Wedding Blog
I love the idea of having a grand exit from the church after our ceremony. I have always loved the classic photos of the bride & groom walking through a crowd of their loved ones, with rice or flower petals being thrown in merriment. However, that can get a little messy, and many churches won’t allow anything like this that will need to be cleaned up. I have seen bubbles numerous times, and although a cute idea, I wanted to come up with something a little different that might add some color.
A while back I saw a great idea on my photographers’ blog that I have been wanting to do. Instead of rice or flower petals, why not some pretty ribbons, a la the Olympic gymnasts? Okay, not quite, but it’s the same basic concept. How pretty would this look with teal and chartreuse ribbons to accent our color scheme?
I do have a few concerns, like how much money will this cost me in ribbon? How easy will it be to affix the ribbon to a stick for waving? Will our guests actually do it? And will it end up turning into a big tangly mess of satin ribbon? It seemed to work for the couple in this photo, but it might take a bit more research to make sure that it would actually work.
Has anyone seen this done or done it themselves? How did it work out?
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One of the knotties (a he-knottie in fact!) used lil pom poms…u know, the ones you usually see that have tiny googly eyes, antennae and paper feet that has adhesive so you can stick them anywhere? The happy couple had those soft pom poms thrown at them instead! He just got married at the end of Feb so we haven’t seen pro pics yet…but he said they were so fun and colorful and he was super glad he chose those for his big day!
i tried this myself. i bought wooden dowels from michaels and those little caps you use for metal shelves (to cover the protruding metal pieces) to cap the ribbon to the top of the dowel - hope this makes sense. i definetely think this is a money saver…however, i was not pleased with the results. i think it was the type of ribbon i bought bc it just lay really limp when not touched and when you waved it, you really have to wave it to get it moving. i used both wrapping ribbon (too light) and thicker ribbon (too heavy). by this time, i was too impatient to keep trying so i settled on buying brightly colored hibiscus confetti instead. but good luck to you! if you need any more info, pics etc just let me know.
Oh my, I’m going to embarass myself when I divulge why I know how you might make these: didn’t everyone pretend to be a ribbon twirling gymnast as a child? Hahaha, well I did. You could make these the way I had my mom make mine back in the day.
Buy some thin dowel rods from your local hardware store paint them your desired color with spray paint (white? cream?) and then staple or hot glue (depending on the type of ribbon) the ribbon onto the dowel rod. Then to keep the ribbon from becoming a tangled mess, roll the ribbon around the dowel and tie a small ribbon or rubberband (not as nice, but would work) around it with a little card that says, “Untie me and wave at the bride and groom” or something a bit cuter.
Hope I helped somewhat! Good luck!
I forgot to mention, a good place to buy ribbon in bulk is Paper Mart: http://www.papermart.com/ They have grosgrain and other kinds of ribbon for cheap and in larger quantities.
hhmmm… seems like a lot of effort to me (for one picture). Good luck to you, though!
Try googleing baton ribbons?
Ribbon wands….honestly, I think while they may look pretty in that one picture, they strike me as kinda childish and silly. I especially cannot imagine a man wanting to wave one of them or wanting to have one waved at him–I’m picturing a really confused expression on most of the men I know if they’re given a dowel with a ribbon attached and told to wave it. I had a lot of fun with the ribbon baton I got for my eleventh birthday, and I think I’d prefer to keep those memories as memories, rather than the present.
I’m sorry if that’s harsh, but I don’t think it’s a good idea.
If you think about it, it is just as silly for a man or anyone else to throw petals, blow bubbles, ring bells, wave a sparkler etc. They are all silly looking but people still do it and there will be plenty of people who will wave ribbon wands as well.
The type of people who are too “cool” to wave a stick for 30 seconds are fuddy duddy stick in the muds. I mean really what’s the big deal?
However, I totally wouldn’t go through the effort of making anything…just buy them. 50 for $56 isn’t that bad http://www.favorideas.com/shopping/prod/BR890.htm
I haven’t done this, or thought about it, but someone above said the ribbon was kind of limp and didn’t move well. Maybe you could use strips of tissue paper instead? It catches the wind/air better and maybe would stay aloft longer? Just a thought.
Hmmmm - BaghdadBride - look at your link a little closer - down near the bottom it says assembly required and you will need a hot glue gun. So I think for $56 you get 50 ribbons and 50 sticks, not 50 ribbons on 50 sticks. I was excited for a minute there…
Mrs. Snow Pea posted about this:
http://www.weddingbee.com/2007/03/27/ribbon-wands/
I agree with the commenter on that post that they remind me of a fairy tale. If your dress is a big princess ballgown and there are other fairy tale or Disney elements I think it would work.
Jessica you read my mind! I remember Mrs. Snow Pea’s post about this last March. She mentioned that she was going to try to make them, but I don’t remember if there was ever a follow-up post.
Personally, I think they would be fun and could look great in photos. WIth regards to men waving a ribbon wand– do you think men really feel comfortable doing the majority of these things, like blowing bubbles or throwing flower petals? You could always try to make a few and see how it goes– even take a picture with people waving them to see if you like the overall effect.
Some friends of ours ended up using streamers for their church exit. They were actually kind of like those popper things, that you squeeze and the streamers fly out. Those were fun as well. Good luck!!
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=10038097
I came across this the other day… They’re a little pricey but if you only order enough for the people lining your walk, it might be ok. Maybe 30 or so? They can even be custom made in your colors.
Thanks for your opinions and resources, everyone! This is one of those ideas that I might only try to tackle if I find myself with extra time over the next six months, but I still think it’s cute nonetheless 
Jessica, I don’t know how I ever missed that post, from a fellow Philly Bee, nonetheless! Thanks so much for the link.
i love love love the ribbon idea - it’s going to make such GREAT pictures. 
can’t wait to see the pics miss cupcake, it’s going to be marvelous
We used ribbon wands mixed with flags. I made the wands myself using bags of ribbon remnants from Joann Fabrics. I think 20 yards of ribbon only cost $2 or $3 dollars. I glued them to kebab skewers and filed down the pointy part. It was quick and I managed to do 100 for less than $20. The kids loved them.
[...] from (L to R): Sparkler Send Off; Bubble Bye-Bye; Ribbon Parade; Bird Seed Toss; Romatic Rose Petals; Colorful [...]
[...] 6:00 cocktail hour. We all began to head out of the church; many months before I had dreams of a ribbon wand send-off, but in the few weeks before the wedding, Mr. Cupcake and I decided to scrap the idea. I was a tiny [...]
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Mrs. Cupcake, Philadelphia
Age and Occupation: 27, Graphic Designer
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 29, Construction Project Manager
Engagement Date: February 10, 2007
Wedding Date: September, 2008
Blogging Since: December 7, 2007
Venue: The Desmond Hotel in Malvern, PA
About Me: Mr. Cupcake and I hit it off at a Halloween party and immediately began a long-distance relationship. After two years, he moved to my neck of the woods, and a year and a half after that, he proposed at the “place we fell in love.” I am a true perfectionist who enjoys designing and creating more work for myself, so wedding planning is my perfect outlet. Mr. Cupcake and I are both old souls, and we hope to weave that aspect of our personalities into our wedding day.
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