Planning your grand exit can be stressful if you don’t even know where or when to start. This traditionally was called a “sendoff” and it happened at the end of the night when the couple was leaving in their car from the wedding. In modern days, it usually is a “staged exit” that can happen any time of the day and is mostly for the sake of the photo op. The grand exit will almost always take place outdoors. Many people opt to do their grand exit after their ceremony, after open dancing gets started, or still at the end of the night. You can invite your wedding party and close family to partake in this, or you can have your DJ announce that you are doing a photo op outside for your guests to participate. If you want to have your photographers there for it, it’s important to schedule it before their time is up.

***Make sure with any of these options that you check with your venues if they are allowed, because they may have rules due to cleanup or fire hazards.***

You can also combine multiple options for your grand exit as well! I would say to stick with less than 3 of them because otherwise it might look a little chaotic, but definitely feel free to mix and match multiple items for some extra variety.

Now that you’ve had the logistics figured out, here are some ideas on what special things you may use for your grand exit and some information to know with each of them:

Sparklers

Many venues no longer allow this option, so it is important to check with your venue if this will be okay. If you can do it, it is a beautiful option to utilize in the evening. You also will want to make sure you have a way for your guests to dispose of them that won’t create a fire hazard.

2. Bubbles

This option is generally accepted by your venues because there is little to no cleanup. To get the most out of the photos, I would highly recommend looking into getting a few bubble guns instead of the small containers. Your guests will feel better because they will be able to cheer instead of blowing bubbles.

3. Potpourri

You’ll have to check with the venue about the cleanup, but this is a lovely option! Many people will put small bits of potpourri inside of paper cones and have people shake the cones for the potpourri to fall. I would opt for some colorful potpourri, and you can even try and have it match your wedding colors for a cool aesthetic!

4. Glow sticks

This is a nighttime option that most venues would accept, but you’ll have to probably do a little prep work to make less mess. I would recommend to take the glow sticks out of the wrappers before the wedding so that you won’t have scraps all over the place or in the photos. Make sure to mention it to your photographer to see if they can do some longer exposure shots of it as well!

5. Ribbons

Most venues shouldn’t have a problem with this grand exit idea because there again is little to no cleanup. It is definitely a cute option to have those ribbons attached to a stick for people to wave, and it adds a little flair as well!

6. Confetti

Many venues will not love this option due to the amount of cleanup, but it’s definitely worth looking into! You can get oversized confetti and put them in bags or even look into confetti cannons as an option. When looking for options, “biodegradable” usually doesn’t work the way you would hope and it will still leave a mess for months or years to come. Try looking for “water soluble” options that you can spray with a hose.

7. Butterflies

This is definitely a unique option that you don’t see that often, but many people aren’t sure about the ethics behind having the butterflies like this. Totally up to you on if this an option that you would like to pursue though! This may also be something you want to bring up with your venues.

8. Flower petals

Flower petals are a true classic for a grand exit. You can choose real or fake petals and any color flower under the rainbow! This requires some cleanup, but it doesn’t take as much effort since the petals are larger than confetti and much more “sweepable”. You can supply your guests with small bags of petals that you pre-pack and it should be a pretty easy process.

9. Cold sparklers

This is truly one of my favorite options that seems to be gaining some traction! This option also is possible indoors, venue permitting. The bright sparkler effect is incredible and your guests don’t need to do anything besides stand and cheer. It is definitely worth doing at nighttime so that you can really see the effects.

10. Classic “hand tunnel”

This last one is if you don’t really like any of these options but still would love the photo op. You can have your guests stand next to each other in two lines and just raise their hands up and over your heads! It’s the quickest option for setting people up and getting the photo ready, and of course has the least amount of cleanup too.

If you would like more help to plan your wedding, you can reach out to us at our contact page. We can definitely find a perfect idea for your wedding grand exit!