People Online Are Applauding This Wedding Photographer’s Views On Live Animal Use During Celebrations
Some things are meant to stay in nature, uncommercialized. However, we humans think that just because it’s aesthetically pleasing, it’s worth doing. For the show! For the views! For the beauty of it all! But there comes a time when we need to take a step back and evaluate things for what they are.
One wedding photographer has done just that. Nicknamed throwthrowthrow713, they posted their opinion and views on using live animals as props on the big day in the r/weddingshaming subreddit, and dozens of people were in agreement with them. One type of creature they focused on more than any other was the butterfly and the tragedies of live confetti.
So we’ll try to look into both sides of this question, as there’ll be those that don’t see anything wrong with having animals present at a wedding, whilst on the other side are those that find it cruel, regardless of good intentions. Let’s dive into it!
More info: Reddit
Everyone wants to make their wedding all the more special, but some of the ways to get that “wow” factor are a little more than questionable
Image credits: Leah Kelley (not the actual photo)
Those that get married often hope that this will be the first and last time they do so, meaning that one day has to be as special as can be. Although the celebration is all about love and the unity of two people, adding a little magic has never hurt anyone (or has it?), especially if it may help improve the chances of a successful matrimony.
However, when the floor gets littered with sleeping or deceased butterflies instead of them taking flight in a majestic manner, one might think twice about their choices, both in partner and décor. A wedding photographer came to the subreddit r/weddingshaming to share their experience with a butterfly release, arguing that no animals should be diminished to mere props for a wedding.
Hundreds of people agreed with the photographer, sharing their own stories and thoughts on the matter, with one person commenting: “Going to go update my contract rules right now. ‘No glitter, no confetti, no fish, no bird releases, no butterfly releases.’” Before we get ahead of ourselves, let’s have a look at the story the photographer shared.
One wedding photographer decided to call out the new trend of “butterfly releases” by sharing a horrific incident that marked one wedding ceremony
Butterflies are a favorite of many, both because of their beauty and symbolism, yet their commercialization has shown to be nothing less than cruel
Image credits: JoelValve (not the actual photo)
The shift from caterpillar to butterfly is a true metaphor for rebirth, making the tiny colorful (or not-so-colorful) creature a favorite of many. “Butterflies show us how we can go within ourselves to dissolve old forms and morph, rebuilding and evolving ourselves,” ecotherapist Anna Cariad-Barrett told MBGmindfulness, noting that they symbolize the importance of surrender and trust “as part of the essential process of growth and renewal.”
Generally, butterflies are thought to represent change and transformation, comfort, hope, and positivity, sometimes even going as far as representing the human soul. While some believed ancestors communicated through butterflies, others took the presence of these creatures as a joyous or hopeful sign.
The spiritual symbolism of any animal is always up for interpretation and will mean different things per person, based on their beliefs and experiences; however, the general consensus leads to the connection of life force, spirit, and transformation. A fragile beauty. Resurrection, faith, and forgiveness—ironic, given the process and prep for butterfly releases.
The seconds-long display often costs butterflies their lives, be it due to cramped shipping boxes or their inability to survive in an unfamiliar habitat
Image credits: Toshiyuki IMAI (not the actual photo)
One incident has been ingrained in memories worldwide. The ‘RuPaul’s Drag Race’ Season 10 grand finale had viewers shook in the worst way when Asia O’Hara used live butterflies as a prop during her lip-sync battle. O’Hara attempted to release live butterflies from pods inside her breasts and wrists, only for them to fall to the floor, lifeless or struggling to move.
She was later eliminated, issuing an apology on Twitter just minutes after the finale came to an end, writing: “If you are unhappy with me I understand, I’ve been unhappy with myself since that night but I’m going to do my best to make it right. It’s important to know that I would never purposefully hurt any living being and have the utmost respect for animals.”
But this has not seemed to deter people from attempting something similar with butterfly releases. As PETA states, the seconds-long display often costs captive and wild butterflies their lives. “Butterfly breeders mass-produce the animals and ship them like cargo to anyone with a credit card. […] Many are crushed or die from exposure before they even reach their destination,” they said.
