Tips for Perfect Wedding Confetti Photos

bride and groom walk through a tunnel of people while having confetti thrown at them on their wedding day in Liverpool

Amazing Confetti Pictures

A lot goes into achieving amazing confetti photos on your wedding day. This blog shares my 3 top tips for perfect wedding confetti pictures!

Allowing time for confetti photos on your wedding day is ALWAYS a great idea! My past clients LOVE their confetti photos from their final wedding gallery. Couples and guests also love the experience…everyone loves throwing confetti at the just-married couple, right?!

The tradition of confetti

Before we jump into the tips for the perfect confetti photo, I thought I’d cover why we have confetti at weddings at all, and the tradition behind it.

The meaning and tradition of throwing confetti dates back to the Middle Ages, in Northern Italy. The word “confetti” is adopted from Italian confectionary of the same name – small sugar coated almonds. These were traditionally thrown, but today many couples opt to give these as wedding favours instead. Over the centuries, the almonds have been adapted by the British to what we now regard as confetti – colourful paper pieces. Almonds or paper – both represent hope that the newly weds will have a fertile marriage. Info sourced from here.

So, confetti throwing is still a thing?

Yup! Over the years the traditional reasons may have dwindled but it’s still very much a celebratory staple at most weddings across the UK. Confetti throwing is actually one of the things you’ll find in both traditional weddings and alternative weddings. So, no matter what vibe your wedding day is going to be, confetti is something you’ll likely want to keep.

How to organise the confetti photos

It’s a team effort but ultimately, as the wedding photographer I will organise and take control of the confetti pictures. The best time to take the confetti photos is immediately after the ceremony. As you and your partner exit the ceremony building, I’ll ask you to take a little stroll to an area away from the guests exiting the building too – it is much easier to let guests congratulate you after the confetti throw, trust me! While you two have a little time together to gush about those just-married-feels, I’ll organise the guests – usually into a tunnel – for you to walk through.

I’ll enlist the help of the wedding party to dish out the confetti and when everyone is in position I’ll come and grab you both. I’ll position you at the start of the tunnel and give you some tips for the walk. I’ll ask you to wait for me to shout “GO!”, this will be after I’ve given the guests a tip about best ways to throw the confetti, popped myself into position and double checked my camera settings…phew…GO!

Tips for throwing wedding confetti

As I mention above, I give the guests a quick rundown on throwing the confetti right before you walk through the tunnel. My best advice to your guests is have two big handfuls and to throw high from above rather than directly into the couples face. Most people listen…

And for you two; hold hands, look at each other, walk at a steady pace, look at your guests, keep your eyes open, smile, laugh…ANYTHING…just fight that natural urge to look down – who wants photos of the tops of your heads?

groom and bride having confetti thrown over them by guests at their Delbury Hall wedding

Do guests bring their own confetti, how much wedding confetti do we need?!

Most weddings I have photographed, the confetti is provided. This is so you can choose the confetti colours to suit your wedding AND you can make sure it is biodegradable, which is normally a requirement now for Churches, wedding venues, registry offices and public places.

You can never have too much confetti, the more confetti the better for photographs in my opinion – when you think you have enough, I’d probably buy some more! Shropshire Petals is a local confetti supplier and they have a super handy confetti calculator!

Couples either have it in baskets for guests to grab handfuls from, or package it into small sachets to hand out.

And finally…alternatives to biodegradable confetti…

Below are three couples who opted for something other than biodegradable confetti.

Fern + Ollie had a mix of confetti with inflatable small balls for their beach wedding.

Sarah + Alex opted to be surrounded by their guests and have confetti cannons fired over them all at once.

Becca + Josh used dried petals which Becca had dried from floral bouquets Josh had gifted her over the year of their relationship… super adorable idea!!