Two Brides Use Wedding Day To Give Back

Forget the Jordan Almond favors or the wedding gift never to be used, two local women are forgoing both and giving their guests something that will make a lasting difference.

Francine DiChiara and Deanna Hardy, decided to forgo wedding favors and gifts at their weddings this past weekend. Instead, they opted to donate to

"I wanted to donate to something that is near and dear to us," DiChiara, of North Reading said of her and her soon-to-be-husband Michael Coughlin's decision. "Instead of some frivolous favor people are going to throw in the trash, we wanted to give back to the shelter."

DiChiara worked as a volunteer at the no-kill shelter and has three rescue dogs; Nelly, Teeny and Finnegan and runs "Bark N' Roll," a dog daycare and training in-home service business.

She and Coughlin wed at on Saturday before a reception at the

For Deanna Hardy of Somerville, who was married Sunday at Georgetown's Black Swan Country Club, donating to Northeast was a no-brainer after she had a good experience there adopting her dog, Raquela.

"They are very good there and really want to make sure the animal goes somewhere they will have a good home, be taken care of and will not be brought back. It's also a no-kill shelter, which is very important to me," Hardy said.

Hardy and her fiance Matt Dawson said they looked around and found they already had what they needed in terms of "gifts" and decided to urge their guests to donate to the shelter instead.

"We don't need people to buy us stuff," Hardy said. "We used our wedding Website to put a link for people to donate through. There is a picture of Raquel on it and it says; 'Please don't buy my parents any gifts, help animals like me.'"

"We settled on asking people to donate money to the shelter because we wanted to give back to a place that gave us so much with Raquela and supporting an organization dedicated to finding homes for animals in need of one," she said.

For both brides, they hope the donations will raise their guests' awareness of dogs and cats in need right here on the North Shore.

"I hope the donations help them to continue running and defer some of the costs," Hardy said, noting when she and her future husband get back from their honeymoon they will look into adopting another dog from Northeast.

A Giving Trend

Stephen Oakes, spokesman for the shelter, said they have been touched by the number of people who've incorporated their love for animals into family events.

"On their birthdaysm many children have gathered donations instead of gifts, and we invite them to the shelter for a party and tour," Oakes said. "These couples are assembling the monetary donations they receive during their receptions and contributing them together. We also provided donation cards for the wedding guests who may wish to contribute at a later time."

Oakes said the shelter uses monetary donations to help cover operating expenses, since they receive no federal or state funding.

"Of course, dog and cat supplies are always welcome, such as food, toys, litter and heartworm and tick medication," Oakes said. "What people may not realize is we also have great need for bleach, trash bags, newspaper and paper towels, since the young ones require a lot of cleanup. We can even use office supplies like stamps, pens, scotch tape and envelopes."

DiChiara is placing a Northeast Animal color brochure on each of her guest place settings this weekend in hopes those puppy eyes and fuzzy kittens urge someone to adopt.

"I'm hoping someone sees it and wants to adopt," she said. "So many (people) are all about pure breds and different breeds, but there is nothing like a rescue dog."