Timing of Ribbon Wands

Knottie0ebdedc3152d0bd9

Thanks to Pinterest, I saw and loved pictures of the bride and groom exiting with brightly colored ribbons being waved as they walked by. 

My family helped in the making of 150 ribbons wands with little bells on the top. 

My wedding is in 2 weeks and I am concerned about the timing of when to utilize the ribbon wands. 

If the usher hands them out with the programs, they will be waved during the entire ceremony by the children and ADD adult guests. But if we hand them out afterwards, it will most likely take too long.

Any ideas on when to use the ribbon wands now that we have them?

MRDCle

Knottie0ebdedc3152d0bd9 said:

Thanks to Pinterest, I saw and loved pictures of the bride and groom exiting with brightly colored ribbons being waved as they walked by. 

My family helped in the making of 150 ribbons wands with little bells on the top. 

My wedding is in 2 weeks and I am concerned about the timing of when to utilize the ribbon wands. 

If the usher hands them out with the programs, they will be waved during the entire ceremony by the children and ADD adult guests. But if we hand them out afterwards, it will most likely take too long.

Any ideas on when to use the ribbon wands now that we have them?

A friend had ribbon wands last summer - they were on each seat before the ceremony.  We were all able to restrain ourselves till the ceremony was over.  If you're really worried that people will spend the whole ceremony waving them around, I would have them in baskets to grab on the way out, and then you can exit while they wave them for the photo op. 

CMGragain

Knottie0ebdedc3152d0bd9 said:

Thanks to Pinterest, I saw and loved pictures of the bride and groom exiting with brightly colored ribbons being waved as they walked by. 

My family helped in the making of 150 ribbons wands with little bells on the top. 

My wedding is in 2 weeks and I am concerned about the timing of when to utilize the ribbon wands. 

If the usher hands them out with the programs, they will be waved during the entire ceremony by the children and ADD adult guests. But if we hand them out afterwards, it will most likely take too long.

Any ideas on when to use the ribbon wands now that we have them?

I think that waving ribbon wands with bells on them during the ceremony will be distracting, and I would find it somewhat disrespectful of the wedding ceremony.  I would do this after the ceremony as your exit, just like the old (no longer environmentally correct) custom of throwing rice.

Your wedding ceremony is the focus of the event.  People should be quiet and respectful as you are being married to each other.  Afterwards, celebrate with the wands.

My daughter had people blow bubbles as she and her new husband exited the ceremony.  The bubbles were in bowls so that guests could easily pick one up and use it.  It didn't take any extra time.

What do you mean by ADD adult guests?  My son has severe attention deficit disorder.  This activity would not be something that calmed him, and he would be insulted to be grouped with children at a wedding.

STARMOON44

I don’t think it will take much time for guests to grab one of these as they walk out of the ceremony. 

lovesclimbing

I don't think it's that hard to pass out after. Either in a basket as you exit, or have someone hand them out. For our exit, we had bubbles and rice, and I think my sisters (BMs) helped hand them out real quick. I'm honestly not sure how that happened, actually!

ei34

I had big baskets of bird seed at the doors of the church that guests grabbed on their way out, my sister had little bubbles at the doors of the church...most weddings that have something just have them in baskets for guests to grab.  No one has to hand them out (ushers also don’t have to hand out programs on the way in...guests can figure it out).

knottie69fc6038b39dc651

Generally, a ceremony is going to go by in a flash, so there isn’t a lot of time to pass out ribbon wands to guests post-ceremony.

MairePoppy

STARMOON44 said:

I don’t think it will take much time for guests to grab one of these as they walk out of the ceremony. 

Initially I thought this is the simple solution. But how would it work?

Usually, the bride and groom exit the ceremony first, followed by the wedding party, immediate family and the guests. The B&G and family members form a reception line to greet the guests as they exit. Or they skip the reception line and go directly for  photos. The only way to get a ribbon wand send off is to have the guests pick up the wands when entering the ceremony venue or have them waiting on the seats.

I attended an outdoor wedding where bubbles were used. They were handed out by the gm right before the ceremony. There were a few guests who blew bubbles during the ceremony, but it was NBD. Most of the guests knew to blow bubbles at the end. I thing the ribbon wands would be the same - but I'd leave the bells out, just in case.

How did people get married before pinterest?

CMGragain

This bride wants to have children waving wands with bells DURING THE CEREMONY?????  I think Pinterest has some really bad ideas.

pegasuskat

I went to a wedding with the wands last year. The bride and groom did exit first, but as we left the church we were given the wands and and asked to line the steps coming out, we waved them as they got into their car to go to the reception location. This couple had done their pictures before and left with 5ish minutes of us lining up, please don't do this if it would require your guests to wait a long time.

mollybarker11

CMGragain said:

This bride wants to have children waving wands with bells DURING THE CEREMONY?????  I think Pinterest has some really bad ideas.

No, she wants them waved as she and her FI exit the ceremony, but is worried that children (and adults with ADHD?!) would cause a ruckus by waving them during the ceremony if they’re provided in advance.

OP, I echo @MairePoppy’s suggestion: Leave them out ahead of time and just nix the bells. You will be so wrapped up in the ceremony I promise you won’t notice any premature wand-waving if it does occur!