The ones who do survive the trip might not be considered the lucky ones. When captive-bred butterflies are left to fend for themselves in an unfamiliar area, they struggle to find food sources and often can’t survive in the new climate. Butterfly Conservation, a non-profit organization based in the UK, has condemned the practice of “live confetti,” as it can also spread diseases and genetic weaknesses among the insects.
“We do not want to spoil anybody’s special day,” the charity said in an article, “but we suspect that the bride and groom often do not realize the implications of their decision. […] We think we should admire these species’ amazing life patterns and not use them for live confetti and Butterfly Conservation takes a very strong stance against this.”
Image credits: throwthrowthrow713
Exotic animals have become the new must-have for couples seeking that “wow” moment to make their wedding unforgettable, yet one must ask: if you really love animals, is a wedding the right place for them? Oftentimes the welfare of the animals goes unconsidered.
Sandra Chile, a photographer from Pittsburg, believes that the impact of having an animal at a wedding should go beyond wedding pictures. “I’ve had couples whose animals are a big part of their life, so they take them to the wedding. Unfortunately, loud noises, lights, an unfamiliar space, and 100+ people around may mean too much stress for the animal. So while including that pet on your wedding day is a priority for you, it is really not optimal for your pet.”
Wedding favors, décor, and even wind-up models of animals may be a better choice. Save the stress and the costs, and prevent a confetti of deceased butterflies to mark your special day. Bad omen? I would say so! Dear readers, leave your thoughts and opinions on this in the comments below, and I shall see you in the next one!
Hundreds of people have supported the photographer’s views, sharing their own experiences with “live confetti.” Let us know your thoughts in the comments!
It’s like when people release f****n balloons into the air. It’s 2023, YOU SHOULD KNOW BETTER!! Congrats on killing a bunch of sea turtles a******s.
And those Chinese lanterns that have killed cattle and horses etc who either bolt when they are spooked by them or eat the metal and die a slow painful death! We have pet sheep who are very tame and don't spook easily and someone nearby released 4 of these stupid lanterns and then started descending into the Sheeps paddock and they freaked out so much, thank god we were there and they have a stable they could hide in. Then the next day we found a 5th that wasn't there the day before that had its metal broken all over the grass and had we not seen it and they eaten it accidentally they would have died. All so people can see something pretty for 10 seconds... they're worse than fireworks imo
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Some people I know had goldfish in the centrepieces at their wedding reception. The after party clean-up begins and the groom's sister wants to know what he's doing with the goldfish. They were going to get flushed down the toilet. The sister was very upset, and took them all home. She ended up with 24 goldfish. The next day she bought a huge aquarium. It was an autumn wedding, so they were in the house until spring. She put a custom pond in the backyard and had to cage the top because it took exactly 1 night for the neighbourhood raccoons to figure out there's a pond full of of fish. 12 years later and her brother is divorced and she still has 4 of the goldfish
This is like, one of the best stories I ever read! Thank you!
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I had no idea this was a thing. I love butterflies. I wish a pox on the people that thought of this service. You can buy cards/little boxes that will shoot paper butterflies, flowers, etc. Why can't that be enough?!?
I mean I love monkeys, but I wouldn't want a hundred released at my wedding..... No, actually....fk yeah!!!
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i was confused about the "Asia" edit so here's what i found: it's referencing a s10 finalist in RuPaul's Drag Race, Asia O’Hara. her costume for a lip sync battle was decorated with butterflies, and she had containers of live ones on her wrists and chest to release for her finale. but when she opened them, the butterflies kind of just fell out and appeared to be dead. (supposedly it was due to the temperature on stage not being warm enough to wake them up; it had worked in practice before but in a different environment.) afterwards she apologized profusely and raised money for an animal rescue charity. but also, even if the butterflies had woken up and flew out, they wouldn't have survived being released in a giant theater...and she spent tons of time and effort planning the stunt, so she must have realized that...so either way it would've turned out badly for the little guys. using and abusing living creatures for aesthetic reasons without any care for their well-being is upsetting :(
Eh. Thinking ahead isn't always our strong suit as a species, and I am willing to give some credit for the efforts put into not just apologizing but actually doing something for animals to make it right. Planning and rehearsals don't cover as many possibilities as it seems like they might either. It's certainly not good, but if a few butterflies getting dropped on stage leads to actual awareness and fund raising to help animals in need, that's a win for me.
