A
Ceremony Option That Fills
the Sky with Color
Balloons
require a bit of planning especially in terms of their distribution
to, and release by, your guests. If you do your planning correctly,
you and your guests will be rewarded by a fun and photogenic
conclusion to your wedding ceremony. If you do this wrong you're
in for some serious frustration. Don't get me wrong, I love
balloon releases but they absolutely require thoughtful planning.
 First,
determine how many balloons will be given to each guest. Wedding
day is not the time to discover this! Next, probably on the
day before your wedding ceremony, affix the
balloons to an appropriate object(s). If there is no object
to secure the balloons to, do the following: run two lengths
of cord (such as clothes line) the length of the aisle but
on the outside of the seats on both sides and stake down each
end. In other words one cord running just outside the right
side seats
and
one
just
outside the left side seats. Both cords are running parallel
to the main aisle. Do not affix the balloons to the backs of
your guests seats as no one will see your ceremony.
At
the ceremony's conclusion, just after your first kiss, the
guests are invited, row by row, to exit their seats, step over
to the awaiting balloons and be handed a stand of balloons
by an usher. Several of these ushers are on both sides working
the distribution of your balloons. Groomsmen and bridesmaids
from your bridal party can assist this. All have been given
scissors to quickly snip each stand of balloons and hand them
to a guest as he or she walks by. The balloons are distributed
quickly and efficiently. A slow distribution will hurt the
tempo of your ceremony.
The
guests now line the center
aisle, side by side, holding their balloons. Photographers
and videographers move to the end of the aisle so as to record
the bride and groom moving toward them. The music begins playing,
and as the couple walks by each guest, that guest releases
his or her balloons and begins applauding. The applause grows
as the balloons fill the sky above the advancing bride and
groom. Half way down the aisle, the bride and groom kiss, as
guests applaud and the video camera pans slowly skyward to
capture the ascending balloons now dotting the sky with color.
Sound
impressive? It is, but it's criminal to release balloons without
video cameras present. Still photography does not do this justice.
So rent, borrow or steal a video camera for your ceremony.
You'll be glad you did!
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