There is something straight up magical about a sparkler send off to end your wedding day. They’re so fun for the bride and groom, and they are amazing to photograph – a wedding photographer’s dream! As your wedding day comes to an end, it’s always a fun idea to leave in style with a sparkler exit! Taking some memorable photos at the end of the night is a great way to capture the night.

It’s easier than you think to create the perfect sparkler exit. Before you start planning your sparkler exit, check out these helpful tips!

Do Your Research for your sparkler send off

Check the sparkler rules with both your venue and your city/county.

Have a backup plan. It is possible for bad weather or wind/fire advisories to prevent you from sending off your sparklers. Glow sticks are my usual recommendation for a weatherproof backup option!

Purchase the right kind of sparklers for your exit. I recommend sparklers that are 20 inches long, burn for about 2 minutes, and are smokeless in order to get the very best photos. My favorite place to send couples to purchase their sparklers is weddingsparklersoutlet.com

Before hiring them, talk to your photographer and videographer about your planned sparkler exit. You’ll want to make sure you book professionals that have experience with sparkler send-offs, and that you see examples of this type of work!

Get Organized

For all the guests to leave the dance floor, line up, and light their sparklers, plan to end the last dance 15 minutes before your planned exit.

Put a couple people in charge of handing out sparklers to everyone, and directing them where to line up.

Before anyone lights sparklers, make sure you two are ready and waiting to exit. (I’ve seen eager guests start the sparkler lighting too soon, and the sparklers burn out before the wedding couple has even started to walk out!)

Designate 2-3 people with lighters (the longer, BBQ kind) to walk down the lines of guests to start the sparkler lighting. Once they get a few of them going, people can light sparklers with sparklers. They’ll usually light faster off of other sparklers than off of lighters.

Remember to WALK, not run! Enjoy the moment and give your photographer more time to capture photos. And you don’t have to just smile straight at the camera – you can look at each other, at your guests, stop and kiss, wave to the crowd, dance your way through, or do a dip/lift/something fun!

If there’s time and the sparklers are still burning, you can walk back and out again to get more pictures. Enjoy being the center of attention!

Stay Safe

Don’t let anyone hold a handful of lit sparklers – they can explode!

Leave enough space between the two lines of guests for you to walk safely through – we don’t want anyone’s hair catching on fire!

Don’t put sparklers in the hands of anyone who can’t safely hold them (namely small children and those drunk wedding guests who can’t stand up straight).

Have buckets of water and buckets of sand prepared BEFORE starting your exit. Instruct your guests to put the burnt sparklers in the sand buckets when everything is finished. I’ve seen an entire venue destroyed in flames because of careless guests not putting out their sparklers correctly.

Designate someone to do a sweep of the exit area afterwards to be sure no sparklers were left behind and there are no small flames still burning.

And all that’s left to do is to HAVE FUN! Enjoy those last few minutes of your wedding day surrounded by all the people you love!

Love + Light, Nikki

Venue : Club Lake Plantation