Planning / 3 min readThe Union in Frame journal
Confetti, sparklers and send-offs: safe, allowed and worth photographing
Words by Union in Frame
Yes, you can have sparklers at a UK wedding, but only where the venue allows them, and plenty do not. Confetti usually comes with conditions too. Here is how to plan a send-off that is allowed, safe and worth photographing, whatever time your day ends.
Ask the venue before you buy anything
Confetti and sparklers are the venue's decision: it is their land, their building and their insurance. Venues that allow confetti usually ask for dried petals or biodegradable paper, and many keep it to one spot outdoors. Churches and register offices have their own rules, so ask the ceremony venue and the reception venue separately.
Sparklers are refused more often than couples expect. Thatch, marquees, dry grass and nearby animals can all rule them out. Get the answer in writing and pass it on to whoever is buying, so nothing has to stay in the car.
Choose confetti that venues actually allow
Dried petals, freeze-dried petals and biodegradable paper are what most venues mean by yes. Avoid anything metallic, foil or plastic, and check that a pack labelled biodegradable is not glossy or glittered. Larger, lighter pieces hang in the air longer, which helps the photographs.
Give every guest a generous handful and ask your coordinator or a loud friend to arrange people in two lines along the path you will walk. A count of three sends it all up together. Ask guests to throw high rather than at faces, and walk slowly.
British summer sunsets push sparklers very late
Sparklers need dusk or darkness to show up in photographs. Around midsummer the sun sets after nine across the UK and the sky stays light until ten or later, so a summer sparkler exit can land after your photographer has finished and older guests have gone home.
Check the sunset time for your date, then work backwards. From October to early March it is dark by early evening, which is far easier. In high summer, either extend your coverage for a late moment, enjoy the sparklers without professional pictures, or choose a daytime send-off instead.
Run a sparkler line, not a tunnel
Use sparklers outdoors only, in open space. Buy long sparklers, not short party ones; they burn long enough for everyone to be lit and for you to walk the line. Give several helpers lighters so it happens quickly.
Stand guests in two straight lines with a wide gap between, holding sparklers out at arm's length rather than overhead in a tunnel. Sparks fall, and nobody wants them on hair or a veil. Put a bucket of sand at the end for spent sparklers, and keep lit ones away from under-fives and anyone unsteady on their feet.
Daytime send-offs when a late exit will not work
If the venue says no, or sunset is too late, you can still have a send-off. A confetti moment during drinks, with everyone gathered, often photographs better than a rushed one at the ceremony door. Ribbon wands and bubbles work outdoors in daylight and leave nothing to sweep up.
A daytime send-off also puts grandparents and children in the pictures rather than in a taxi, and it is early enough to appear in same-day content. If you still want an ending, a last dance with everyone around you works without fire or fuss.
Want advice for your own date and venue? Tell us what you're planning
