How to have confetti at your wedding

So when we meet with our couples, one of the questions we’ll always ask is “are you having confetti?”. For the most part the answer is yes. It is steeped in tradition, and a really fun part of the day, where the newly married couple are introduced to their guests, often immediately after the ceremony.

Unlike many other aspects of a wedding, the confetti run seems super simple and often very little planning goes into it. However, after capturing a fair few confetti runs, we know that there a few hints and tricks to make it epic!

There is a seemingly invisible process that occurs at weddings, which allows the day to flow and events to move on. Something which pushes the day forwards.  Sometimes that’s a coordinator telling folk they can follow them for drinks and food. Sometimes that’s an order of service which gives the guests a timetable to follow or a member of the bridal party steering things in the right direction. Whatever the process is, it’s worth considering including the confetti run, to ensure that everyone is where they should be at the right time.

This isn’t meant to serve as a guide to tell you that you have to think about every little detail, or to over complicate things. Some of the best weddings we’ve captured are folk taking it easy, letting the day unfold as it does and enjoying the process. All we are saying is that sometimes it helps to have an idea of what is happening where and when.

OK so why does this apply to the confetti? In our experience, confetti can work brilliantly with a bit of planning and thought. At least so it’s best utilised. Left to their own devices, your guests might just grab some confetti and rather unceremoniously dump it onto you. Which is absolutely fine, if that’s what you intended. But if you are after those stellar confetti shots, you may not want half of your confetti missing, half your guests missing, or your photographer busy capturing something else.

Confetti makes for epic photos

It’s one of our favourite moments of any wedding. All the guests, everyone ready to celebrate and cheer for the new couple. The shower of colour and the shear joy (or terror) on our couples faces as folk take aim. As a photographer, what’s not to love!?!

A step by step guide to the best wedding confetti throw

Buy more than you think you need.

Seriously, buy more. I don’t actually know what the recommended amount is, but whatever it is, you want more. Got 70 guests? Buy for 100! Hell, buy enough for 140. Put it this way, if you don’t have enough, some folk go empty handed and they miss out. Buy too much and the worst that’ll happen is that you’ll be covered, which will look awesome! So buy plenty and allow your guests a good handful!

Timing is everything

OK so when do you throw the confetti? How do you organise everyone? Feel free to use this example as a guide and utilise your photographer for the organisation. For 99% of our weddings, this is how I would do it.

1. You just got married! You haven’t had a chance to chat yet. So use this opportunity to take yourselves off for a few minutes, to soak it all in and let your guests get ready for the confetti.  Weddings go fast and it’s possible that you won’t spend the whole day together, so it’s important to take time where you can.
2. All your guests leave the ceremony and with the help of your bridal party (if you have them), we’ll hand out the confetti and line them up.
3. You walk back through your guests, through the confetti spray and all your guests cheer.
4. Done! Simple.

An alternative confetti throw

Sometimes what I just mentioned just doesn’t work with the venue or the wedding. Either down to time restraints or space or weather or the layout of the venue. And that’s fine. What I would suggest with situations like this is to hang fire. Later on in the day, we can regroup with some of your guests, surround you both in a circle, and throw! Literally all the confetti, all at once. The only thing to consider about this is that you may not want to make a big deal about it. Sometimes this works better with only a handful of guests, so it’s worth thinking about how you guys want it to work. As soon as your guests see lots of folk heading in a particular direction, they’ll start following. And sometimes this results in everyone wanting to be involved, which can take a long time to organise.

Final points

Take only photos, leave only footprints. This well known saying has become a bit of a mantra whenever I take our daughters on adventure walks (what normal people call hiking). It’s an ethos that we think is really important, both in our personal lives and in our business. The confetti run is literally an event which involves throwing stuff on the floor, so it’s worth considering, and there are so many environmentally friendly options now.

I don’t actually remember when I last saw plastic confetti in use, but it’s certainly still out there. Very few venues have a zero confetti policy, but many of them insist on a biodegradable confetti being used. You can get beautiful dried flower petals now and paper discs also work fantastically. We are huge fans of having baskets of confetti rather than  individual bags, not only is it better for the environment, but it gives your guests a big handful rather than a small sprinkle.

Have a look at some example confetti runs and get an idea of the size of confetti you want. Large and small confetti give different but equally stunning effects. There are some good examples in this blog, but you will also find confetti runs in the full galleries on our website.

And finally, on rare occasions where there is a zero confetti policy, biodegradable or not, some couples may choose to use bubbles instead. Bubbles are a great alternative, but very flighty and you need a lot of them to create a big impact. Including a few bubble guns amongst your guests can deliver a huge amount of bubbles fast.

So there you have it. It’s simple really but with a little bit of forethought you could have the best possible results.