A company found the best way to get the most from your wedding bouquet.
Flowers at weddings are beautiful — but their beauty doesn't have to end there.
Love may last forever, but flowers don't — especially at weddings.
Back when she worked as an event planner, Jennifer Grove oversaw countless weddings. And besides brides, grooms, cake, ushers, bridesmaids, and attendees, there was something else that played a huge role in many of those weddings: flowers; lots and lots of flowers. Flowers that, sadly, wouldn't last much longer than the reception.
"I would have to tell people, 'Yep, you can throw all those flowers out,'" Grove tells Upworthy in a new video. There had to be a better solution than just throwing out perfectly good flowers, and that's what led Grove to start Repeat Roses.
Grove arranges flowers into small bundles. All photos by Jess Blank/Upworthy.
Repeat Roses helps place gently used flowers in the hands of those who might need a little beauty in their lives. Specifically, to people living in hospitals and nursing homes.
During the wedding-planning process, spouses-to-be call up Repeat Roses, letting the company know they'd like to donate their wedding flowers. Repeat Roses then stops by the wedding at the end of the evening, gathers up the flowers, breaks them into small arrangements, and delivers them to a hospital, hospice facility, shelter, or nursing home.
Each year, in the U.S., there are roughly 2.25 million weddings. Each of those weddings generates between 400-600 pounds of trash.
That's a lot of trash, and that's a LOT of flowers that just get thrown away. Another part of what Repeat Roses does is reclaim the flowers after a few days at the hospitals or care centers so they can be composted, eliminating as much waste as possible.
"Our goal is to make it easy to incorporate an eco-friendly element to any corporate event or wedding plan while making a positive social impact," says Grove. "It's a lot of work, but it's a very unique opportunity combining kindness and sustainability in one service — giving back to the community and giving back to nature."
Now, of course, some soon-to-be newlyweds are cutting flowers out altogether in an effort to be less wasteful.
A quick look online for wedding flower alternatives will turn up a lot of really interesting, creative options being embraced by non-traditionalists out there. For example, candles have become a popular flower alternative, as have bundles of sticks or feathers.
Still, if you're going to stick to the flower tradition, you might as well donate your used flowers to others in need. It's a true act of charity, and that's exactly how Grove describes it.
"With newlyweds, it's the first charitable act they've done, and they haven't even left for their honeymoon yet," she says.
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There's a reason why some people can perfectly copy accents, and others can't
Turns out, there's a neurodivergent link.
A woman in black long sleeve shirt stands in front of mirror.
Have you ever had that friend who goes on vacation for four days to London and comes back with a full-on Queen's English posh accent? "Oooh I left my brolly in the loo," they say, and you respond, "But you're from Colorado!" Well, there are reasons they (and many of us) do that, and usually it's on a pretty subconscious level.
It's called "accent mirroring," and it's actually quite common with people who are neurodivergent, particularly those with ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder). According Neurolaunch, the self-described "Free Mental Health Library," "Accent mirroring, also known as accent adaptation or phonetic convergence, is the tendency to unconsciously adopt the accent or speech patterns of those around us. This linguistic chameleon effect is not unique to individuals with ADHD, but it appears to be more pronounced and frequent in this population."
Essentially, when people have conversations, we're constantly "scanning" for information—not just the words we're absorbing, but the inflection and tone. "When we hear an accent, our brains automatically analyze and categorize the phonetic features, prosody, and intonation patterns," writes Neurolaunch. For most, this does result in copying the accent of the person with whom we're speaking. But those with ADHD might be more sensitive to auditory cues. This, "coupled with a reduced ability to filter out or inhibit the impulse to mimic…could potentially explain the increased tendency for accent mirroring."
While the article explains further research is needed, they distinctly state that, "Accent mirroring in individuals with ADHD often manifests as an unconscious mimicry of accents in social situations. This can range from subtle shifts in pronunciation to more noticeable changes in intonation and speech rhythm. For example, a person with ADHD might find themselves unconsciously adopting a Southern drawl when conversing with someone from Texas, even if they’ve never lived in the South themselves."
People are having their say online. On the subreddit r/ADHDWomen, a thread began: "Taking on accents is an ADHD thing?" The OP shares, "My whole life, I've picked up accents. I, myself, never noticed, but everyone around me would be like, 'Why are you talking like that??' It could be after I watched a show or movie with an accent or after I've traveled somewhere with a different accent than my 'normal.'
They continue, "Apparently, I pick it up fast, but it fades out slowly. Today... I'm scrolling Instagram, I watch a reel from a comedian couple (Darcy and Jeremy. IYKYK) about how Darcy (ADHD) picks up accents everywhere they go. It's called ADHD Mirroring??? And it's another way of masking."
(The OP is referring to Darcy Michaels and his husband Jeremy Baer, who are both touring comedians based in Canada.)
Hundreds of people on the Reddit thread alone seem to relate. One comments, "Omfg I've done this my whole life; I'll even pick up on the pauses/spaces when I'm talking to someone who is ESL—but English is my first language lol."
Sometimes, it can be a real issue for those around the chameleon. "I accidentally mimicked a waitress's weird laugh one time. As soon as she was out of earshot, my family started to reprimand me, but I was already like 'oh my god I don’t know why I did that, I feel so bad.'"
Many commenters on TikTok were shocked to find out this can be a sign of ADHD. One jokes, "Omg, yes, at a store the cashier was talking to me and she was French. She's like 'Oh are you French too? No, I'm not lol. I'm very east coast Canada."
And some people just embrace it and make it work for them. "I mirror their words or phrase! I’m 30. I realized I start calling everyone sweetie cause my manager does & I work at coffee shop."