Tips for planning a perfect sparkler wedding exit

• 

• 

We’ve all seen the beautiful photos, or maybe you’ve been to a wedding and participated in a sparkler exit. Now you’re wanting that magical moment for your own wedding night. Having photographed plenty of sparkler send-offs, here are my top tips for planning your sparkler exit. And getting the dreamy sparkler wedding photos from it!

Venue guidelines: First things first, check with your venue that they allow sparklers on their grounds and if it’s limited to designated spaces.

The best sparklers: When buying sparklers, get the long ones! 20″ – 36″ work best and burn for roughly 2-4 minutes. Stay away from the short 10″ ones and more importantly, any with paper as part of it. Those get really smoky and cloud up the photos. Long sparklers burn much better and give plenty of time to enjoy the moment! I like to have my couples go a few times – walk through the tunnel, dance through it, kiss in the center. This helps get a good variety of shots!

Location: Your photographer should help you with a location, but try to stay away from any ambient or harsh lighting. Streetlights, visible venue lighting, or outdoor spotlights tend to come across funky in the photos and can diminish the shimmer of the sparklers. The darker, the better. The sparklers will light you up more than enough so don’t worry about feeling like you’re off in total darkness.

Timing: It’s called an exit but it doesn’t necessarily have to be when you’re leaving. Most times your photographer does not stay until the very end, and neither do a majority of your guests! One way to incorporate a sparkler send off earlier in the evening is to give a thank you speech to your guests for coming. They will surely appreciate the sentiment, and as you hand the mic back, your DJ can direct everyone outside for a sparkler moment. Then back to celebrating and dancing the night away!

Last little note, make sure to have a clean up plan in place! Don’t leave your trash behind. Often times the coordinator will have buckets with water for guests to put their burned sparkler into as they head back into the venue.

I hope this helps as you plan for your wedding sparkler exit!