Like pretty much every other person who watched , I fell in love with wishing lanterns (Chinese lanterns, sky lanterns, etc.). A lot of people caught the trend early and incorporated this into their wedding, which is beautiful and sweet and can also pretty dangerous. Aside from being (ecologically speaking) mass littering, there is a risk of injury or wildfire.

Have you seen or can anyone come up with a safe and eco-friendly alternative? Our wedding is on the lake and our send-off is going to be after dark by pontoon. Can you just imagine how pretty those wishing lanterns would be?. - Sarah

We've talked a lot about alternative send-offs in general, including some biodegradable options like those from Wish Lantern. They're made of 100% biodegradable material that will bio-degrade in two to three days. Even then, there is still some controversy which may keep you away from those and other lanterns in general.

My suggestion is to harness the power of light with something that doesn't float in the area in general. Here are some of our ideas:

Sparklers

Sparklers are an easy way to shed some light on a situation with a minimal amount of cleanup.

Glow sticks

Glow sticks are wearable, danceable, and shakeable for awesome photos, natch.

Glow-in-the-dark bubbles

Glow-in-the-dark bubbles for that traditional-gone-weird spin that we love.

Lightsabers

Geeky, easy to find, and awesome on dance floors, too.

Glowing cotton candy

LED-lighted balloons

How about some LED-lighted balloons (that you don't release)?

Lighted optic wands

Optic wands reminds me of Ice Capades and I don't hate that one bit.

Throwing it out there: what wish lantern alternatives (or safer wish lanterns) would you guys suggest for a nighttime send-off?