the importance of having a festive or elegant table
for your event’s meal, but could decorations and centerpieces be
made of reusable items or things with less environmental impact?
Good caterers or party planners can work miracles with things like
mirrors, stones, scarves and other decorative items.
If you are using flowers, you could use fewer of them in conjunction
with other more enviro-friendly ideas (skip the big
bouquets for a
sparser, more elegant look). Also, consider finding a place ahead
of time to donate them after the event
and devise a plan to get them
there while they are still fresh. Maybe the flowers could go to the
shelter with your leftover
food, or maybe there is a hospital,
nursing home or senior center that would welcome such a gift. Guests also may
enjoy taking them home. Plan ahead, know where you
want them to go, and enlist the help of a family member or
friend who can manage the pick up or transport.
If your event occurs in the right season, you could also plan to
purchase flowers grown at a local
organic farm. No pesticides,
limited travel distance and supporting the local farm
economy...
everyone wins!
Consider using plants rather than cut flowers. Plants still have
many of the environmental downsides as cut flowers,
but they do live
longer and in many cases can even be replanted in guests’ yards.
Just be sure to remember to tell
your guests to take the plants with
them when they go.
Centerpieces
Use centerpieces made up of things that can be donated after the event (food, toys, books, sports equipment, even personal care items for shelters or residential treatment centers). If you need some help putting this together, many party planners and caterers can help you figure out how to display these items in a beautiful or festive way. You could also opt for a very simple decorated card in the center of each table explaining that the money that you would have spent on centerpieces has been donated to an organization that you have chosen to support.
For a larger decorative display, check out the
Jewish Family & Children’s Service Mitzvah Basket program.
Mitzvah to Mitzvah rents out decorative baskets and uses the
proceeds to defray the cost of a tutor,
subsidize the cost of a room
rental or help sponsor a Kiddush luncheon for a Bar/Bat Mitzvah
whose family
is experiencing financial challenges.
MitzvahTables is a local business that will create centerpieces
for your event made out of items needed by
a local nonprofit (you
pick the organization). After your event, they will deliver the
items and get you a
receipt for the donation.
Centerpiece Suggestions
Food Pantry Centerpiece
Make table centerpieces out of food pantry items. The
centerpieces turn out to be remarkably festive in appearance.
Contact Family Table, the local Jewish food pantry, to find out what
items are acceptable. Buy a large basket for each table fill it
with food pantry items which are individually wrapped in colorful
tissue paper or cellophane. Two helium balloons can be attached by
ribbon to the handle of each basket, extending the colorful
decoration into the air. After the party, snip off the balloon
ribbons, and simply carried the baskets to Family Table during their
next collection day. There is no need to unwrap all the donated
items, as Family Table will give each basket in its entirety to a
family. This is a great way to give something both useful (food)
and cheerful-looking to people in need. And you will love having
nothing to throw away!
Sports Equipment Centerpiece
If your child is an athlete or a sports fan, consider buying sports
equipment to use as centerpieces. You can buy
fake “grass” (think
Easter baskets) at a crafts store and use it to make “turf.” After
the event, donate the equipment to
a local family shelter or program
that serves low-income kids in one way or another, and donate the
fake grass to just
about any program that could use it for an arts
and crafts project (schools, camps, childcare centers, after school
programs, shelters that house kids, etc.). You could also do
something along those lines with team-related clothing
and gear if
your child is devoted to a particular team or set of teams.
Stuffed Animals Centerpiece
You can use stuffed animals as centerpieces at a bar/bat
mitzvah/baby shower. They work beautifully and you can then
donate
them to Jewish Family & Children’s Service’s Visiting Moms program.
(Please note that many places will not take
used stuffed animals for
hygienic reasons, so if you are interested in implementing this
suggestion, be sure to use brand
new animals in your centerpiece
displays).
Party Favors
Evaluate how important party favors and keepsakes are. Are you
giving something that likely won’t have much use and will wind up in
the trash in a few days anyway? If you do want your guests to have
something concrete to take away with them (besides all of those
beautiful memories!), select something they will able to use or
eat. Avoid overpackaging your gifts to your guests. Think of
attractive or interesting ways to give a gift without tons of ribbon
and paper that will look great for a few minutes and then hit the
trashcan. If you are using a party planner or caterer, you could
enlist his/her help to think this through.
You also could give out something like
Endangered Species chocolate
(10% of net profits donated to “help
support species, habitat and
humanity”) or
Terrapass’ Climate Change chocolate bar
(Climate
Change Chocolate
“comes with a verified TerraPass offset of 133
pounds of carbon dioxide reductions, the average American's daily
carbon impact").
Confetti Substitute
Rather than using confetti or rice, we threw rose petals and
lavender at the bride and groom at the conclusion of
the ceremony. It is also traditional to throw candy at many simchas.
Consider using candy, which little oneswill
gladly scoop up.
Make A Donation
You could also consider skipping the favors and instead make a donation in honor of your guests to an organization that you support. You could even do something like plant a tree or donate a book to a literacy project in honor of each guest, noting this donation on the seating card that guests pick up when they arrive at the party or announcing it sometime during the event festivities.
Unused Party Items
Finally, when it’s all over and the dust has cleared, you might find yourself looking at a stack of leftover non-returnable favors, giveaways, decorations, paper goods and who knows what else. Believe it or not, there may be someone out there who can put it to good use. It’s perfect…that person wants it and you want it out of your house. Consider posting your unused party “debris” on Freecycle or City of Newton Reusable Materials Exchange.
If you have leftover favors that are
suitable for kids, you could also contact
Birthday Wishes. They
organize and throw birthday
parties for homeless kids living in
local shelters and so may be able to put what you have to good use.