As a photographer, I have to be honest.  I’m not a big fan of the formal exit at the end of the night.  Why?  Well, unless you are doing a sparkler exit, nothing else really photographs well.  It’s late, it’s dark, everyone is tipsy and sweaty from dancing all night.  It’s just not flattering for pretty much everyone involved – and it’s also not a moment that I feel you need to pay a professional photographer to capture.  Your money – and photographer’s talent – is definitely better spent earlier in the day.  The creative styled detail photos, portraits, and documentary story-telling images that are taken before the ceremony, during the ceremony, and at the beginning of the reception are what truly matter.  Those are the photos you will print, frame, and display on the walls of your new home.  They are the images you’ll use in your wedding album design.  Think about it – do you really need 3-4 hours of dancing photos?  I’m thinking no.  Keeping your photographer until the very end of the night just for one or two exit photos is silly, in my opinion, and luckily, there is a better option!

The mock exit.

Oh how I LOVE the mock exit!  So what exactly is a mock exit?  Basically, we’ll stage your exit photos earlier in the evening solely for photos.  We’ll have your bridal party, immediate family and/or any other close friends that you want to participate sneak away from the reception for 5-10 minutes to stage this moment.  We don’t make a big announcement, we don’t interrupt the flow of the evening – we’ve already communicated the plans to your bridal party, family + friends who will be participating and we just sneak away for a few minutes.  You guys will go through the tunnel of sparklers for photos, then return to the dance floor.  Easy peasy.  Now, you have the grand exit photos you really wanted but you don’t have to pay your photographer to stay until the very end of the night!  You can definitely still do a grand exit at the end of the night with all of your guests if you want, but the professional photos have already been taken and the pressure is off!

But what if we can’t do a sparkler exit at our venue?

If you can’t do sparklers due to venue restrictions, I highly recommend doing a daylight exit instead.  What is a daylight exit?  It’s when you have your guests do something fun as you walk back down the aisle as husband + wife right after the ceremony.  Whether you ask them to throw confetti, glitter, rose petals, lavender, wave ribbon wands, or blow bubbles – a daylight exit is so much fun and it will photograph so much better than anything at night!

I hope this post helps and gives future brides some new ideas to consider!  After photographing hundreds of weddings, I can speak from experience when it comes to beautiful exit photos.  Sparklers are really the only thing that work when it’s dark outside, daylight exits are AMAZING, and mock exits are just SO practical – and a great way to save money with your photographer on the wedding day.