Post-wedding departure

Personally, I would find it a bit weird to stage a send off where the bride and groom don't actually leave. I understand your conundrum though. Could you perhaps have something else with the sparklers set up earlier in the evening? Are you committed to the sparklers? I've seen some neat "send off" alternatives with different items and at different times that still make for amazing pictures.

A lot of the send-offs are actually staged because most people don't have their photographer there the whole night. IMO, this is a big con for having send-off pictures because it does tend to signal the end of the party to your guests and they may leave before you want them too. As far as cleaning up after the wedding, I highly recommend you hire a day of coordinator to do this for you.

This is a great question. We're using either m FH's classic 1964 Lincoln Continental or my 1968 Mustang hot rod as our getaway car, but since I'm DIYing a lot of things and I need to make sure the venue gets cleaned up, I can't really just bail. I haven't decided to hire a DOC - I was thinking maybe just someone to clean? Possibly even the part-time janitor who cleans my company's buildings? He does a great job here, and all I'd need him (or whomever) to do is toss the garbage and box up the decorations. That seems like it would be a waste of a professional coordinator's time (and my money).

I'm open to ya'lls experiences tho. Definitely following this thread.

I'd definitely hire a DOC if you can afford it! You can have her put out all the DIY things the day of, keep the schedule on track during the event, and do the clean up at the end of the night. There's a LOT more to do than you're probably envisioning.

It sounds like you can't do a send-off because you're not leaving before the event is officially over. That's fine, do other pics instead. Do you even have the photographer until the end of the night? Most photographers are done working at the start of the reception after all the spotlight stuff is done. For a 6pm wedding they may work 3-9pm, for example, even though the wedding isn't over until 11pm.

Did any of you ever depart with friends/wedding party? I know traditionally the bride and groom are supposed to leave alone as husband and wife, but did any of you just ride away in a limo with friends?