Load More Replies... Beyond the cruelty part there’s also the chance of the butterflies being invasive species
Yep, I was wondering if they, at least, took local species. I mean, moral question aside, even if the butterflies were well enough treated to actually look cute in the scenery, some have very specific food and would starve to death. And if not local but able to breed, that could give a large groupe of caterpillars in the same area... Possibly a disaster
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Thousands of years of human history, but we still have yet to understand that animals are NOT our toys! Those poor butterflies - they deserved to live their last day in the wild, not cooped up in some tiny box :(
I would be more surprised about this if we had ever showed strong evidence of caring for each other as a species, but at least some of us care and that's something we should actually be hopeful about.
Load More Replies... We released pigeons at my Granfers funeral as he kept pigeons when he was alive. It was beautiful. These were racing pigeons who were going to be realised anyway for training. People just did it at the crematorium instead.
Just want to say...don't know if you just used it as a shortened word but I think Grandfer is an awesome name for a grandfather. My mother went by Grammy. Grammy & Grandfer would've been adorable.
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Reminds me of the often-seen BP photo of a mirror in a zoo cage labeled 'World's Most Dangerous Animal' 🙄
Why on earth did someone downvote your comment? I upvoted it because you are exactly right.
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Were I live it's only allowed to release local species and it must be the right time of the year for their natural hatch from the pupae. I know a center for environmental awareness that does butterfly releases on weddings for educational purposes and to spread awareness. They have a very short time window in the year when you can book this and the venue has to fulfill certain criteria so the released butterflies have maximum chances to survive and repopulate. A friend of mine wanted to do this and complained lengthily that she couldn't have it. But they invited her to an informational visit to their site and in the end she changed her venue and the date to get the release. It was beautiful.
They brought the butterflies in special crates that were made to keep them safe. Those butterflies were bred to be released anyway, they just do it at weddings to raise money for wildlife protection. And they use the money to breed and release more endangered species and save natural habitats for insects in general. I think this is the only way it should ever be done.
Load More Replies... I opted for bubbles at my wedding...seemed like the most eco-friendly option that made the kids happy as well as followed "tradition."
Bubbles, Sparkle...so apropos! And they float instead of come flying at your head, in your eyes👏😻👍
Load More Replies... I'm so glad we had a 'no throwing things' rule at our wedding. Partly because the venue didn't allow it, partly because I really don't like having things flying at me. We did have the unintended Rat Discovery though. Joys of having a working terrier (our pet) as a groomsmaid. The rat was outside so it wasn't like, a problem.
That's PAWsome!!! Most people don't realize (or forget) that Terriers are hunting dogs. Terrier literally translates to earth (as in dirt, soil). They were MADE for hunting vermin that tend to "go to ground". (So glad it was outside!)
Load More Replies... I don't get how people can be so stupidly insensitive!! A wedding is just one small silly day, why the big hoopla!?? Time to start celebrating your own personal events in a small, personal and harmless way. Maybe it's just me, but I think folks might be surprised how little everyone else cares about your dress, number of guests, bridesmaids, cake, etc. I am not jaded, I have thought this since highschool in the 70s. And SUCH A WaSTE OF $$$!!!!
AND, I recently saw research that discussed how we can get very depressed after super amazing, awesomely wonderful, grandiose days like this anyway. The higher we get, the lower we go afterward.
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Okay, the butterflies got screwed and I feel sorry for them. But on the other side of the equation it's hard not to laugh at the instant karma doled out to the people doing that c**p. If chrysalis / butterfly symbolizes rebirth and whatnot, I wonder what "DOA" symbolizes. I feel a bit more sad for the kid one though. Not their fault if they didn't know and a kid attending a kid's funeral is already a heavy trip for them.
People seem to forget insects are living things that don't deserve to suffer like this.
Decorative parrots??? If you want creatures at your wedding who will just sit there and mindlessly repeat things they don't understand, look at your guest list. You probably already have plenty.
i have always hated humans, because they suck. bored panda made me loathe the human race even more up to the point that i need to restrain myself from commenting the worst and most horrible things on here.
Social media is unhealthy because it constantly shows us the worst of humanities for extra clicks.
