Weekly Advice

I'm going to start a new weekly advice section to help our brides during their planning processes.

Hopefully yall will find this pretty helpful!

THE BIG SEND OFF
My advice for this week is for your BIG SEND OFF at the end of the evening. First and foremost you do NOT need to purchase enough for your entire RSVP'd guest count. Only between 1/3 and 1/4 of your guests will stay until the very end. Of course this average will change depending on if most of your guests are from out of town and staying nearby.
Many venues have restrictions on items that you can and cannot use, especially if you're within the San Antonio city limits. Fortunately for us, The Marquardt Ranch is not so we don't have to hold our brides to those special city rules. We do however have items that cannot be used for the following reasons.

Bird Seed - We learned this the hard way after our 2nd wedding - bird seed is a SEED and seeds GROW. We battled the new sprouts until winter came and diedl off.

Rice - with all the wild animals and birds in our area, this is a very unsafe product for them to consume. It is also very difficult for us to clean up. ** SPECIAL NOTE** there is special rice called "Designer Heart Wedding Rice" that looks similar to rice but disintegrates when it is sprayed with water, and is okay to use.
Confetti & Silly String - these are both impossible to clean up.


Some very popular items to use for your send off at The Marquardt Ranch are:

Sparklers - If you plan to use these PLEASE get the medium sized ones (at least 20 inches). Smaller ones won't give your guests enough time to all light them and for you to get down the aisle before they burn out. If you miss getting them during the 4th of July or New Years Holidays you can purchase them online at BuySparklers.com. Even during a burn ban it is okay to use these because we keep the landscaping watered so well.

Rose Petals (only real) - Real rose petals are very pretty, inexpensive and are very environmentally safe for the local animals. You should budget about 1.5 roses for every guests (remember only about 1/3 to 1/4 of your total guest count will be there for your send off on average!)

Bubbles - Always looks great in photos especially if you have some mighty long winded guests =). You can usually get them for a great price at Hobby Lobby. Please please PLEASE don't waste your time tying ribbon bows on your bottles of bubbles. I've seen too many brides stress out about this the last week before their wedding. Not a single person will remember if you had a bow tied on them or not. We usually can't even place them out before the end of the event anyway because people will start to blow them inside. Soapy bubbles and our smooth floors don't mix well especially for guests in heels!

Being cheered on by your family and friends as you and your new spouse make your way to your get away car couldn't be a more joyous way to end your perfect wedding - no matter what is thrown at you.