My friend and fabulous wedding & event planner,
Lisa G. McMillan, owner of Exquisite Events & Consulting
and I have collaborated on many events and love to share our expertise with brides regarding tips, trends and ideas to help them create the weddings they envisioned. Today we joined brains for ideas on the topic, “Reception Send-Offs”. Please take a minute to read our take on alternatives to make your grand exit memorable.
Every party has to end and a wedding's final goodbye offers the most dramatic of parting notes. Couples regularly leave to a shower of bubbles, rose petals, bird seed, lavender, or even more exciting, sparklers. This tradition of a grand exit is a fun climax to your wedding reception, but should be as uniquely yours as any other aspect you plan.
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| photography by Shutter Shack |
First of all, you must somehow depart the reception at some point. While it's certainly ok for you to slip out the back without anyone noticing, it will be very disappointing for your guests, some of whom have likely spent a great deal of time and money on your wedding and would like to have the pleasure of hugging you goodbye. Other guests (like your mom) want to kiss you one final time on the cheek and finalize the farewell in her heart to her baby who is now a married adult. You also might want to take the time to call out one final goodbye and thank you to all who have supported you thus far on your journey of life as an individual and now as a couple. If people are at your wedding, they're likely very important to you and should be shown the respect and love that you feel for them.
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| Photography by Shutter Shack |
How to make this exit comfortable for you? Remember that there are no absolute rules of society about how one must leave. There may be a few practical rules and considerations (my colleague Lisa McMillan of Exquisite Events and Consulting covers these today on her blog), but there is nothing that you absolutely must do to make the goodbye official. If you're just going upstairs to your room from the ballroom, no need to make people stand outside blowing bubbles while you exit one door of the venue to run in the next. You may exit from your ballroom, waving after your last dance a la Sound of Music. If you are not in the mood to be pelted with small objects, consider having your guests wave white handkerchiefs as you walk toward your car. If fireworks make you nervous, what about the more fun, and way more child-friendly glow sticks? OK, so it's a crazy idea, but still, the exit is about you and your personality just as much as any other part of the wedding.
In closing, have fun with your exit. Think outside the box. Ask your planner (or me :) for unique ideas that would be fitting with your overall vision and design concept. Ask your photographer what will be best captured on film. Consider how best to stage the exit so guests are safe and everyone can catch a glimpse of you.
For more great ideas and tips for your final exit, please visit my friend, Lisa McMillan's blog!
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| photography by Shutter Shack |
2 comments:
As a mother with a son's wedding in a few weeks, I say definitely kiss your mom good-bye.
I love hearing all the ideas even when I don't have a wedding on the horizon.
Waving hankies is a great alternative.
I always look forward to reading your blog. Thanks for posting.
And, if you grew up in Louisiana and loved going to Mardi Gras while growing up (hey! that describes me!), you can have your guests throw Mardi Gras beads. Just beware...those beads are still being found in our car 2 years later!
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