Sparkler send off

I have participated in it at a wedding. They got us all outside with the sparklers. When they were ready several people had lighters to light them and then for those that didn't they lit there's from other people's sparklers.

I work at a venue and hate them. We had a MOB grab the leftovers and pass them out AFTER the wedding was over. These people wouldn't leave and they were professional NHL players and were all drunk and roudy. They were lighting them and throwing them in the bushes. I had to put out fires. I hate sparklers. But for some reason, we still allow them. Eye roll.

We had a sparkler exit at my wedding. The sparklers we bought were 20" long and stayed lit about 1 1/2 minutes. We got them online at

http://www.superiorcelebrations.com. The sparklers were in a milk bucket on a table by the door along with a basket of personalized matches. When it was time to do the send-off, the remaining guests grabbed a sparkler and made two lines outside beginning at the door. It took a few minutes to make sure everybody had a sparkler and knew how they'd light it. Some used the matches provided. Some used a sparkler already lit from someone standing next to them. I heard there was a near mishap when one guy was told to light a fistful of sparklers all at once to save time and he did it. The sparklers created a big hissing fireball aimed right for his face but he quickly dropped the sparklers to the cement and a couple of guys stomped them out. No one got hurt but it was a close call. I'm not sure how they managed to get everyone's sparklers lit at the same time but they did and then me and DH left the building walked between the two lines of guests holding sparklers. We were able to stop a couple of times for a kiss and a dance. It looks so cool on film and was a special way to end a wonderful day.

My friend went to a wedding last week and gave me some pointers if I end up doing sparklers.

1. Get the big long ones! Everyone's sparkler was out by the time the bride and groom came out

2. Get enough matches/lighters for at least half of the people

We got 36" ones and ordered like 50 matchbooks to go with so they can be lit. I'm sure they are a pain for the venues but hey..It looks good in pictures and I've always wanted to do it - as in..before it was popular.

We used these: https://www.sparklersonline.com/wedding-sparklers-20-inch/

We got 4 BBQ lighters and 2 galvanized buckets...I'm not sure how many people we had left at the end...maybe 50. The DJ announced the send off and H and I took a few minutes to gather our things. Between our DOC and the photogs, they got everyone ready and told us when to come out. It was maybe 10 minutes of getting everyone ready. Here are two non-pro pics.

Great pics, Lara! I'm also planning on buying sparklers through sparklersonline.com, same size as yours (20 inch) since our wedding is small. I'm thinking of providing matches for our guests to use to light the sparklers because I really like some of the personalized matchbooks that I've seen online. According to the site, the 20" sparklers burn for two minutes, which should be enough time for everyone to get one or two lit.

We used weddingdaysparklers.com they were the cheapest for the 36" ones which burn long enough for pictures. They had heart shaped ones as well which I honestly couldn't tell the difference in photos so not really worth the extra cost! Our venue coordinator requested that we have a few of the long reach lighters since they light easier/safer. Since the sparklers were long and the lighters lit quickly, people were able to light off each other. You should also have a sand bucket or something for people to put them in when they burn out.

Definitely put someone in charge of coordinating it with the photographer so it isn't a big cluster!

Sparkler exits are gorgeous. But please make sure to use wedding sparklers as they're longer. You do not want 3rd degree burns on your guests or photographer. Please remember safety if you do a sparkler exit.

http://www.buzzfeed.com/rachelwmiller/these-graphic-photos-show-how-dangerous-sparklers-at-wedding

We used the #36 from http://www.eventswholesale.com/wedding-sparklers/ and they burned forever! Do most people prefer #36 or #20?