Throwing rice over the newly married couple is the traditional way to close out a wedding ceremony, but many have brought up valid concerns about the potential harm the rice poses to birds and other wildlife. Other couples look for alternatives to rice simply because they want to do something a little different and more specific to their own personal styles.
Fortunately, there are plenty of ways you can close out your wedding ceremony in style. You can find an option that best reflects your unique personality and that aligns with your ideals about environmental preservation. Here are a few great ideas:
Sparklers
Sparklers for weddings are a popular alternative to rice. You can use them during the day or night to add some shine to your celebration, but they are especially beautiful at night, when the lights create a beautiful tunnel around the couple. Figuring out where to buy sparklers can often be crucial when choosing to use sparklers.
Specific wedding sparklers are available that have longer stems so that guests can create a high arch over the couple as they exit the venue. Some wedding sparklers also come in special shapes, such as hearts, and some premium sparklers are available that have a bigger sparkler or that shine longer. Finding reliable companies can be rather difficult, but most that specialize in wholesale sparklers tend to offer the best sparklers and price.
Bubbles
Bubbles create a virtual rain shower around the couple that looks whimsical and beautiful in photographs. Plus, everyone loves to blow bubbles, and guests will feel like kids again when they are not only given permission to, but actually encouraged to, blow bubbles without abandon.
Bubbles won’t stain or mark wedding clothing, so you don’t have to worry about any fashion mishaps. Bubbles also dissipate within seconds, so you don’t have to worry about litter or about harming the environment.
Cap Guns
Who says you have to have something visual for your send off? Cap guns may not send a shower of anything over your head, but they will create a crescendo of loud popping that will create a celebratory atmosphere. Your guests will be hootin’ and hollerin’ as they fire away (safely, of course) and cheer for you as you leave the venue.
Cap guns are the perfect choice for a wedding with a rustic or adventurous theme, but they can be incorporated into just about any style of celebration.
Leaf Confetti
Confetti is a popular choice for the wedding sendoff, but it creates a huge litter problem. No one wants to have to pick that up, and most venues will have rules about not leaving behind trash like that. You can get the same look without the litter problem with natural leaf confetti.
There are two ways you can get leaf confetti: You can put dried, autumn leaves in bags for guests to throw, or you can use a hole puncher to cut out smaller bits of confetti from healthy leaves. (Don’t use a hole puncher on dried leaves or you’ll end up with a crumbly mess.) You won’t have to worry about cleanup since the leaves will biodegrade on their own. If you create a big, leafy mess, the venue might ask you to blow them off the path or rake them away, but that will be an easy cleanup.
Streamers
Streamers are a classic celebratory choice like confetti, and they will create a beautiful look for your photos. You can buy poppers that shoot the streamers out into the air, or you can roll up streamers and ask guests to hold one end and throw them to open them. The choice is just a matter of budget and functionality.
You’ll definitely have to leave someone in charge of cleaning up the streamers after everything is over, but it’s a lot easier to pick up big strips of paper than tiny bits of it.
Beach Balls
Beach weddings are still popular for brides and grooms from all over. Beach balls make the perfect send off for this venue. Ask guests to throw beach balls into the air and bat them back and forth over the couple’s head as they walk down the aisle together.
If you prefer, you can choose mini-beach balls. Just know that they might be a little harder to toss back and forth.
Sky Lanterns
Sky lanterns have recently become increasingly popular in the wedding scene as a beautiful and dramatic way to end your wedding night. You can either have your entire wedding guests part take in the sky lanterns or just the newlyweds. Finding sky lanterns for sale are easy and help light up your wedding even more. You will want to make sure you know where to buy sky lanterns online and how to properly use them. Purchasing wish lanterns that are biodegradable tend to be the only sky lanterns wedding venues allow. The pictures with the newlyweds sending sky lanterns often become the best wedding pictures of the entire day!
You have numerous options for your wedding sendoff to ensure you find something that gets the look you want while also making the logistics easy on you. Choosing everything from the sendoff to the favors to the seating cards to reflect your personal style will also create a wedding celebration that truly celebrates who you are as a couple, setting the right tone for your new life together.