Wedding Tips & Tricks: Planning A Grand Exit

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.

A Year in the Life of a Photograhper

One of the biggest blessings in my life is being able to do what I love for a living. While there are definitely areas of my job that I would rather not do, I LOVE being a photographer. Being able to celebrate life’s major milestones over and over again is indeed a blessing.

Being a photographer in Ontario has it’s own challenges. We have less impressive landscapes than other areas of Ontario but after travelling quite a bit this year, I’ve realized that without the distraction of mountains and canyons, oceans, and the focus of photography can actually be on people. I can focus on capturing those moments, creating those moments that you’ll remember and that you will be the focus of those memories.

Plus we get all the best seasons, especially those glorious fall colours! In spring we can go to the Guelph Arboretum for cherry blossoms in your engagement or family session. In the summer we can head to Burlington beach for some super fun beach sessions, In the fall, everywhere you look has the most beautiful reds and oranges and yellow. Then those winter sessions which are few and far between are so magical! We are so luck to have the array of different seasons here and being able to capture everything from engagements to weddings to maternity sessions, and family sessions, and solo sessions. I have the best job in the world.

And I could not do what I love without the support of all of the local wedding vendors in the areas. This year every wedding was incredible and so special shout outs go to Cellar52, Cambridge Mill, and Langdon Hall, thank you for having such incredible venues in the Kitchener-Waterloo Region!

Thank you to all my couples, families, and entrepreneurs for supporting my business. For trusting me with capturing your life and you as you are, thank you!

Jenny + Will // An Elora Mill Fall Wedding

Jenny and Will got married at the Elora Mill in October! It was a beautiful fall wedding, made even more beautiful by the love this couple shares. The way they support each other in their lives has been so beautiful to watch.

Their wedding was a long time coming, as most weddings in the last two years have had at least one postponement! Jenny and Will pushed through though and we even did a little mini shoot on their original wedding day, I’ll have to do a little post about that too because it was so special.

One of my favourite things about photographing Jenny and Will’s wedding was seeing how they made it their own. They tailored the day around them as a couple. Since they are both a bit shy, they did the standard vows during the ceremony and read their written, personal vows to each other when it was just the two of them (and me!). I loved this because it made it so much more special for them. They wanted to write their own vows to each other but only wanted to share them with each other, so that’s what they did.

This is what I love most about the way the wedding industry is changing, along with wedding photography. There are no rules. I lied, there’s one rule, you have to get married. That’s it. That’s the only rule when it comes to wedding planning, you just have to get married. Everything else is completely up to you. You and your partner should feel like it is a celebration of your special love story. No two relationships are the same, so no two weddings should be the same!

Jenny and Will had a beautiful day that showcased their love for each other in their own way and I couldn’t be more happy and excited for them for the start of their marriage!