Fake Grand Exit?

Hate these as a guest because it is so confusing whether the party is over or not. You will have guests leave at that point because it is considered the official end of the night. Those who don’t leave right away will not be in keep partying mode.

All of the weddings I've been to had ones that were held a couple of hours before the actual end of the reception. the DJ just announced that the couple would be doing a sparkler send off, and that the party would keep going after that was done.

Never had a problem with them because it lets your guests that want to leave early participate in it! Plus, if you have a DOC and/or DJ that will communicate what's going on to your guests, then it works.

I think it would be confusing, just do a real grand exit maybe cut the dancing too one so then all your vendors can leave and do your grand exit then

I personally don’t like the idea of a fake exit for photos sake but you do you, don’t regret not doing it later! I think a sparkler entrance would be cool.

We've participated in a couple of "fake" sparkler exits and found them both confusing and awkward. (One was at a wedding where they announced the reception was over and we were moving outside for the sparkler exit, so we got up and collected my purse, husband's jacket, etc., and then there was another announcement that the DJ was confused and the party was still going on.... It was so confusing. Honestly, we just kept going and left since we were already up and ready to go, skipping the sparkler exit entirely.) However, I think it matters when you actually think your wedding reception will end. In our circle, no one is going to last until 2 am.... Do you see anything that happens after a 10 pm end/exit as more of an after party? With only 50 guests total, do you have a sense of how many might actually stay to party if you do an exit at 10? To me it makes more sense if the wedding reception technically ends with the exit at 10 pm, but guests are welcome to stay on for an after party in the venue. I also like the pp's suggestion to do a sparker entrance, if that works with timing etc.

Maybe you should call it a sparkler "strut off" rather than a "send off" and give all guests a chance to "strut" or dance down the line of sparklers, kind of like a line dance. You and your husband go first, then the guests follow. Could be fun to music


With 50 people, you may lose a lot of the people after the cake cutting, however. Will it be too light out for a sparkler entrance?

I think this is pretty common, especially if you only have the photographer a certain number of hours. I would go for it!

I'm with those that find fake grand exits confusing and often a hassle to participate in, especially when you realize you left the dance floor and gathered up your things to leave, only to just be herded outside for a long series of posed photos, only to be told to go back in a dance some more. It kind of kills the dance party vibe.

Honestly, if you are set on getting pictures with sparklers (or whatever prop), just have your DJ announce a photo opp at time/location, hand out the props, and head out for the photos. This would be a lot less confusing and more straightforward. And anyone who wanted to keep dancing, could just skip the outdoor activity.

People will leave when they are ready/at whatever time they usually head home from a reception. A fake grand exit won't help your guests know when they are "allowed" to leave.

An "exit" usually signifies the couple is leaving, not all the guests. So only do that if/when you and your spouse are leaving for the night. Then its a sparkler send off- guests don't have to leave but it's a chance to wave the couple good bye.


Otherwise if you plan to come back in, just call it a sparkler photo op, cause that's all it really would be in that scenario.

Also just an anecdote, my sister did a sparkler send off and it was incredibly underwhelming lol. Sparklers aren't really that bright in person, it only looks super pretty when the photographers take the long exposure images. I personally think they're one of the pinterest trends that need to go.

It’s not an exit unless you actually leave afterward. So it doesn’t really make sense to round everyone up, pass out sparklers and have them go outside for this whole ordeal… just to have them turn around, go back inside and continue partying with you. Is there a way for sparklers to be part of your grand entrance instead?

I think the downside with a fake exit other than the confusion for people is it really kills the vibe of the party and is quite hard to ramp back up after it's done.

I will say, I think there's an element where, by that point in the evening you won't want to keep doing posed or formal photos since you just want to have a good time, so you might not even miss it.

If you love the look of the photos, why not just round up your bridal party and get shots with them? Or I've seen ones with just the bride and groom holding sparklers, that's quite sweet too:

I attended a wedding recently that had a fake send off. I hated it... only because the dance floor was packed, we were having a BLAST dancing and celebrating. Then the music stopped and we had to go outside and do the send off. It was awkward and confusing and kinda killed the vibe.

Hmm... I've never been to a wedding with a fake send off - but I don't think I'd like the idea of it - I feel like guests would be confused and not know what to do. I feel like you could have your DJ or MC announce the sparkler "event"?

I'm in the "fake grand exits are confusing and make no sense" boat. Sure you can do it, but it might cause people to leave early or loose their "partying" momentum. If I'm dancing and having a good time then need to all of a sudden coordinate myself for a photo (sparkler send offs are not brief and take at least 10+ minutes to coordinate, if not longer, to hand out sparklers, line everyone up, get them lit, get the photo, etc), I might just decide I'm tired at that point and ready to go home or wind down.

I'm not the biggest fan of this idea but I think you could make it cute. Maybe do the exit and have an outfit change. Then have the DJ announce your re-entrance like you just couldn't stay away. It might be a fun surprise to your guests.

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I like the idea of doing it as a grand entrance! I think I just was worried about it being dark enough for the sparklers, so I felt like it had to happen later in the night. Since we aren't having a full cocktail hour, the grand entrance would be pretty shortly after the end of the ceremony with about a 20 minute break in between for us to take some golden hour photos and guests to order drinks and mingle a bit before we come back in. I did look up some other people's wedding photos of sparklers during daylight though, and I think the photos would turn out really cute with the sky being around sunset in the background when we come back in. Then everyone could follow us back inside and we could do our first dance.

View Quoted Comment I prefer the sunset (over darkness) as a backdrop for most things anyway. So I think it will be pretty.

I think it depends.

I worked a wedding where one was done simply because the photographer was only booked until 8pm, and the reception didn't end until 11. This was definitely confusing to guests. Most left after the sparklers because they assumed it was the end of the night, and the couple was very upset.

If you are doing it because you want to give people a chance to leave, then I think that's different.

I don't see how this is different than an after party? People do "exits" and then go to after parties all the time.

My photographer told me when everybody's mingling at the reception, we can sneak off with the coordinator and 1-2 friends and they can make it look like a grand sparkler exit when it's not. They said most of the time, nobody notices a thing and thinks the bride went to the restroom and needed a hand or something while the groom was just somewhere else for a moment.