Wedding Confetti
What is it?
Wedding confetti generally refers to the small bits of colored paper that are thrown at and over the happy couple after their ceremony has taken place.
As weddings have become bigger and bigger business, the variety of confetti that you can get has increased accordingly. It ranges in the size, shape and material used.
Wedding confetti ideas include designs featuring bride and groom shapes in white, silver and gold, hearts in any number of colors, words ranging from ‘Just Married’ to ‘Congrats’, pretty doves and embossed bells.
You can even order personalized wedding confetti to add a unique touch to your wedding. Or why not mix and match some standard colors to better portray your wedding theme – perhaps bright orange and pink for a beach wedding?
As well as tissue paper, some confetti is made from PVC, meaning it can be fluorescent or metallic. Also for a more elegant variety frozen and air dried flower petals are sometimes used. The tissue variety is usually biodegradable, made from recycled materials and is fire resistant. The flower petals also make for beautiful and biodegradable wedding confetti.
Biodegradable wedding confetti
If you will be having a lot of confetti thrown outdoors at your wedding, it is best to find biodegradable wedding confetti. This is usually made from a material that dissolves in water so can be washed away easily. This will make the manager of your wedding venue much happier and will ensure that any animal life in the area does not try and eat the leftovers. Some venues will not in fact allow anything other than eco friendly wedding confetti so it is worth checking. These days most tissue paper confetti is biodegradable and is available in many colors, shapes and sizes or you can opt for the more elegant flower petal confetti. You can also combine flower buds such as lavender in with your paper confetti to add a subtle scent when thrown.
Personalized wedding confetti
If you want to add a personal touch to your wedding, why not consider personalized wedding confetti. Bags of 1000+ pieces of confetti can be purchased for around $25. As part of the customization you get to choose your confetti’s shape, message (including font), and color. Just make sure you order it early as it will take a few weeks to arrive.
Packaging options
You can fill cones, envelopes or bags with confetti. If you then arrange them in a large basket at the church with a little note telling the guests when to throw them, everyone will know what they are doing, and your photographer will be able to capture the moment.
How is it thrown?
Confetti can be thrown by hand by your guests from little bags or cones or you can also buy wedding confetti poppers that allow one shot of confetti to be sent 35-40′. Poppers are usually spring loaded and can be used indoors or outside. They do not use fireworks or explosives to shoot the confetti so there are no loud bangs.
For a larger scale affair you can hire confetti cannons or blowers. Confetti cannons add a bit of excitement by delivering a lot of confetti very quickly so are best used at high impact moments such as the first dance or first kiss. Confetti blowers on the other hand shower the happy couple with a continual stream of confetti.
How long it will stay in the air is a consideration when deciding on the material of your confetti. Perhaps you want your photographs to show the confetti mid air rather than all over the floor. If so, you should choose the tissue paper variety as this is the lightest and will float rather than fall down.
What quantities can it be bought in?
You will find confetti available by the scoop, by the cup, in half ounces, or bulk bags (typically found in pounds). You want to plan on having 1-3 heaped tablespoons for each guest and half ounce packets would be perfect to decorate 1-2 tables. Prices range from $0.89 for a scoop to $2.95 for half an ounce, although bulk bags will be more cost effective. You should consider buying confetti in bulk if you want to decorate the walkway with it or use it to make confetti wedding favors, invitations or thank you cards. It is not usually bought this way for guests to use unless you plan on decanting it into cones, envelopes or bags to give out to guests. Wedding confetti poppers are also available by the box – a box of 12 costing around $12.
Want to make your own?
If you are on a budget, cheap wedding confetti can be made easily at home. You can either use scissors to ‘shred’ paper into thin strips or shapes or you could use your home or office paper shredder. Another option is to use the ‘punched’ circles that are collected by your hole punch.
Integrate confetti with your wedding decorations
Wedding confetti for tables can be a cheap material to use as part of your wedding decorations. It is very relevant being so associated with weddings so can make the ideal accompaniment to wedding centerpieces or other areas. It will help soften the look of any room and will add a touch of color in a subtle but elegant way.
Because you can buy confetti in any shape, size and color that you want, you are sure to be able to match it with your wedding centerpieces. By using wedding table confetti you will soften and beautify any display. Just be careful with the type of material used in the confetti:
Tissue paper looks delicate but will blow away if outside or near a window and will spoil if it gets wet.
Metallic paper looks eye catching but will again blow away if near a wind.
Plastic confetti with a metallic or pearlescent sheen is waterproof and more weighty so is often a good option.
Diamond confetti is perhaps the most elegant with its sparkly, shimmery appearance, so it is no wonder it is becoming more and more popular. Don’t worry about the price, the ‘diamonds’ are actually acrylic so they cost around $7 for 2000. They add extra interest being three dimensional and come in sizes from a third of a carat upwards; they are even shaped like real diamonds.
There is a wide range of colors available and they are easily scattered around a table display. They can also be used within displays rather than as a surrounding effect. Why not use them in the bottom of glass vases to anchor flower stems, or just fill different sized and shaped glass containers and arrange on mirrored tiles? Or how about sticking them onto tree branches which are arranged in tall vases for an exciting but relatively inexpensive fall or winter wedding centerpiece?
They can also be used to tie all of the decorations together, by using them as part of the wedding centerpieces as well as on the cake or presents tables. Why not continue the theme even further by adorning your wedding stationery and wedding favors with these little gems?
You should now be ready to make some decisions regarding your wedding confetti. Deciding on which material to use and how much to buy is crucial. You should also consider how to use your confetti as part of your overall decorating theme for a cheap accent piece that will tie everything together.