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Dogs in weddings: so cute and yay. :) using animals as props that will die: sad :(
Is never heard of this trend until today. I'm sickened. Leave innocent animals out of your narcissistic self congratulating egotistic ceremonies.
Animals are not wedding decor. I wonder what they expected, putting butterflies in small box with no air during hot day? If you want butterflies at your wedding, have wedding outside, near plants that attract them.
Here in the UK doves released into the wild won't survive, they are usually tame and don't know how to look after themselves plus local wildlife will kill them. Yet still people have them at weddings here :(
I had a burial at sea and they brought butterflies, I didn't realize until they started releasing these tiny butterflies that immediately got swept out to sea where they would die. Several butterflies fell to the deck and one of the family started singing amazing grace and stepped on a couple butterflies trying to crawl away. It was painful to watch, me and the other deckhand were discreetly scooping as many that were crawling as possible to take them back to shore. Now we have a list of things not allowed on the boats for these ceremonies including live animal releases of any kind and balloons. Wish we had a requirement that common sense and humanity were required to board the vessel, but that would be too much.
This makes me think I should do a snake release at my wedding, I live snakes, they’re just adorable boop noodle and not actually scary, I should bring three big terrariums with my three king snakes (snakes live a long time so most likely will still be alive during my wedding and because of the breeds each will be a min of 4 feet long and anywhere from 4-8 feet) and at the end instead of releasing butterflies I should just release my three snakes and see how my guests react, though I do have many friends who like snakes so most likely my snakes will just get picked up and pet, I love butterflies but I also know that releases are cruel and they should be in a big open environment and they also don’t just fly out they’ll just chill there, but my snakes like people and like cuddles and wrapping around your arm and over your shoulders, or one just likes curling in a ball on your warm lap (ball python, very chill)
Every instance of animal cruelty is upsetting. I eat meat, and I exterminate household pests. I've been to Sea World to see the orca show. The butterfly releases are a terrible, cruel idea, but so are a lot of other practices we take for granted where we have room to change our personal behavior, not to mention working towards more compassionate policies overall.
I didn't know this was a thing. This is just an ignorant waste of life. The people selling the butterflies are the guilty party, the customers just assume all is fine. We learn, time and again, that life requires oxygen. I wonder how many people were dumb enough to think they were sold a bunch of dead butterflies.
Animal cruelty ain't cool!!! Poor butterflies probably died yearning for freedom from the box and when it was time to escape, too late... I've only been to one animal-themed wedding before and it was just the newlyweds and their dogs. The dogs just had ribbons on their collars but that was about it (well-behaved and well-groomed so no major issue) and were obedient enough to stay still for photos before being allowed to run and play around in a nearby field until festivities were over. That was my opinion of a perfect animal-themed wedding: Everyone had fun, including the pooches.
I feel like the only animals acceptable in a wedding are those of the bride and/or groom and only if they're happily bouncing around the alter like the good babies they are lol
What's even sadder is that a butterfly's life is so short. To waste in a box is tragic.
I think companies need to not sell this product of animals for anything like this mess. She could have gotten roaches. Ya can't kill those.
TiL: if i or anyone I know is using animals for a event; make sure the transport is not like the Caged Chickens for eggs. Wtfudge. (Also weather. Account for weather.)
I probably won't use animals, especially for a wedding. But still good info.
Load More Replies... Just stay away from roaches, will you? I know we're beautiful and graceful and everybody wants us in their weddings, but please... No free food can compensate for this.
I’m having animals in my wedding hopefully but I’m a devoted pet owner and zoo worker and *I* will take care of it.
Gosh - how horrible and sad. I mean, I celebrate and welcome the butterflies that return to my garden in the spring and summer, and get excited when one of my milkweed plants hosts a monarch caterpillar. Animals are not props or toys.
In case anyone is wondering just how bad those tiny boxes are- butterflies use their wings to thermo-regulate. Which is kind of important when you're ectothermic. Those poor butterflies got hyped up from the heat and then died of heat exhaustion.
If you want butterflies at your wedding, there are companies that will set up a tent with the butterflies in it. So you can take as many pictures as you want with the knowledge the butterflies aren't going to be injured. And to the people who use fish as wedding/party decor: I hate you. I hate you so much.
