Sparkler exit

I plan to do one and I’ve had many friends do it too. My biggest recommendation is to get the actual wedding sparklers rather than regular. They burn longer and have less of a chance of setting anything on fire. My mom is personally worried about it just because of my dress. Everyone I’ve seen do it has had wonderful pictures from it.

We had one. Definitely get longer sparklers and the ones specifically for weddings as they give off less smoke.

Does your venue allow it? A lot don't.

Also, make sure you have a spot wide enough. With the long sparklers, you need more space than you realize.

I'm not a fan...some friends did this, and the bride spent so much time fiddling with her cloak before coming out that someone burned their hand badly and almost all the sparklers had gone out.

I love the pictures, but just make sure that you're not scared of sparklers. Sounds silly, but I had a friend do a sparkler exit and 1/4 of the way through her exit realized how terrified she was and they pretty much ran through the rest of it just to get out of there... did not make for the best exit photos!

I plan to do one, though. I love how they look. As a guest, I've enjoyed them as well!

I’m annoyed as a guest when either 1. The party is stopped for 30 minutes and I have to stand outside in the cold for your fake photo op or 2. I have to stick around at the actual end of the event for your photo op when I just wanna go home.

Nope. I participated in one and never again. Regardless if they're non-smoking or not, I still think they stink. My asthmatic/allergic sister had to walk, to avoid an attack, and ended up 4 blocks away. When she got in the car we had to drive with the windows down. When we got back to our hotel room I had to shower and wash my hair. I left my dress on the balcony overnight and it still stunk. I put my dress in 2 plastic bags, before I put it in my suitcase, then later had to have it dry cleaned.

My main piece of advice is make sure you actually have someone coordinating the sparkler exit. At the end of the night, people are not that coordinated or patient. You will need someone to tell them about the exit, where they should stand, light up the sparklers, wait for you, etc.

My best friend planned to do a glow sticks exit at her wedding but assigned no one to coordinate it. She assumed people would just grab a glow stick and line up. Well, no one knew about the glow sticks, where to line up, etc. So I (a BM) had to run around telling people not to go at the end of the night, handing them glow sticks and telling them where to line up. I don't think the guests minded participating, but had I not taken the initiative to coordinate the exit for her, she would have had maybe 10 people line up, instead of the 100 she had.

Thanks for all the advice! I'll definitely assign one of my BM to supervise/orchestrate this. Yes, I bought the kind for weddings, and the extra long. I guess it depends on how cold it is too

We had one and I thought it was a lot of fun. Our photographer was standing in front of the video the first time so we actually had to do it twice. All of our guests participated and seemed to enjoy celebrating with us.

My DH and I were both on the same page of not wanting this at our wedding. Mainly because of experiences at other weddings. Even though they had the long wedding sparklers things were still delayed and some ended up going out halfway through. Then they had to hand out more and do it again. It was a hassle to get everyone where they needed to be, get the sparklers lit and get the bride and groom away from other people to go through before they went out. The pictures are beautiful but it's kind of a pain. I would just make sure everyone is there and you're ready to walk as soon as they light them.

I don't think the bother and inconvenience to your guests is worth the picture.

If your main goal is a Pinterest-perfect photo op, go for it -- but coordinate it well. If you actually want guests to have a good time at the end of your wedding and not make them do awkward/uncomfortable things in order participate in your P-p photo op, skip it! I've experienced all of the negatives listed above, and as a guest, it seems pretty much like I'm an "extra" in your posed/directed wedding video or photo shoot. It's hard to hold a purse, coat, favor, etc., and a burning sparkler, so after we all pretend you're exiting, we have to go back inside and gather up stuff before we can really leave. Honestly, it seems pretty self-absorbed at the end of what's likely already been a long day. We came to your wedding, we love you, let us all say "good bye" in a natural way and end the party.

Not a fan at all. I was a BM in a wedding 10 years ago and it was the first sparkler exit id ever seen. A bunch of drunk people waving around tiny sticks of fire was dangerous. It got super Smokey and I ended up with a hole burned in my arm and one burned in my dress

Our venue allows us to do it, because we're doing our wedding on a Sunday. They're actually providing it for us, and it's free!

I don't get why people do this. What do you think when you look back at the photo? "Awwww, here's the time I pretended to leave my party". A photo of a fake event is very weird IMO

No , we were actually going to leave . Not fake exit

Since our wedding is NYE, I really wanted a sparkler exit but I doubt any of our guests will want to do this at 2:30 in the morning. Our photographer suggested only having the wedding party for the sparkler pictures. It's easier to coordinate with a smaller group and goes a lot faster.

Personally, we didn’t have one because neither of us really wanted one. UO - we went to a wedding in August that did a fake exit with sparklers and I didn’t mind. It took all of 10-15 minutes, it was fun, they didn’t smell, the bride and groom were ready to go, and it wasn’t a huge inconvenience. Do it!

I planned on doing one but after reading some comments I am considering just getting some family and the bridal party to come out and fake an exit for some awesome pictures. I have heard to make sure you have a lot of lighters and slow burning sparklers that don't give off a lot of smoke.

We're planning on doing one. Our venue will provide the sparklers and I have the venue coordinator handles everything. It's common with their venue so I feel like it'll be fine.

We actually have fireworks that will start once we get through the line so I think people will enjoy it.