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Wedding Tips & Advice

Some Alternative Send-Off Ideas

Just why do people throw rice or confetti at the bride and groom on their departure? It’s a traditional send-off supposed to signify fertility and prosperity. It’s an ancient custom that followed that of throwing wheat berries at the bridal pair, but both symbolise the wish that the bride is fruitful.

You’re welcome to blindly follow tradition, whether or not you believe the environmental red flag that throwing rice at weddings is bad for the health of the birds that then eat it. But there are other really fun ways in which you can send-off the bridal couple:

  • Bird seed – whilst this may not be everyone’s cup of tea, you could use the thread of the idea and opt instead for puffed rice, a mixture of seeds like sunflower, linseed and pumpkin seed, or even popcorn
  • Leaves and petals – this can look absolutely fantastic, and unlike the bird and other seeds, the petals of fresh flowers do not fall to the ground too fast, so provide a perfect moment for wedding photos. Another take on this is dried herbs, like lavender and rosemary. Provide a petal and herb filled cone for guests to throw
  • Bubbles – this one is fun and your guests get to blow a load of light filled, floaty bubbles your way
  • Helium filled balloons – this is a very playful idea, but you won’t like it if you’re even vaguely environmentally-friendly. There are biodegradable versions in the form of asian lanterns made from bamboo and rice paper in which are little fuel cells that light up – gorgeous for at night
  • Sparklers – again a lovely idea, particularly at night!
  • Doves – this is bordering on the dramatic, but picture the air filled with doves…
  • Streamers and noise makers – the type you’d usually find at a children’s party or on New Year’s Eve – great fun all round

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