You can make wind up butterflies by yourself. Just google it, it’s easy. I used to make wind up bugs when I was a kid. Then I’d put one in a matchbox, draw a picture of a bee (or something else that stings/ bites) on the cover, hand the box to someone and see their reaction when they opened the box 😇🐝 (My dad taught me how to make them in the early 80’s)
So many AHs these days. From gender reveals gone wrong to those capturing nature to make a statement at weddings. Public displays have gone too far! It's more about creating a perfect Insta/ FB pic/ TikTok video and getting swag than actually living in the moment and enjoying those in your company. It's so sad...
I had no idea. I always thought it sounded wonderful...but I was wrong. This sounds horrifying for the poor little creatures.
It’s like when people release f****n balloons into the air. It’s 2023, YOU SHOULD KNOW BETTER!! Congrats on killing a bunch of sea turtles a******s.
And those Chinese lanterns that have killed cattle and horses etc who either bolt when they are spooked by them or eat the metal and die a slow painful death! We have pet sheep who are very tame and don't spook easily and someone nearby released 4 of these stupid lanterns and then started descending into the Sheeps paddock and they freaked out so much, thank god we were there and they have a stable they could hide in. Then the next day we found a 5th that wasn't there the day before that had its metal broken all over the grass and had we not seen it and they eaten it accidentally they would have died. All so people can see something pretty for 10 seconds... they're worse than fireworks imo
Load More Replies... Some people I know had goldfish in the centrepieces at their wedding reception. The after party clean-up begins and the groom's sister wants to know what he's doing with the goldfish. They were going to get flushed down the toilet. The sister was very upset, and took them all home. She ended up with 24 goldfish. The next day she bought a huge aquarium. It was an autumn wedding, so they were in the house until spring. She put a custom pond in the backyard and had to cage the top because it took exactly 1 night for the neighbourhood raccoons to figure out there's a pond full of of fish. 12 years later and her brother is divorced and she still has 4 of the goldfish
This is like, one of the best stories I ever read! Thank you!
Load More Replies... I had no idea this was a thing. I love butterflies. I wish a pox on the people that thought of this service. You can buy cards/little boxes that will shoot paper butterflies, flowers, etc. Why can't that be enough?!?
I mean I love monkeys, but I wouldn't want a hundred released at my wedding..... No, actually....fk yeah!!!
Load More Replies... i was confused about the "Asia" edit so here's what i found: it's referencing a s10 finalist in RuPaul's Drag Race, Asia O’Hara. her costume for a lip sync battle was decorated with butterflies, and she had containers of live ones on her wrists and chest to release for her finale. but when she opened them, the butterflies kind of just fell out and appeared to be dead. (supposedly it was due to the temperature on stage not being warm enough to wake them up; it had worked in practice before but in a different environment.) afterwards she apologized profusely and raised money for an animal rescue charity. but also, even if the butterflies had woken up and flew out, they wouldn't have survived being released in a giant theater...and she spent tons of time and effort planning the stunt, so she must have realized that...so either way it would've turned out badly for the little guys. using and abusing living creatures for aesthetic reasons without any care for their well-being is upsetting :(
Eh. Thinking ahead isn't always our strong suit as a species, and I am willing to give some credit for the efforts put into not just apologizing but actually doing something for animals to make it right. Planning and rehearsals don't cover as many possibilities as it seems like they might either. It's certainly not good, but if a few butterflies getting dropped on stage leads to actual awareness and fund raising to help animals in need, that's a win for me.
Load More Replies... Beyond the cruelty part there’s also the chance of the butterflies being invasive species
Yep, I was wondering if they, at least, took local species. I mean, moral question aside, even if the butterflies were well enough treated to actually look cute in the scenery, some have very specific food and would starve to death. And if not local but able to breed, that could give a large groupe of caterpillars in the same area... Possibly a disaster
Load More Replies... Thousands of years of human history, but we still have yet to understand that animals are NOT our toys! Those poor butterflies - they deserved to live their last day in the wild, not cooped up in some tiny box :(
I would be more surprised about this if we had ever showed strong evidence of caring for each other as a species, but at least some of us care and that's something we should actually be hopeful about.
