Wedding Tips & Tricks: Planning A Grand Exit

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Welcome to Episode One of my new series: Wedding Tips & Tricks from Your Photographer

Today’s topic is the Grand Exit!

I’m going to let you in on a little secret. When it comes to grand exit's at weddings, you are usually doing your “grand exit” about an hour into your reception so that your photographer can capture the big send off. Very rarely do you hire your photo and video team to stay until you actually leave your reception. Instead, we do it part way through and then we say goodbye for the night. Those photos typically end up at the end of your gallery even if they weren’t the last photos taken. As a wedding photographer, your gallery is a story and so sometimes we reorder photos to make the flow nicer.

So the grand exit you see in photos is usually a staged exit, or just a fun activity to do with your guests during the reception. If you have hired a photographer to stay until the very end of your wedding or you’re having a shorter reception then you can make your grand exit a little more exciting. Literally the sky is the limit. Seriously… leave in a hot air balloon! How cool would that be? The true grand exit is where you are not coming back to your wedding. It’s a send off!

Here are some ideas for the grand exit for the truly extra people, that is not a Sparkler Send Off:

  1. Change into some matching bathing suits and slip and slide outta there (do not recommend for Canadian winter weddings)

  2. If there is any body of water… jump into it! (this is on my bucket list)

  3. Have your guests spray you with water guns

  4. Rent a vintage car

  5. Run through a foam tunnel, it looks like clouds!

  6. Change into matching wedding sweatpants and use any of these ideas

Now, it takes a very special type of couple, guest willingness, (and the right weather) to do some of those crazier ideas. If you want something a little gentler, and less out there there are a lot of options that also don’t involve sparklers! The next list is ideas that can be used as a true Grand Exit or for something I am now calling the Photographer Send Off! So instead of faking your own exit, send your photo and video team off in style. This is a great way to get people hyped up and ready to party. You can do it outside in the parking lot for some of the ideas or inside on the dance floor. Both look amazing in photos and as a bonus, makes your photo and video team feel special!

Here are some ideas for you Photographer Send Off:

  1. Smoke bombs

  2. Hand held fireworks or flares

  3. Environmentally friendly confetti poppers/canon

  4. Champagne spray

  5. Streamer toss

  6. Ribbon wands

  7. Glowsticks

  8. And my personal favourite:

  9. Bubbles

If you are one of my couples, I bring my own bubble machine (soon to be two bubble machines) to use at any point on your wedding day, whether that be for your Photographer Send Off, the wedding processional or recessional, or just during couples/wedding party photos! Bubbles are a great eco friendly, easily organized way to add a lot of fun to your photos.

No matter what you decide to do, whether it’s sparklers or another activity, make sure it fits your personalities! This is always going to be my biggest piece of advice for wedding planning: plan your wedding around YOU! What do you and your fiancé like to do? Are you outgoing? Adventurous? Shy? Silly? Don’t do something just because it’s expected of you. You don’t even have to do a grand exit or send off if you don’t want to! And if you want to jump in a pool fully clothed, go for it! Your wedding is a day of celebration of your relationship and the life you want to build together.

It’s also important to note that you ask permission from your venue for any of these ideas! They might have rules or would like to anticipate any mess clean up!

Happy wedding planning!

Love,

Your adventure loving, risk taking photographer who will always always vote yes for using any kind of water on your wedding day.