There has been a long tradition of throwing confetti at weddings and events going back over hundreds of years; confetti traditionally took the form of rice or grains, or even sweets before the more recognisable modern form of paper/tissue confetti. Recently there has been a fashion for natural petals, especially for weddings, but which should you choose for your event?
Petals
Well, let’s go over some of the pros and cons of each option. The obvious advantage of petal confetti is that it is completely natural and biodegradable, therefore a lot of venues will allow petals over anything else. They are generally available in a variety of mixes and colours and can be matched to your colour scheme. At a wedding rose petals conjure up an image full of romance and luxury, so what could be better?
On the downside petals are relatively heavy, they do not stay in the air for as long as tissue confetti and therefore the effect is not sustained for as long. This can be a disadvantage when you are taking photographs as you will need to be quick!
You will also get a certain number of petals breaking up when they are fired out of a handheld confetti cannon. At Confetti Master we have tested all three sizes of our confetti cannons (30cm 50cm and 80cm) with our rose petals and discovered the 30cm cannons are by far the best size. They hold a good amount of petals and keep most of them intact.
Tissue Confetti
So, onto our tissue confetti. Although confetti is available in lots of shapes and sizes, by far the most popular option for a confetti cannon is rectangles. The rectangles measure 55mm x 17mm and are made from very thin tissue paper. The shape and lightweight nature of the material means it flutters gently down to the ground, spinning on its axis, and giving a much longer effect than the petals – perfect for photographs.
Tissue confetti is also available in lots of colours and Confetti Master can mix up to three colours of your choice to match your colour scheme. You also won’t have the problem of it breaking up when fired out of a confetti cannon, so you can go for the larger sizes of confetti cannon.
Onto the disadvantages; some venues won’t allow confetti, although it is worth pointing out that the tissue option is 100% biodegradable, just avoid anything metallic if you are outside (gold and silver). Also, tissue confetti will be carried by the wind if you are using it outside. It’s worth taking this into account when deciding where to position your cannons.
In summary, both options give a fantastic effect and you can’t go too far wrong whatever you choose, but there are definite differences between the two.