The launch of rice
The most festive and liberating moment of any wedding ceremony is for me the throwing of rice. It is only a moment and lasts just the time of a shot, but perhaps never as here the well-known invitation “seize the moment” is true.
For this reason, an experienced photographer will never have to be found unprepared to face the minimum fraction of the time he has available to create the image of this authentic flash of joy. The photo of the rice launch is emblematic because it contains and communicates more than one meaning. The most obvious is what the image immediately translates.
The sense of sharing, the participation in the joy of the spouses who, as soon as the ceremony is over, where the behavior of all the participants is naturally measured and controlled, can explode almost without limits. It is no coincidence that it is almost always accompanied by shouts and noisy laughter that the photos unfortunately cannot testify.
On the other hand, the symbolic value and the meaning of the throwing of rice, a very ancient custom common to many cultures and traditions, both Eastern and Western and, in some cases linked to founding legends, is much denser. Rice is a propitiatory symbol of abundance, fertility, prosperity and as such it is the one that best expresses the intention and the wish that all this is guaranteed to the spouses. Indeed, a particular meaning is attributed to every single variety or type of rice, depending on its specific properties, the size or color of the grains and even their fragrance.
However, the throwing of rice to the spouses, beyond its festive trait, can also present some criticalities because often parish priests or municipal employees, precisely because of the inconvenience and inconvenience caused by the grains scattered on the ground (possible falls, subsequent cleaning operations) they do not see it favorably and in some cases even forbid it.
How to remedy this problem? Alternatively, more and more trendy is the use of solutions which, for their symbolic value and scenographic rendering, have nothing to envy to rice. They can be very small seeds that, scattered with the complicity of the wind, could go to germinate in any place, buds, rose petals or flowers in tune with the bouquet, confetti or streamers literally shot on the bride and groom, balloons (strictly biodegradable), bubbles of soap … In short, everything that celebrates and contributes to joyfully enhance this ritual.
As you can see, there is no shortage of ideas for the launch of rice to the newlyweds, they are spoiled for choice. It will be up to the spouses, depending on the style and imprint they want to give to their wedding, to decide which is the most suitable solution. Another possibility to differentiate and personalize this moment could be the idea of distributing original and fun containers to the guests to host the rice.
