Leaving Reception Outfit and send off ideas?

Outside of movies set in the 50s, I have never seen a bride change into a going away outfit after attending countless weddings. Typically the bride leaves the reception in her wedding dress, again wearing it as long as possible because you won't get to any other time.

A sparkler exit would not work and is ok to skip. Many couples don't have any send off production because they stay to the end. Nothing wrong with that.

Glow sticks would be fun in the gloomy weather and don't have the restrictions of petals and birdseed.

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True, I'm thinking as we'll be driving almost an hour it wouldn't make sense to bring the dress with me as I can't fly with it. I may just need to find another cute white dress that I can fit into my bag!

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In that case, change out of the wedding dress into something else. Doesn't have to be white unless that's part of your regular wardrobe. If you're going straight to the airport, that outfit will not be white by the time you reach your destination.

I think that sounds super fun!! If you want a cute dress for the end of your reception lulus has some great options. if you want a cute outfit for after your reception etsy has some great "bridal" or "honeymooning" shirts/ jackets and stuff.

Changing makes perfect sense in those circumstances - as you say, you’re not going to fly with it to Costa Rica, and so the only alternative would be to have someone come pick it up from your Boston hotel the day after. I’ve seen a fair few couples change into ‘going away’ outfits in similar situations, and I think all have done it pretty much as you describe.

I think what you wear is entirely up to you in lots of ways, although I’d lean towards something that is ‘an outfit’ rather than, say, jeans and a sweater.. It’ll need to be something that it’s practical for you to travel with. If you’re going to be taking a ‘dressy’ option with you to Costa Rica maybe you could wear that plus something like a jacket or wrap (I’m guessing Boston won’t be quiet as warm 😀)

In N NH and VT I have seen quite a few brides do this before driving the 2.5- 4 hour trip to any of the nearest "local" airports Boston, Manchester, Albany, Montreal. It is a matter of geography to get to a hotel or motel near a major airport, stay the night, and fly out the next day, so you do not get up a beastly hour in the morning and face a rush hour drive to the airport adding 2 hours to your drive next morning. ... It was also very common when I lived 2 hours plus east of Seattle, for much the same reason, everyone was in the great spaces between major metro airports , wanting to leave their wedding stuff behind.
They are romantic when the couple really is starting their honeymoon when they leave, in traveling clothes. I hate sparkler and other fancy endings that are staged, with the couple coming in for another hour.
Get us up, we are not sincerely saying goodbye because you are not really leaving, so it is a 2 hour early end to the reception when you do a false exit. But a bride and groom gone for 15 minutes to change, then saying goodbye and truly on their way, we happily stay for.

We weren't driving that far, but I couldn't get in H's car with my dress on lol - so I changed into a cute little sundress (July in Alabama) and left in that.

It seems like a great idea to me - you definitely don't want to have to figure out what to do with it in Boston (and riding 45 minutes in a car may be uncomfortable). I would find something reasonably comfortable, because you won't want any constrictions after being in your dress, but otherwise, I would just pick a cute outfit - if you're wearing cute wedding shoes, then maybe something to show them off.

While I'm personally not planning on changing outfits, I'm pretty sure many women in my family have done this! I remember my FMIL mentioning her getaway outfit when we were looking through their wedding album a while ago. I think it would be super cute to change into something tropical-inspired (whether it's a print or bright colors) to go along with your honeymoon destination As for an indoors send off, maybe you could do something like pass out glow sticks, have the lights turned down, and do a send off from the dance floor?