To Exit Or Not To Exit

As you’re planning for your wedding day, you’ll quickly realize (if you haven’t already!) that there are a lot of little details you need to think about! Don’t panic! That’s what we’re here for! We are in the middle of a series talking about tips for your wedding day timeline. We will be approaching this from a photography perspective (since that’s what we know), but these tips always work for our couples and we want to pass them on! We know every wedding is different, and we also acknowledge that everything doesn’t always go according to plan. But creating a timeline with your photographer will not only make your day go by more smoothly, but it creates less stress for you on the wedding day (yay!), and ensures those little details all come together! Catch up on the series here!

Part 1: Traditional Versus First Look
Part 2: Location. Location. Location.
Part 3: Planning For The Light
Part 4: Leaving Time For Details
Part 5: Adding Buffer Time
Part 6: To Exit Or Not To Exit

We’ve gone through a bunch of timeline details, and today we’ve reached the end of the series! Hurray! Your day is guaranteed to go much more smoothly now that you have this valuable information. The one last question you need to ask yourself about your day is whether or not to have a designated exit time. Our couples are quite split on this topic, so we’ll break it down for you to help make your “to exit or not to exit” decision easier when planning for your day!

To Exit

If you’ve always dreamed about your guests waving you off as you and your love drive away in that 1950s Rolls-Royce or in that horse-drawn carriage, this may be the option for you! We have to admit that it’s incredibly romantic for the two of you to have such an enthusiastic send off to the start of your forever with your love by your side. And how special is it to have the support of your friends and family who stick through to the very end to send you off?! We love it!

So this sounds amazing, right? It does, but there are a few drawbacks you might want to consider with planning an exit. The main drawback is that a designated exit ends your party! Sometimes, the venue has a sound ordinance or cutoff time, and planning your exit to accommodate that might end up cutting the party short. When there’s an exit, it signals to everyone that it’s time to go home. Which, they may or may not be ready for! Another drawback to having a set exit is that a majority of your guests may have already left before the end! We’ve seen this all too often when there’s 25 people left for the sparkler exit instead of the 100 or so the couple anticipated. It all depends on your guest list about which issue you’ll run into, but either way, this is something to consider if you’ll decide to go through with an official exit to end your evening.

Not to Exit

About half of our couples just don’t want the party to end! Their family and friends have driven (or flown) hundreds of miles to support them on their big day, and the couple just doesn’t want to leave! One of the big benefits of not having an exit is that you have that extra time to hang out with your friends and family. When there are so many activities scheduled throughout the reception, it’s possible that you’ll miss chatting with your college friends or your nursing buddy. Not having the pressure of leaving at the end of the night gives you as a couple the freedom to celebrate as much as you want!

The only drawback we can think of for not having a designated exit is that you don’t have that official sendoff that we mentioned earlier. Some of our couples can take it or leave it. They don’t see themselves being sent off in that sparkler exit. And that’s ok!

We will mention one other option that have seen before. Every once in a while one of our couples will attempt a fake exit. In other words, they will do the sendoff so that they get the photos of it, but then they will come back and continue to party. Here’s the problem. When your guests send you off, the party is over. It’s very difficult to get everyone back inside to keep talking or dancing or whatever your reception entails. That has been our experience, but if you want to try it, that’s ultimately up to you!

When it comes to your day, talk through the options and lay out your priorities, and then exit! Or not!