Load More Replies... We released pigeons at my Granfers funeral as he kept pigeons when he was alive. It was beautiful. These were racing pigeons who were going to be realised anyway for training. People just did it at the crematorium instead.
Just want to say...don't know if you just used it as a shortened word but I think Grandfer is an awesome name for a grandfather. My mother went by Grammy. Grammy & Grandfer would've been adorable.
Load More Replies... Reminds me of the often-seen BP photo of a mirror in a zoo cage labeled 'World's Most Dangerous Animal' 🙄
Why on earth did someone downvote your comment? I upvoted it because you are exactly right.
Load More Replies... Were I live it's only allowed to release local species and it must be the right time of the year for their natural hatch from the pupae. I know a center for environmental awareness that does butterfly releases on weddings for educational purposes and to spread awareness. They have a very short time window in the year when you can book this and the venue has to fulfill certain criteria so the released butterflies have maximum chances to survive and repopulate. A friend of mine wanted to do this and complained lengthily that she couldn't have it. But they invited her to an informational visit to their site and in the end she changed her venue and the date to get the release. It was beautiful.
They brought the butterflies in special crates that were made to keep them safe. Those butterflies were bred to be released anyway, they just do it at weddings to raise money for wildlife protection. And they use the money to breed and release more endangered species and save natural habitats for insects in general. I think this is the only way it should ever be done.
Load More Replies... I opted for bubbles at my wedding...seemed like the most eco-friendly option that made the kids happy as well as followed "tradition."
Bubbles, Sparkle...so apropos! And they float instead of come flying at your head, in your eyes👏😻👍
Load More Replies... I'm so glad we had a 'no throwing things' rule at our wedding. Partly because the venue didn't allow it, partly because I really don't like having things flying at me. We did have the unintended Rat Discovery though. Joys of having a working terrier (our pet) as a groomsmaid. The rat was outside so it wasn't like, a problem.
That's PAWsome!!! Most people don't realize (or forget) that Terriers are hunting dogs. Terrier literally translates to earth (as in dirt, soil). They were MADE for hunting vermin that tend to "go to ground". (So glad it was outside!)
Load More Replies... I don't get how people can be so stupidly insensitive!! A wedding is just one small silly day, why the big hoopla!?? Time to start celebrating your own personal events in a small, personal and harmless way. Maybe it's just me, but I think folks might be surprised how little everyone else cares about your dress, number of guests, bridesmaids, cake, etc. I am not jaded, I have thought this since highschool in the 70s. And SUCH A WaSTE OF $$$!!!!
AND, I recently saw research that discussed how we can get very depressed after super amazing, awesomely wonderful, grandiose days like this anyway. The higher we get, the lower we go afterward.
Load More Replies... Okay, the butterflies got screwed and I feel sorry for them. But on the other side of the equation it's hard not to laugh at the instant karma doled out to the people doing that c**p. If chrysalis / butterfly symbolizes rebirth and whatnot, I wonder what "DOA" symbolizes. I feel a bit more sad for the kid one though. Not their fault if they didn't know and a kid attending a kid's funeral is already a heavy trip for them.
People seem to forget insects are living things that don't deserve to suffer like this.
Decorative parrots??? If you want creatures at your wedding who will just sit there and mindlessly repeat things they don't understand, look at your guest list. You probably already have plenty.
i have always hated humans, because they suck. bored panda made me loathe the human race even more up to the point that i need to restrain myself from commenting the worst and most horrible things on here.
Social media is unhealthy because it constantly shows us the worst of humanities for extra clicks.
Load More Replies... Dogs in weddings: so cute and yay. :) using animals as props that will die: sad :(
Is never heard of this trend until today. I'm sickened. Leave innocent animals out of your narcissistic self congratulating egotistic ceremonies.
Animals are not wedding decor. I wonder what they expected, putting butterflies in small box with no air during hot day? If you want butterflies at your wedding, have wedding outside, near plants that attract them.
