Our clients have increasingly become interested in using special effects such as smoke bombs, fireworks and confetti cannons in their wedding photographs. Smoke grenades and dance-floor firework simulators in particular are very popular overseas and on Instagram, so we took the time to find a local supplier in Christchurch that we could recommend to our couples here in New Zealand.

After a beautiful winter elopement shoot on an olive grove using smoke effects during sunset, we sent the images we had created to our preferred supplier - Fireworks Professionals in Christchurch (who had imported the Enola Gaye smoke bombs and sold them to our clients). The team loved the photos and asked if we might be interested in partnering with them on a shoot to showcase their products and special effects for weddings… Of course, it was a “Hell, yes!” from us.

We don’t often do ‘styled wedding shoots’ as we specialise in documentary wedding photography, but we were really keen to have a play with all the different products that are available from Firework Professionals and share this knowledge with our couples who we know also love this kind of thing!

The editor of Canterbury Bride, Kineta Booker (pictured centre above and below) helped us get together an incredible group of Canterbury based wedding vendors for this shoot. She’s also an amazing elopement celebrant and knows everyone in the biz! We were so happy to have Darjon Vineyard on board as we love the venue and it was so exciting to think of ways we could use the fireworks and special effects on site. (Before using confetti cannons, smoke bombs and fireworks etc you must of course have permission from your wedding venue!).

To showcase all the special effects available from Firework Professionals we had fun working out where these products would work well within a wedding day timeline. The most obvious place for a little razzmatazz is at the end of your wedding ceremony when you’ve just been declared legally married!

Champagne towers are super popular at the moment (because they are so cool!) and we took this one assembled by the very clever ‘Wine Divine’ bar team and gave it a little extra pizazz. These sparkly special effects behind the bar were electrically powered.

It’s no secret that we absolutely adore confetti cannons! The more confetti the better, especially during a ceremony exit. In our experience, a few guests with a handful of rose petals just won’t get you that confetti shot you’ve been dreaming of. We’d recommend having four confetti cannons at each corner of your ceremony firing bits of biodegradable paper high into the air to gracefully float down all around you, as you walk back down the aisle together. Or if that sounds a little too much… it’s not.

We loved having Laura + James from Rollin Pedaler along to support the shoot. Their ice-cream trike at weddings is the best! We fired confetti just like hundreds and thousands of multi-coloured sprinkles to announce that dessert was served. It was very cool! Confetti cannons can also be used for fun portraits or on the dance floor to make an impact.

Firework Professionals are experienced in getting permits for big firework displays for weddings and events. If you are familiar with the famous fireworks display at New Brighton Beach in Christchurch every year, then you’ll have seen their work. From huge starbursts in the sky, to a packet of sparklers for your wedding cake of dreams… the team will be able to help you curate a wonderful display for your guests.

Smoke effects in wedding photography can be super subtle or brightly coloured depending on the vibe you’re going for. We’ve had clients let off all the colours at once for a rainbow themed wedding! For our styled shoot, we played with a few different shot ideas where the effects looked like smoke, clouds and light mist. It’s extra dreamy to add a powerful bubble making machine into the equation too! We hired one from Party Warehouse in Christchurch just for fun. Smoke and sunsets work really well together too and the golden light can change the colour of the smoke as the sun shines through it.

We really rate the firework simulator machine which looks just like fireworks, but is electrically powered. This special effect looked epic in the background of our champagne spray at night. Champagne sprays are always one of our favourite shots of the day or night and having the firework simulator in the background took it to the next level.

We finished the shoot as it fell dark and the team from Firework Professionals lined the driveway at Darjon Vineyard with an impressive fireworks display for our couple’s exit in a classic Stingray. That’s one way to go out with a bang and definitely in style! If you’d like to impress your guests and add fireworks or special effects to your wedding timeline just give us a shout and we’ll put you in touch with the professionals.

Why not be a little bit extra on your wedding day!

Thank you to all of the wedding vendors listed below for making this amazing shoot possible and so much fun!

Photographers: Robin + Andie

Fireworks + Special Effects: Firework Professionals https://www.firework.co.nz

Venue: Darjon Vineyard https://darjon.co.nz

Celebrant: Kineta Booker https://kinetabooker.com

Dress: To Cherish Bridal https://tocherish.co.nz

Tuxedo + Shoes: Munns The Man’s Store https://munns.co.nz

Hair: Kelly Sheppard Hair Artist http://www.kellysheppard.co.nz

Makeup: Art and Soul Makeup by Melissa http://www.artandsoulmakeup.co.nz

Florals: Life in Bloom by Nicole https://threeroses.co.nz

Bar + Champagne Tower: Wine Divine https://winedivine.co.nz

Ice-cream: The Rollin’ Pedaler https://www.rollinpedaler.co.nz

Cake: Twisted Flour & Sugar Merchants https://twistedflour.kiwi

Grazing Platter + Dessert Platter: Catered Affair https://www.facebook.com/cateredaffairnz/

Car: Waimak Classic Cars https://waimakclassiccars.co.nz

On-The-Day Coordinator: Perfectly Planned https://weddingwhitepages.com/perfectlyplanned/

Models: Portfolio Models http://portfoliomodels.co.nz

Contributing Partners:

Wedding White Pages https://weddingwhitepages.com

North Canterbury Weddings https://www.facebook.com/northcanterburyweddings/

Christchurch Celebrants https://www.facebook.com/christchurchcelebrants/