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Ideas of What to Throw at a Wedding

Bride and groom running from the church
When the bride and groom are leaving the wedding ceremony it is customary to throw something in celebration as they run out. Rice, confetti and birdseed are common.  Our readers shared their favorite ideas and these are our favorites.
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  1. Flower Petals
  2. Birdseed
  3. Ring Bells
  4. Throw Sunflower Seeds
  5. Butterfly Release
  6. Throw Air-Popped Popcorn
  7. Throw Stuffed Animals for Kids Before Throwing the Bouquet
  8. Release Balloons
  9. Use Sparklers For Evening Wedding
  10. Bubbles
  11. Ring Bells
  12. Wedding Wands
  13. Throw Lavender
  14. Ecofetti

6 Solutions

This page contains the following solutions.

July 22, 2005

Flower petals being thrown at a wedding.This tip is from my daughter's recent wedding. She wanted something for everyone to throw that would be different than the usual. We looked into several things and found that assorted flower petals from Flowerama were cheap and beautiful.

Not only did they look great as they were thrown into the air, but they filled the air with the most wonderful scent! These flower petals are the "rejects" from the flower shops but they are more than adequate for this. They were cheaper than rice bags, bird seed bags, bubbles, and bells.

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By Robin

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July 6, 2009

When you're making flowers using paper sculpting or paper quilling and find that you have extra petals, hold onto them and use them as confetti. They're much easier to sweep up.

By Angela L. from Sault Ste Marie, ON

 

Questions

Here are the questions asked by community members. Read on to see the answers provided by the ThriftyFun community.

July 7, 2013

Instead of making up rice bags with the netting and tying a ribbon around it, I thought maybe we could fill coin envelopes with rice. I plan to put some kind of a decorative sticker on the outside with the bride and groom's name and date or something like that. My question is does anyone know what size coin envelope I should use to allow enough room for the rice. I've seen a couple of sizes


2 1/4 x 3 1/2 or 2 1/2 x 4 1/4 and where can I buy the white envelopes? I find the brown, but the only way I find white is to buy 50 at a time and I need about 350. I wanted to buy a box of about 500 which the brown ones come in. The 50 count of white are way more expensive.
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By Brenda Wilson

Answers

July 8, 20130 found this helpful
Best Answer

There are plenty of people selling the white coin envelopes on eBay you can try there. A simple google search using the criteria white coin envelopes wholesale also brought up a bunch. May I also suggest using bird seed over rice. The uncooked rice thrown at many weddings are ingested by birds, and it kills them as it expands in their tummies. It would be a shame to mar you friend's wedding with a score of dead birds.

 
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April 29, 2005

My daughter is doing a very "untraditional" thing at her reception. Instead of throwing rice or blowing bubbles she wants to throw mini marshmallows, I think it will be cute but the marshmallows I have bought are starting to get sticky. Any suggestions as to how to "unstick" them so we can put them in tulle bags? I have thought of freezing them, but haven't tried it yet for fear they will become sticky once they thaw.



Thanks,
Amy

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April 28, 2006

I need some ideas for something for the guests to throw at our wedding as we leave the church. I do not want to use bubbles, rice, or petals, something original and inexpensive. There will be about 300 guests and our colors are black and white with red accents. Thanks again, we have only 4 weeks to the wedding!



Melissa from Topeka

Answers

June 1, 20150 found this helpful

Money always work ;>) as does bird seed, flower seeds, or anything else birds won't choke over and is environmentally friendly... congratulations!

 
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March 30, 2011

I need some ideas for something for the guests to throw at our wedding as we leave the church. I do not want to use bubbles, rice, or petals, something original and inexpensive. There will be about 300 guests and our colors are black and white with red accents. Thanks again, we have only 4 weeks to the wedding!

Melissa from Topeka

Answers:

Throw Birdseed

What about birdseed? I only pay about $9 for a 50 pound bag @ Tractor Supply. You could put it in black and white tulle and tie a red bow around the top. And you won't have to clean it up because the birds will do it for you!