Here in the UK doves released into the wild won't survive, they are usually tame and don't know how to look after themselves plus local wildlife will kill them. Yet still people have them at weddings here :(
I had a burial at sea and they brought butterflies, I didn't realize until they started releasing these tiny butterflies that immediately got swept out to sea where they would die. Several butterflies fell to the deck and one of the family started singing amazing grace and stepped on a couple butterflies trying to crawl away. It was painful to watch, me and the other deckhand were discreetly scooping as many that were crawling as possible to take them back to shore. Now we have a list of things not allowed on the boats for these ceremonies including live animal releases of any kind and balloons. Wish we had a requirement that common sense and humanity were required to board the vessel, but that would be too much.
This makes me think I should do a snake release at my wedding, I live snakes, they’re just adorable boop noodle and not actually scary, I should bring three big terrariums with my three king snakes (snakes live a long time so most likely will still be alive during my wedding and because of the breeds each will be a min of 4 feet long and anywhere from 4-8 feet) and at the end instead of releasing butterflies I should just release my three snakes and see how my guests react, though I do have many friends who like snakes so most likely my snakes will just get picked up and pet, I love butterflies but I also know that releases are cruel and they should be in a big open environment and they also don’t just fly out they’ll just chill there, but my snakes like people and like cuddles and wrapping around your arm and over your shoulders, or one just likes curling in a ball on your warm lap (ball python, very chill)
Every instance of animal cruelty is upsetting. I eat meat, and I exterminate household pests. I've been to Sea World to see the orca show. The butterfly releases are a terrible, cruel idea, but so are a lot of other practices we take for granted where we have room to change our personal behavior, not to mention working towards more compassionate policies overall.
I didn't know this was a thing. This is just an ignorant waste of life. The people selling the butterflies are the guilty party, the customers just assume all is fine. We learn, time and again, that life requires oxygen. I wonder how many people were dumb enough to think they were sold a bunch of dead butterflies.
Animal cruelty ain't cool!!! Poor butterflies probably died yearning for freedom from the box and when it was time to escape, too late... I've only been to one animal-themed wedding before and it was just the newlyweds and their dogs. The dogs just had ribbons on their collars but that was about it (well-behaved and well-groomed so no major issue) and were obedient enough to stay still for photos before being allowed to run and play around in a nearby field until festivities were over. That was my opinion of a perfect animal-themed wedding: Everyone had fun, including the pooches.
I feel like the only animals acceptable in a wedding are those of the bride and/or groom and only if they're happily bouncing around the alter like the good babies they are lol
What's even sadder is that a butterfly's life is so short. To waste in a box is tragic.
I think companies need to not sell this product of animals for anything like this mess. She could have gotten roaches. Ya can't kill those.
TiL: if i or anyone I know is using animals for a event; make sure the transport is not like the Caged Chickens for eggs. Wtfudge. (Also weather. Account for weather.)
I probably won't use animals, especially for a wedding. But still good info.
Load More Replies... Just stay away from roaches, will you? I know we're beautiful and graceful and everybody wants us in their weddings, but please... No free food can compensate for this.
I’m having animals in my wedding hopefully but I’m a devoted pet owner and zoo worker and *I* will take care of it.
Gosh - how horrible and sad. I mean, I celebrate and welcome the butterflies that return to my garden in the spring and summer, and get excited when one of my milkweed plants hosts a monarch caterpillar. Animals are not props or toys.
In case anyone is wondering just how bad those tiny boxes are- butterflies use their wings to thermo-regulate. Which is kind of important when you're ectothermic. Those poor butterflies got hyped up from the heat and then died of heat exhaustion.
If you want butterflies at your wedding, there are companies that will set up a tent with the butterflies in it. So you can take as many pictures as you want with the knowledge the butterflies aren't going to be injured. And to the people who use fish as wedding/party decor: I hate you. I hate you so much.
You can make wind up butterflies by yourself. Just google it, it’s easy. I used to make wind up bugs when I was a kid. Then I’d put one in a matchbox, draw a picture of a bee (or something else that stings/ bites) on the cover, hand the box to someone and see their reaction when they opened the box 😇🐝 (My dad taught me how to make them in the early 80’s)
So many AHs these days. From gender reveals gone wrong to those capturing nature to make a statement at weddings. Public displays have gone too far! It's more about creating a perfect Insta/ FB pic/ TikTok video and getting swag than actually living in the moment and enjoying those in your company. It's so sad...
I had no idea. I always thought it sounded wonderful...but I was wrong. This sounds horrifying for the poor little creatures.
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