The wedding day send off is always one of our favorite times of the day! Not because the party is over, but because we love the photos we take of couples during these moments! This is when all of your friends and family members tell you goodbye and send you out into the world (hopefully on to a fabulous honeymoon location) as husband and wife for the first time ever! Since this is such an important moment, and these photos are frequently some of the most fun and beautiful images from the day, we have a few tips about planning your exit!

First off, we recommend finding out if your venue has any rules about what you’re allowed to do. This could potentially change your plans!

We also recommend thinking about what time you’ll be leaving, because some things look better during daylight, while others look best at night. For example, bubbles or petals are beautiful if you’re exiting during the day, while sparklers are beautiful at night. (If you are having an outdoor ceremony and want both, you can always have your guests throw petals as you’re coming down the aisle and then do a sparkler exit when you leave the reception!)

We’re particularly fond of sparklers at night, because we think that the light they create is beautiful! We’re always happy to help you figure out what type of exit would work best and help you decide where your exit will work best based on your venue.

We’re also going to help get your guests arranged during your exit, and we’ll give them (and you) instructions about where to stand (especially if fire is involved) so everyone is safe and the photos are beautiful! This is another time we may add some extra light with off-camera lighting, if your venue is on the darker side (and especially if they have rules against sparklers.) If you are leaving to sparklers or glow sticks, this is one of those times that Thomas may use a flash, and I go without a flash! This is so we ensure that we capture all of the exit, but it gives me an opportunity to nail a fun shot without a flash, which makes sparklers or glow sticks look even better in the photos!

So today’s tip? When choosing how you’ll exit, think about the time of day, check with your venue about any specific rules, don’t hesitate to ask us what we think if you want a little help deciding, and most importantly, rest assured we’re going to capture some super fun shots of you leaving your party!