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(04/28/2006)

By Dana Sipe

Throw Petals

My daughter used flower petals. We got them from a floral shop. They sell the "rejects" by the bag and they sell them cheap! I think we paid less than $15 for enough for a wedding of approximately 500 people. Not a bad deal and the pictures look great! The flower petals floating through the air were beautiful! (04/28/2006)

By Robin

Birdseed

Bird seed works great. You can get it pretty cheap from Wal-Mart. (04/28/2006)

By none

Ring Bells

Instead of throwing something, why not have them help "ring in" your new life together with their very own party favor bells? They can be bought in bulk and tied with ribbons in your colors. You can type up an explanation of what to do with them and tie it on. They can be handed out on the way out of the church. And you don't have to deal with those tulle and macadamia nut bags everyone tosses anyways. (04/28/2006)

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By Guest

Throw Sunflower Seeds

I did the bells, but if you want to "throw" how about sunflower seeds? Remember this will all get in your hair/dress/etc and be a mess! (04/29/2006)

By Kelly

Throw Confetti

I like Ree's idea with the confetti. You could get the crinkled confetti and that would be cute. It would float on the breeze, its safe because its paper and is not gonna hurt a bird, and comes in colors.

Have you seen the confetti soap? It comes in shapes such as hearts, but its paper thin and dissolves real fast. That also would be cute and since it dissolves there would be little chance of it harming a bird. And its cheap. (04/30/2006)

By kattankerous

Butterfly Release

A co-worker of mine is getting married and she is going to order butterflies online for the guests to release. (04/30/2006)

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By Lynn

Throw Air-Popped Popcorn

Simple...Popcorn! Pop a bunch of it & people can even munch on it if they catch some. It's white, it's clean, the birds will eat what's on the ground. The white matches your wedding party just great...not messy, will easily fall out of your hair. Any that remains on...you can eat it together:)
Good luck! Patsy

(b)Editor's Note: (/b) Good idea Patsy. Make sure the popcorn is air popped so you don't get grease spots on the bride and grooms clothing. (05/01/2006)

By Patsy

Throw Stuffed Animals for Kids Before Throwing the Bouquet

This doesn't have to do with throwing outside the church but at the reception.
When it comes time to throw the garter and bouquet, all the single men and women line up and sometimes there are kids there that can get hurt by some over zealous people. What I saw at the last wedding I attended was they called up the kids. First the girls, then the boys. They threw little bears dressed up like a bride and groom. The kids really enjoyed this. (05/01/2006)

By LEONA LABINE

Something for Guests to Throw at Our Wedding

We used Bird Seed, It works great and is great for the birds after everyone left the Church. (05/01/2006)

By Sandi

Confetti is Hard to Cleanup

Many churches would rather you DON"T use confetti. Yes, it is just paper and doesn't hurt anything, but it's also a pain to clean up, especially if it gets wet. Those little bits stick to everything. Do the groundskeeper (often a volunteer) a favor, and use something else (05/01/2006)

By Mary

Bride Had an Allergic Reaction to Birdseed

Keep allergies in mind. I am arranging a wedding for my daughter, and thought about the birdseed, but, a friend told me when her sister got married, they threw bird seed. (her sister is allergic to birds, and broke out terribly with the bird seed), what a way to spend your honeymoon! (05/02/2006)

By Glinda

Throw Candy Sprinkles

I just went to a wedding and they gave "sprinkles" to everyone to throw. They went to "Sams club" and found ones that matched their color scheme. It was pretty cool. The little kids probably ate more than they threw. (05/02/2006)

By Kathy

Birdseed

What I used at my wedding was wild bird feed. I put the seed in colored netting and tied with a ribbon, passed those out to the guest. It is environmentally safe and the birds and squirrels love it. It is highly recommended not to use rice, potpourri and such as the birds and squirrels will eat it anyway and they are unable to digest it. The rice will swell in the digestive track and will cause severe illness and most likely death to the birds and squirrels. (05/02/2006)

By Cindylou Carney-Houston, Texas

Birdseed

Birdseed! I've seen this wrapped in netting just like rice. Your not hurting the birds, but feeding them! (05/02/2006)

By Wendy Skains

Release Balloons

How about red balloons? Let your guests release them into the air. Ask your guests to make a wish as they release the balloons. (05/03/2006)

