Well, apart from the obvious answer, 'the more the merrier', here is a little guidance as to how many confetti cannons you might need for your event.

Firstly, I always recommend firing the confetti cannons in pairs, crossing them over the area to be covered. It gives much better coverage and I like the symmetry; either side of a doorway or dance floor for example.

Let's look at a few scenarios:

Weddings

For the first dance, two small wedding confetti cannons crossed over the dance floor will cover the happy couple perfectly. If you would like to cover the whole dance floor when your guests join you, use medium cannons. And to fill the room, provided you have a high ceiling, use two large cannons.

There are plenty of other moments to celebrate throughout your wedding day such as when you first leave the church after the ceremony, when you cut the cake or as a grand send off as you depart at the end of the night.

If you are using the confetti cannons outside, then large cannons are ideal as the confetti can fly high into the sky and cascade down for longer. Just be sure to stand up wind of where you would like the confetti to fall as Mother Nature will play a big part in which direction it goes.

Stage shows

Fired in from both wings simultaneously, small and medium confetti cannons are usually fine depending on the width of the stage. 8m across, use small and 10m across, use medium. Point them up to a central point over the stage and you will get a beautiful, even coverage. That's right, when we say 'range, 8 metres' it's not that all the confetti goes to 8 metres and falls there, it will spread out from the cannon to 8 metres and fall as a curtain of fluttering colour.

If you would like to fire confetti cannons out into the auditorium, large cannons will shoot up to 12m, including the audience in all the fun. Streamer cannons are a good option too for large theatres as the streamers can travel up to 25m but are easily cleaned up.

Photo shoots

Generally, stick to small confetti cannons. Usually, the shot is tight in on the subject, so larger cannons will simply fire the confetti out of shot. If you want more confetti in shot, fire more small cannons rather than larger.

Plan for a few takes as you are likely to adjust your camera and firing angle after the first shot of confetti. Take as many photos as you can. Burst setting (or continuous shooting mode) is great. As the confetti falls, the picture changes dynamically and you stand the greatest chance of capturing that perfect shot.

Corporate launch/party

Assuming that you are planning one big blast as the ribbon is cut, on the stroke of midnight or as the final award is presented, then the main questions are how much room do you have and how big an area do you want to cover? Measure the space available and match the size of the cannon to the dimensions of the room. Small cannons fire 8m, medium 10m and large 12m. Make sure you have at least this distance in a clear line of fire to enable the confetti to disperse.

And don't fire straight up to the ceiling unless it's very high. The confetti will simply bounce off and fall in a cluster on the floor. Aim diagonally, up and over the area you want to cover.

To cover more area, position staff around the venue and agree a cue for them to fire all at the same time.

And finally, don’t underestimate the impact of two large cannons. You can easily stand 20m apart and fire them pointing up at an angle towards each other for a really big effect.

Of course, the more you fire, the bigger the effect. We have supplied corporate events will 100 small glitter cannons that were handed to the delegates who fired them simultaneously on a given cue. The effect looked stunning as the room was filled from floor to ceiling, wall to wall with shimmering gold.

Have fun celebrating!

Further reading - Confetti Cannon Instructions