Oh that beautiful confetti shot!
It’s THAT moment. You are officially married.
So it makes perfect sense that your guests throw a freaking party at you!
With it’s origins dating well back to the Middle Ages when they threw sweets and grains, I’d say that the ritual is a part of human psyche. I mean, what’s not to love about pretty stuff flying through the air?
But let’s talk about confetti options and alternatives and how you can MIX IT UP. Here are some confetti options I’ve photographed and then I experiment with other ideas.
Colourful tissue paper confetti
The rainbow of colourful paper can barely be beaten. I suppose that’s because it’s designed to work. It floats, it flies, it’s soft as it lands and it makes one heck of a pretty picture.
I’ve seen it in various sizes, large and mini and I particularly like the ‘gourmet’ options at Simply Sweet Soirees. The Party People also have a basic range from small confetti boxes to a cheap n cheerful 1kg tissue paper confetti bags and ticker tape style rectangles.
Of course you can go get a hole punch and make your own colourscheme, like if you have a LOT of time.
When I photographed a wedding in the Hunter Valley I was told that confetti was banned because of the risk to birds eating the paper. I hadn’t heard that, but I can imagine birds going in to eat all that pretty colourful stuff with toxic dye. So if possible you should sweep it up or wash it away. There’s also a product called eco confetti.
But I thought it would be fun to look at some other ideas!
Rose Petals
Or any flowers! The rose petal throw is the common choice but the options are endless for flower colour and variety. Compared to paper, flowers can be a little more clumpy and there tends to be less to go around. But on the plus side it’s as organic as you get.
HOT TIP: Smaller petals are better. They float in the air more and block less of the faces.
Rice
And remember rice? It reminds me of many a good 80s movie. Italian, greek, oh mamma mia. But you know I’ve heard it’s just a little painful if thrown too hard. hehe. Still it’s like nice rain.
Metallic Confetti
Then there’s glittery metallic gorgeousness which is about as far from eco as you can get. I think the birds are less likely to try and eat it but it ain’t going anywhere as it’s made from plastic. So either sweep it up or leave it for city folk to ponder. hmmm…
Popcorn
Here’s another gorgeous idea! Popcorn confetti. I was just in sweet little heaven when I saw these cones of sugar coated popped corn. It makes a pretty picture too.
Coconut
And how about getting with the Paleos and use shredded coconut? I love the chunky nature of this and the bonus is no risk of staining anything. Not to mention you can have a munch if you have any spare.
Flags
Another off the chart concept.. no confetti!
I’ve seen ribbons on sticks with bells and a few people use flags. I think it’s cute but lower impact on the ‘walk out’ photo.
Pompoms
Oh and then there’s pompoms. Alright again not eco but c’mon, it’s pompoms!! You can more easily collect them (sweep them up). And how cute are the colourful balls in newspaper or book page cones. brilliant.
Right, so that’s all the cool options I have worked with and can vouch for (as I have examples).
But I wanted to explore some other confetti ideas and to do that, I had to do some selfies… excuse my dorkarama faces – I actually felt far too happy throwing pretty stuff in the air that I had to force myself to not smile SO much for fear of looking extra dorky.
Here are my confetti experiments!
SOUP MIX CONFETTI
Lentils for the win! Hello vegetarians…
ROSEMARY CONFETTI
FRUIT LOOPS CONFETTI
RIBBONS CONFETTI
so much dork.
took it down a notch on the facials
HUNDREDS AND THOUSANDS CONFETTI
winner winner!! It’s cheap, it’s cute, it’s colourful, it dissolves in water. It’s probably going to stain your dress if it mixes with perspiration… but that’s what gets my vote!
CONFETTI AFTERMATH
You can definitely combine things, within reason to get a mix of colour, size and shape in your confetti photographs. I’d love to hear what has worked for you or what you are inspired to do!
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