By Colleen

Use Sparklers For Evening Wedding

My sister had everyone stand outside with lit sparklers as her and her husband took off. It was really cool. (05/04/2006)

By jmt

Sequins or Glitter

Red black and silver sequins and/or glitter might work! (05/12/2006)

By jerry martin

Ring Bells

Have people ring little bells and you could also have them as a wedding favor for your guests. (05/22/2006)

By Jane

Throw Heather

How about heather, the purple plan? its pretty and is all natural and will be easy to clean up. I'm thinking about using it for my up coming wedding. (04/14/2007)

By Jessie

Ecofetti Too Light?

I'm having the same dilemma. Theres Eco-fetti, but the sample I got sees too light to get any height. I'm thinking streamer throws? (06/12/2007)

By danicali

Birdseed

At my dd's wedding this summer, we used birdseed, but nobody wanted to make up 250-300 little bags, or buy them, so we put them into a cool looking tin tub and had everyone grab a handful. By the way, we bought way too much, so think ahead of who will actually be there at the end of the reception!
I love the flower petal idea, by the way. wish we would've thought of that one. Maybe the next daughter. :o)
Kim (12/20/2007)

By Kim

Bird Safe Rice

Use bird safe rice. They are shaped like hearts are white and can be found at most craft stores. (05/15/2008)

By Amy

Bubbles

How about bubbles? Everyone loves bubbles! (06/06/2008)

By KayDawg

Rice Isn't Bad for Birds

Ok for all of you that believe everything you hear. A widely circulated urban legend says that if you throw rice at your wedding, birds will eat the uncooked rice, and it will expand in their stomachs, causing the birds to explode. There is no truth to this story, and ornithologists and bird watchers have thoroughly debunked the myth. Uncooked rice doesn't harm birds - they often eat it in the wild. Throwing birdseed, however, is a more modern idea.
So throw as much rice as you'd like. Although these days, I'm not sure if it would be cheaper to do that, because of the eco-consumer flux! (08/18/2008)

By Laura

Miniture Beach Balls

We used miniature beach balls. We had my daughter's & her husbands name printed on them with the wedding date. It was awesome and a lot of fun! (08/28/2008)

By Denise

Wedding Wands

We are giving our guests "wedding wands" They are basically dowels topped with ribbon the coordinates with the wedding colors, for the guests to wave around as we exit. and they make a nice keepsake for the guest to take home. (09/09/2008)

By JoAnn

Rose Petals

We're planning on doing rose pedals; one florists trash is another couples treasure. Also, someone suggested giving guests Sparklers if it's an evening wedding. May be hard to find if nowhere near July 4th or New Year. (09/19/2008)

By Wesley

Throw Acorns

We are getting married at a location that's kind of "woodsy". In keeping with the woodsy, fall theme, I am trying to convince my fiancee to throw acorns. If you have plenty of oak trees, they don't cost a thing and go right back to nature. I just hope you don't invite people that might peg you with them! Good luck (11/01/2008)

By Jenn

Throw Lavender

My sister ordered a bulk of lavender and put it in little sachets. It's the size of rice or bird seed, but had a purple color (her wedding color) and smelled amazing. (01/19/2009)

By Catie

Photographers Hate Bubbles

One thing I can tell you not to do is bubbles. Our photographer STRONGLY advised us not to use bubbles b/c if even one lands on his lens - it will take a week or 2 of photoshopping pictures because of the soap on the lens. Just an FYI.
(01/20/2009)

By tomlaur104

Ecofetti

We threw ecofetti. Available in different colors and bio-friendly. No regrets. Although, I am going to suggest flower leftovers for my cousin's upcoming wedding. (02/27/2009)

By sthomas

Throw Stale Bread Crumbs

I would use stale bread left over from your house, that way you don't have to make a special purchase and it can be ground down to bread crumbs in the blender. Then when scattered the animals will eat it and there will be no left over mess.
(06/11/2009)

By cherie

Something for Guests to Throw at Our Wedding

Also, you could use food coloring to dye it if you wanted to give it that festive look.
(06/11/2009)

By cherie

 
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