Instead Of Rice/Birdseed/ Bubbles?

SOME SORT OF NOISE MAKER MIGHT WORK, OR LIKE LITTLE POMPOMS WITH YOUR COLORS, OR STREAMERS.

I think having each guest free a butterfly would be nice although i am not sure where you could get them... I have heard it`s been done before.

My sister and her husband let monarch butterflies free. It was really incredible. They got them from a Monarch farm

You could use sequins or those little shapes made out of coloured foil- you can get every shape you can think of! you could mix them with confetti or rose petals or just have them on their own.....

After the bride and groom are married, I think that a very romantic and symbolic thing to do, is to have one dove placed in each of your hands and then the two of you release them at the same time. This is done outside of the church or cermony site. It is also a very orginal thing to do. I found info on this in my local magazine wedding guide.

The butterflies sound really great and the doves really do too!!!! I have reserched the butterflies and thinking of doing it, the small package (16 of them, 4 to each-bride, groom, maid of honor, & best man). The doves would be just a wonderful, if not both- that would maybe be to much though? Is there a web site for the doves? Thanks everyone for such wonderful suggestions. I am the biggest animal lover and think both would be a breath taking experience to me.

Don`t release butterflies!

"The people who release butterflies (into the wild) are well-meaning but ignorant," Jeffrey Glassberg, president of the North American Butterfly Association has said. "This is environmental terrorism and they`re polluting the environment." The Department of Environmental Conservation requires a permit to release wildlife and this includes butterflies. Releasing butterflies at a wedding seems like a nice thing to do but wildlife biologists warn that there are risks: introducing captive butterflies into the wild can spark new diseases and parasites, they can interbreed with native butterflies, mixing gene pools and disrupting butterfly migration patterns. Glassberg went on to say, "The way we`re going to stop this is not by passing laws but by getting the word out. Most brides don`t want to start their marriage with a controversy."

Throwing rice will not hurt birds.

"This silly myth pops up periodically, and it is absolutely unfounded," responded rice expert Mary Jo Cheesman at the USA Rice Federation. Many migrating ducks and geese depend on winter-flooded rice fields each year to fatten up and build strength for their return trek to northern nesting grounds.

Uncooked, milled rice is no more harmful to birds than rice in the field, Cheesman said. The Curator of Ornithology at the University of California at Berkeley agrees.

"It`s a myth. There is no reason why birds, including small songbirds, can`t eat rice," said Ned Johnson, a professor of biology at Berkeley who lectures frequently on the food and feeding of birds.

I`ve seen streamers to throw at weddings.
Http://www.favorsyoukeep.com/streamers.html

Rose petals are going to be scattered all along my runway, and they make great tossers as well. The freeze-dried rose petals last (don`t wilt within hours) and because they are not treated they go right back into the environment. The reason many churches/facilities don`t want rice is not because it`s harmful to the birds, they don`t want to clean up all the bird poop!

Good luck!

If you are getting married in the evening, have guests hold sparklers as you leave. Not only would it be beautiful in pictures, you won`t get anything down your dress!

P.S. Have something else for young children.

My daughter is getting married this Aug. And we decided on party poppers. I`m making wedding themed labels to wrap around them, with thier names on them.

I`m making a mix of wildflower and grass seed for guests to throw at my wedding--this will be at my house, and will hopefully result in a wildflower meadow in my backyard.

Why not use sparklers?

We bought little gold bells @ michaels crafts , with a little poem on them about ringing in happiness,that we are going to have everyone ring as we leave

We are having silk rose petals thrown. It is very neat and the pictures look very pretty!

At my brothers wedding they rreleased helium balloons. It looked cool!! good luck:)