Fabulous Wedding Send-offs {New Braunfels Wedding Photography}

When I was a child the old tradition of sending off a bride and groom at the end of their wedding reception was rice. I remember getting the rice bags and throwing it and having a great time of it. It was supposed to represent a new beginning with a wish for good luck and good crops. Then the rumor about what that rice can do to birds who eat it got out and pretty soon bird seed became the norm for sending off a bride and groom. Although, before writing this blog, I Googled it and it turns out that the whole "rice making birds explode" rumor may be just that -- a rumor. Birds eat wild rice from fields all the time, and there have not been any big bird explosion epidemics that we're aware of. It turns out that, in reality, the trend away from rice throwing is most likely traced to massive lawsuits against venues brought on by guests who slipped on the rice and hurt themselves. In response, venues prohibited the throwing of rice and often, they've prohibited the throwing of birdseed as well. In fact, many of them say, just don't throw anything please.

I'm reminded of the wedding I witnessed years ago where the bride and groom thought it would be fun to have Mardi Gras beads tossed at them. They weren't laughing when they slipped on the beads and got themselves on America's Funniest Home Videos. Or maybe they were laughing. They didn't win the big one though.

I've seen a few brides choose flower petals to send off and those seem innocent enough -- although not for the one who has to come through and pick them all up. Venues frown upon you leaving those things behind.

Right now the most popular trend is bubbles. Bridal supply stores are making out like bandits selling little plastic bottles of bubbles.

The bubbles seem safe on the surface. They tend to make the dance floor a bit slippery when little children get ahold of them and blow to their hearts content, often spilling the slippery stuff all over. I have yet to see anyone slip and fall, however. But I have seen jokester groomsmen pour the bottles of the soapy stuff all over the head of the departing groom.

Many brides are opting for send-offs that don't involve throwing anything. Sometimes the guests will receive a noise-maker of some sort -- horns, bells, spinning things -- and send the couple away with enough noise to wake the neighborhood. I've yet to hear of any noise-related injuries from this technique.

Another popular send off technique that I'd like to touch on and preach against at this time is the sparkler. A lot of my brides have chosen this beautiful send off technique. And it is beautiful. And most of the time, the send off goes off without a hitch. But I predict this will soon be a forbidden send off for many venues, soon to go the way of the rice.

I've seen a bride get a hole burned in dress thanks to a sparkler. I've seen children burn their fingers on sparklers -- one of them a quite nasty burn. And now I've seen the gift table caught on fire thanks to sparklers. Fortunately, the fire didn't spread beyond the gift table and only a few gifts were lost, but the potential for disaster was really high.

Sparklers can be lovely, but put together with large groups of people, small children, and often large consumption of alcohol and accidents can happen. An alternative to the sparkler that's just as lovely and not nearly so dangerous is glow sticks.

They come in a variety of colors, they last for hours, children love them, nobody slips on them and they are pretty inexpensive.

Whatever you decide to send you off on your wedding day, make it special and make it safe. And call me to record all the details of it!

Lisa On Location Photography