The Wedding Sweet Shop by Megan & Mark Ramsell
When we started planning our wedding well over a year ago, we knew we wanted to find a way for our nephews Jamie (9) and Lewis (6) to be involved.
For many years, the boys have run a 'shop' from their Gran's front room (and have subsequently expanded into the shed!) which has become a staple of family events - even just afternoons after school, so it seemed like the perfect idea when Jamie suggested they bring the shop to the wedding. We talked about what they might sell, and how they could collect some money to put in their electronic till, and we came up with the idea of providing sweets for a small donation of our guests’ choice, and we all agreed that it would be a great idea to raise money for charity.
We told Jamie and Lewis that they could choose the charity they would like the proceeds to go to, and Jamie told us that he knew of LOROS - he had been to the charity shop a few times with his Grandma, and he had learned about what LOROS does and stands for. We spoke about it some more and all decided it would be a really great way to use the money, to support a local charity that meant something to the boys even at their young ages.
On the day, Jamie wrote out signs that explained to our guests what LOROS does, and chose all the words. They also told our guests about it on the day. Both boys worked tirelessly in their shop all evening at the wedding (Jamie danced for 10 minutes but made sure he took all the money from the shop with him onto the dance floor in a safety tin!) and were arguably the stars of the show. All our guests loved them, and loved the fact that we had included the option to make a charitable donation into our special day.
We are so proud of Jamie and Lewis and the £250 they raised, and we really recommend including this kind of thing on a special day like a wedding. It went down a storm and we know our guests will be talking about it for years to come!
Megan & Mark Ramsell
